“Was that so hard?” She snatched her slipper out of my hand. “As fun as you laughing at me is, I really do have to go.”
“I’ll walk you out.” I have no idea why I said it. This wasn’t my place to walk anyone out of. I just knew that I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet.
We didn’t say anything as we made our way out of Brooklyn’s old place.
But before Kennedy reached her mom’s apartment door, I said, “I’ll text you.”
She turned around. She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Good.”
“Good.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. She wanted me to text her. It felt like I was a kid again. This giddy feeling in my stomach. I felt stupid and excited all at once.
She rolled her eyes, just adding to the feeling that we were kids again. “Have a good day, Matt.” She left me alone in the hallway, with my stomach feeling weird and about a million things I needed to do.
I would have called Tanner back right away. But Tanner would insist on an apology in person anyway. He was old-fashioned like that. So as I drove to his apartment, I called Rob.
“Hey,” Rob said. “It’s early. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh, never mind,” he said, cutting me off. “Everything’s not okay. Because you’re trying to get my niece killed, you ass face.”
I cringed. “Good morning to you too.”
“Good morning,” Rob mumbled.
“And just for the record, Scarlett is my niece too, Rob.”
“Lies. Only in the friendship way. Everyone’s always trying to steal my niece and nephew away from me. I’m their one and only uncle.”
Every now and then Rob got defensive about the whole friend uncle thing. Usually when he was mad at me about something. And if he was bringing that up, then I wasn’t off to a good start for getting the camera. Angry Rob was hard to negotiate with.
“Blood isn’t everything,” I said.
“Did you call to tell me your other non-related niece is going to get murdered too? How long have you known that my daughter is in trouble with freaking mobsters? A week? A month? Longer?”
I would have hung up on him, but my hands were on the wheel. “I made a mistake…”
“A mistake is bringing me a burger without bacon when I specifically asked for bacon.”
“That happened one time,” I said.
“Best friends know best friends’ burger orders.”
“True. Which is why it only happened one time. I know you like your burgers without the lettuce and tomato because veggies have no right to be on top of meat. And mayo doesn’t belong on hot things, which is why you always ask for extra ketchup on the side. And crispy bacon of course.”
“Exactly.” The laughter was back in Rob’s voice.
It was now or never. “I need a favor, Rob.”
Rob groaned.
“I know Hunter Tech has a prototype for an undetectable camera. Can I borrow it?”
“There’s only one prototype, man. And how do you even know about that?”
“You told me.”
“I never told you about it,” Rob said. “It’s highly classified.”
I laughed. “Isn’t that only for government stuff? Rob, you told me a few guys’ nights ago. We were talking about sexting, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember.”
“Well, you did get pretty drunk,” I said. “Pretty sure you even sexted me.”
“I did not sext you. I only sext my wife.”
“Rob you sext me all the time. I have at least a dozen texts of your left ass cheek on my phone.”
“Fine, I occasionally send you pictures of myself in what some might deem compromising positions. But only because you’re the only one that’s seen my mole since it first showed up, so who else is supposed to tell me if it’s grown?”
“A dermatologist.”
“Psh. I’m not showing a stranger my left ass cheek. And by the way, you should delete those photos after I send them to you. They’re also highly classified.”
I laughed. “So in exchange for staring at your ass a few times a year, can I maybe borrow that camera? I’ll give it back, I swear. I just need it for one night.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.” There was an awkward silence.
“I’m going to need more details than that, Matt,” he said. “What do you need it for?”
I didn’t want to tell Rob about my mission to get the hitwoman to confess everything. He’d tell me it was too dangerous. He’d tell me not to go through with it. But I didn’t really have a choice. Telling him it would help save Scarlett would guarantee me