I don’t know nothin’ else! I don’t!”
Antony turned his head toward Ella. She noticed that his hand had shoved into his pocket.
A siren gave a shriek in the distance.
“Oh, God,” Cal gulped. “They are gonna send me back to jail! You got to let me go, you got to—”
Antony’s hand rose. Curled around Cal’s shoulder. “You have no idea who hired Axel?”
“He didn’t tell me! I didn’t ask! That siren is getting louder. Please, let me go, let—”
“You said the money was good,” Ella cut in. “How good? How much money are we talking?”
“Axel was gonna…gonna get ten grand for the job.”
“Shit.” Now Antony seemed disgusted. “I’m worth more than that.”
“You?” Cal’s whole body shook. “Fuck. I’m a dead man. I am so dead! I am—”
“Get the hell out of here, Cal,” Antony ordered. “Now.” He backed up a step.
Cal didn’t hesitate. He flew right by him and disappeared into the night.
“Hey!” Ella exclaimed. “I had more questions.” She gaped after Cal, then rounded on Antony. “You just let our biggest lead go?” What in the heck? What was the man thinking?
“Cops are closing in. My money is on the bartender—bet he called them. Or maybe the lady with the broken nose got pissed at you and made the call.”
“I was defending myself.” Ella straightened her shoulders. “She was the one swinging a broken bottle at my face!”
“She did what?” Jacob wanted to know.
“Plus, our lead isn’t getting away,” Antony assured her. “I’ve got him. Don’t worry.”
She was worried. Ella pointed to the darkness. “He is gone. I just watched him vanish.”
“And I just put a tracker on him before I let the guy go. Figured we could waste time and listen to him lie some more, or we could let him lead us back to his boss. Option two seemed like a winner to me.”
He—Ella frowned at him. Her nostrils flared. God, it smelled like rotten meat in that alley.
“Right,” Jacob drawled. “So, those sirens are getting loud. That means we need to haul ass, people. Now. Dex really stressed to me the importance of you two not winding up in jail again. And, you know, the bit about Antony not blowing his cover. That’s important, too.”
Antony circled his fingers around Ella’s wrist. “All we have to do is follow our prey.”
She nodded. Adrenaline still had her feeling shaky and unsettled, but she was trying hard to look like someone who had her shit together. It wasn’t as if she engaged in bar fights every day. In fact, that had been her first one. Ever. But Antony acted like it was commonplace for him.
Maybe it was. For the Antony that she didn’t know.
They raced back to their vehicles. She jumped into the passenger seat of the SUV.
Jacob caught her door before she could jerk it closed. “Hey, you okay?”
He acted all calm and cool, too. Completely collected. Made her wonder how many bar fights he’d been in. Made her wonder so much. “I don’t know either of you.”
The light from the interior of the SUV fell onto his face, and she could see the sudden tightening of his features. “Of course, you know me. I’m the guy who taught you how to ride a bicycle.”
“You’re the guy who watched me wreck,” she corrected. The memory was vivid. He’d let go of the back of her bike. She’d screamed that she wasn’t ready. Then—crash.
“Yeah, but after I picked you up off the sidewalk, I put those cute little superhero Band-Aids on your scrapes, didn’t I?”
Yes, fine, he had.
Behind his shoulder, she could see the flash of blue lights. “Cops are getting closer,” she said nervously. She hadn’t exactly loved her time at the station.
But Jacob didn’t move. “Hey, Antony,” he called.
Antony was cranking the SUV.
“You know who Ella’s favorite superhero has always been?”
How the hell was this the time to ask that question? She glowered at her cousin.
“Bet you can guess.” His lips quirked.
“Shut the damn door, Jacob,” Antony blasted.
She didn’t wait for Jacob to shut the door. She hauled it closed and he had no choice but to move his fingers and jump out of the way. The last thing she wanted was for Jacob to reveal that she’d grown up crushing on someone with a big, giant S on his chest…or rather, crushing on his glasses-wearing, quiet side.
Antony got them out of the lot and gravel flew in their wake. Her hand flew up and clamped around the door’s handle as the seat belt pulled against her chest.