it easier to see through the hood. He places me on the floor and grabs my hand, walking me down the hall and into a large kitchen area. I guess this means I’m not in a warehouse then.
I don’t speak and don’t move my head in any direction, not wanting the other occupants of the room to figure out I can see.
Zodiac is sitting at the end of a large country style table with a cup of coffee in front of him. Over near the sink is a woman who turns at the sound of our approach. She frowns for a minute before turning back to the sink, effectively dismissing me.
Well, okay then, no sister solidarity there. I could brush it off as her being scared, but the look in her eye wasn’t fear but indifference. She doesn’t particularly want me here, but it has little to do with me being held captive and more to do with me invading her territory.
“Let’s go,” Kai orders, jerking me forward as Zodiac stands.
I watch as Zodiac walks over to the woman and pulls her into his arms, kissing her with far more heat than warranted given the company. I assume this is the mysterious Estelle, but then nothing in the rule books says Zodiac can’t be a jealous, possessive bastard as well as a cheater.
Nobody makes a single sound or says a single word, which I figure is for my benefit. They don’t want me to know where I am or who I’m with.
Kai guides me outside and I follow along, pretending to stumble, keeping the fact I can see undercover as long as I can.
We stop for a minute. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zodiac climb into a black Range Rover, closing the door quietly behind him.
I lift my hand to pull the hood free, but Kai catches it.
“Leave it on until we get there.”
“What, you think a woman with a mask over her head isn’t going to draw some attention?” I snap.
“Nobody fucking cares. Now let’s go,” he mutters, taking my elbow in his hand and guiding me to the black Lincoln parked beside the car Zodiac just got into.
He helps me climb in, strapping the seatbelt across my body before gripping my face hard in warning. “Do not remove the mask,” he orders. As much as my natural-born defiance wars within me, I chose to pick my battles and nod.
Plus, having an armed Zodiac this close to me makes me antsy. I know he wouldn’t think twice about putting a bullet in my head, especially if he’s as protective of Estelle as I’ve been led to believe. There is no way he would leave her open as a possible target to be used as retaliation. If I had to guess, I would say the hood is less about knowing Zodiac is here and more about keeping our location a secret from me
I memorize the journey, knowing now that this will be the first place Zodiac will go when the shit hits the fan. I don’t speak, listening to the soft strains of some love song playing on the radio.
“Where to? Office or apartment,” Kai asks when we’ve been driving for about ten minutes.
“My apartment is fine,” I reply quietly.
“You don’t need to go to your office for the footage?”
I smile under the hood. If he thinks I’m leading Zodiac to Echo’s, he’s sadly mistaken.
“Nope.” I pop the p, before leaning my head against the window.
“You know, if you have truly nothing to do with this, then everything will go back to normal. This is just business, you know that, Viddy,” Kai adds, so fucking blasé about the whole thing. I guess he must do this shit a lot to become so desensitized to it.
“Right, normal. Where I pretend there is only one Reid, and you guys pass me back and forth between you until I cross some arbitrary line and Zodiac orders you to put a bullet in my brain?”
“Red—”
I cut him off, closing my eyes once I recognize which part of the city I’m in.
“Don’t call me that.” I sigh. “I’ll give you the footage, then what? I know what it will show you, I had a front-row seat after all. I’ll send you the version with audio and Zodiac the one without sound because I’m nice like that, but then that’s it between us. I don’t want your apologies, fuck, I don’t want anything from you. No more calls, no more late-night visits