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Caleb reaches out and twists the doorknob for me. The loft is exactly as it was before. A perfect constant to an otherwise chaotic day.
I carry her inside. She cautiously squeezes my jacket a little tighter as I lower her down onto her bed.
“Try and get some rest, okay?” I tell her, laying her arms at her sides. “You should have your strength back by morning.”
“Are you leaving?” she asks.
Her eyes shake. It’s clear what she wants the answer to be and it makes my heart grow a little larger.
“No.” I pause to watch the short breath of relief as it passes through her. “I’ll be here…”
Caleb shifts onto her side and her hand falls to the sheets beneath her, gently crawling toward me as fast as her weak muscles will allow. Her hand touches mine and she smiles back at me.
“It’s going to be okay, Caleb,” I whisper. I lean forward to raise her head and adjust the pillow to a better position beneath her neck. “I’ll be right back.”
She nods, trusting every word. “Thank you.”
I let her touch linger on my skin for a few more moments before I make myself stand up. There’s nothing I want more than to lie next to her right now but there’s the small matter of the very disappointed bounty hunter lingering around in the hallway to deal with.
Archer stands outside the door, leaning against the wall with Lilah’s discarded pistol in one hand. He admires it briefly before glancing up at me with hard eyes and sliding it into his belt.
“You didn’t tell me that friend of yours was Fox Fitzpatrick,” he says.
I close the door behind me. “It wasn’t relevant.”
“Like hell, it wasn’t.” He pushes softly off the wall. “Do you have any idea how much his head is worth to the right people? Had I known he was here, I wouldn’t have wasted my time chasing after Hansel and Gretel.”
“He’s not a part of this,” I say, keeping a steady tone. “Leave him alone.”
“And why the hell would I do that?”
“Because I will make your life a living hell if you don’t.”
His lips curl. “And just how do you intend—”
“Archer Allen. Former MI-6 agent,” I begin. “You were dismissed for reasons unknown but I’m sure I could crack those files wide open within the hour but on the off-chance that won’t do any damage to you, I’ll just focus on the very expired visa you’re traveling with and go from there. Can’t exactly cash in on bounties if you’re thirty-thousand feet in the air on your way back to Teabag Land. Or if that’s not enough, just give me about twenty minutes. Everyone has a skeleton or two. I’m sure you have at least one worth digging up.”
Archer chuckles. “All right.” He sighs. “I will look the other way on Fitzpatrick… but how about we say you owe me a favor someday?”
“I can live with that.”
“But I will say this, I don’t envy you or him. It’s not just the Harts out there looking for retribution against Fox Fitzpatrick.”
“Who?”
He lowers his voice. “No one knows her name. Only a few know her face but everyone knows what she does.”
There are only two words I can think of that carry that kind of ominous fear. “The Boss.”
“You might want to let him know.”
I nod. “I will.”
Archer leans back again, flashing a look of expectation. “I held up my end of the bargain. Now, where can I find Dante Hart?”
I reach into my bag for a notepad. “Wisconsin,” I answer.
His brow shrinks. “What?”
