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“From the simple fact Victor and Zodiac are not here. The imposter claimed they were still touring the US, but knowing you as I do, I found that version of events highly unlikely.”
At least I didn’t have to convince them the fake Adam was fake. “I guess I need to start at the beginning. So . . . I uh, have a brother.”
“We’ve met.” Leomaris did not sound pleased. “Some warning would have been appropriate, don’t you think? Regardless, you must return to San Francisco immediately. Your absence is making your situation indefensible.”
We did have to go back. The moment was coming. But I just needed a day or two. Just a little more time . . . “Is everyone okay? Is the hotel okay?”
“Tom Collins appears to have everything running smoothly. Where are you? I’ll send a team to escort you home.”
I swallowed, and checked Zee’s concerned face, then Victor’s. I trusted Leomaris, I did. But also . . . someone—probably the loup-garou Gen Z Jenny—was at the hotel, impersonating me. What if this wasn’t Leomaris at all? What if I was speaking with Jenny? She could have overpowered Leomaris and taken their phone, especially if she’d looked like me at the time.
“Uhm, so this is going to sound weird, but how do I know this is you?” I asked.
“Who else would it be?”
“It’s just, that imposter? She’s real good at lying. And she probably really, really doesn’t like me much.”
“And why is that?”
This wasn’t a conversation to be had over the phone. And right now, it wasn’t the most important thing that was happening. Only Leomaris could send an SSD team to collect us, right? Although Jenny could pretend to be them and order a team . . . Oh dear, I had to trust them. I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to clear this whole mess up. We needed Leomaris.
“Alright, I guess. We’ll be at The Peach Pit in Miami South Beach in uhm . . .”
“Tomorrow at six a.m., Miami time,” Victor said, giving us the rest of the night to plan ahead.
“I will send a team in. Adam . . . be careful.”
“We will. And uh . . . you too.” I hung up and frowned at the phone. None of this felt right, but it had to happen. I’d been running for a very, very long time. From before buying the hotel with Zee, before I’d changed my name and my life to become Adam Vex.
It was time for Mydros to stop running, time for me to finally face the consequences of my actions . . . and my brother.
CHAPTER 14
We pulled the drug lord’s shiny pickup truck to a stop in the small lot at the back of Hooper’s shack and hopped out. It was hard to believe that a day ago, we’d crawled out of the swamp with only the clothes on our back—and leeches. Now we had a new truck, and looked as though we’d just stepped off a red carpet.
Inside the shack, it was the same island of calm we’d visited prior to Skrinde’s people arriving to bully Hooper off his land. Another baseball game played on the static-obscured TV screen, and Hooper’s friends and family sat around make-do tables, chatting and playing board games. Now we knew they were all frog shifters, it changed the dynamic some, with Zee standing very, very still, his tail wrapped around his right ankle to keep it from causing chaos.
“We brought you a truck to replace the one we wrecked—sorry about that.” I handed Hooper the truck key. “I don’t think Skrinde will bother you anymore.”
“Then I guess he’s going to want his merchandise back, eh?” Hooper said.
“Merchandise?” I asked.
“Yeah, come out back . . . I’ll show you.”
We headed outside again, and ambled down a winding trail toward another shack, this one larger and unlit, standing on stilts above the water. Hooper opened the double barn doors and flicked on a light, illuminating rows of wooden crates, six deep by four wide and three high. There was a whole lot of whatever was in those crates.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing good,” Victor said, probably already knowing the answer.
Zee’s eyes lit up in . . . awe? “It’s Tom Collins’s dream warehouse.”
“Alcohol?” I asked.
Hooper lifted the lid on the nearest crate, revealing small wrapped packages of white powder.
“Drugs,” Hooper said.
