Page 30
It brings the fact home.
The people who were here today are good.
It’s probably time I start to truly believe those still exist. Even if the reality is that I could very well not get the job at Luxton and have to move somewhere else, it’s still a good reminder.
But every good feeling disappears when my phone buzzes.
Unknown number:
Found you.
6
TUCKER
June 2nd
“So,” Liv starts as soon as she’s buckled into my car, and I know a teachable moment when I see it.
I hold up a finger and reach into the glove compartment, take out the scanner Eli gave everyone, and turn it on. I wave it around my nondescript Toyota, and when the little green light turns on, I finally speak.
“Bug sweeper,” I explain as I put it back in its place. “I should actually carry it around everywhere, but for now what you need to know is we never talk about the Turris, the meetings, hell, we won’t even discuss the members unless we’ve done a sweep beforehand.”
“Got it,” she says and nods once. She’s locked in, I can tell, taking in every word I say.
It feels wrong for me to be teaching Olivia something, anything.
She’s Liv, for fuck’s sake, the most capable and deranged of us all. No one has ever had to teach her anything—probably not even in school or college since she’s so damn smart.
Being baseball obsessed in this day and age means you gotta love numbers, and boy does she love them.
I steer the car to the garage’s exit, and start the tough conversation we thankfully only have to have once.
“What did you tell Aaron about today?”
“Nothing.” She shrugs, totally unbothered. “I just said I’m going out for a bit and he didn’t ask any questions.”
“Is that usual for him?” I hate to, but I have to ask.
I don’t need to know any details about my sisters’ relationships, since I already know their husbands are smart enough to adore the very ground they walk on, and the private investigator I’ve been paying monthly ever since I got my trust fund checks on them all regularly and will tell me if there’s anything I should know.
Some might say that’s creepy.
I’d say that’s what fucking Jim should’ve done since they first met their husbands but that would be beating a dead horse.
“Sure,” she answers easily. “I don’t police his comings and goings either.”
“What about your bodyguard?”
“I told him exactly what you said to—from now on whenever I tell you I need space, I’m going to need you to stay put and not ask any questions.”
“Good.”
Deep breath, Tucker, this is your time to shine. I’m for sure going to do this better than how Jim did it with me—which was not at all. He just took me to a meeting without explaining shit.
“So, you got the history lesson from Harrison, but I bet you still have a bunch of questions, so let’s get those out of the way before we get to the meeting.”
From now on, there’s not going to be anything off limits between us, and that isn’t something I can say about literally anyone else in the world, so I want to make it clear to her that she can ask anything.
