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“We might have a problem,” Speed admitted weakly. His hand trembled as it stretched across his lips.Do not panic. And do not cause him to panic.Speed couldn’t fix anything if Lavender strangled him. “I think Francis has been here,” he said carefully. He saw Lavender’s pupils flare and Speed leaned back, bracing himself.
“Toly!”
“Yes, sir,” a soft voice answered from overhead.
“Please review all of Speed’s security cameras going back…” He raised a brow at Speed expectantly.
“A week should be enough,” Speed guessed.
“I’m on it,” Toly replied.
“A week?” Lavender pressed his lips together and looked like he might be praying or counting down. “You have reason to believe Frank Leary’s been here for a week.” His knuckle beat against his lip and Speed felt the heat rising in the foyer.
“Berty was attacked while we were at the wedding so that would have been about a week ago,” Speed explained.
“Berty?” A vein throbbed over Lavender’s eye as he stared at Speed.
“The first flamingo ‘you’ vandalized. He was my favorite.”
“For fuck’s sake. Could you please take this seriously?”
“I am,” Speed said with a pained grunt. “I came over here to tell you that I got a call from Declan. He gotthe call. Francis left instructions for their mother’s care and said that it would probably be the last time they heard from him.”
“Did he tell Declan where he was going or what he planned to do?”
“Nope. But Francis did say that he didn’t think he could trust me anymore,” Speed said, his eyes stinging as a pit opened in his stomach.
“Well. That’s not good…” Lavender stuffed a hand in his pocket and winced at the broken flamingos at his feet.
“No. There’s pretty much one way Francis deals with people he doesn’t trust. Especially if he thinks they’ve betrayed him.”
“Where’s Blake?”
“He’s across the street. I told him to stay there and wait. I didn’t want to upset him over nothing.”
“This is a great deal more than nothing. Frank Leary knows where you live and he knows you betrayed him.”
“We don’t know that!” Speed said, holding up a finger. “Francis told Declan he doesn’t know if he can trust me but we don’t know for sure if he’s the one attacking my flamingos.”
“What are the odds it isn’t him?” Lavender asked dryly.
“Probably close to none but Francis would have done a hell of a lot worse than murder some plastic flamingos if he was sure it was me.”
“Why else would he be doing this?” Lavender asked as he rubbed his temple.
“Again, it could be the paperboy attacking my flock,” Speed noted, just for the sake of Lavender’s throbbing forehead vein. “But Francis might be mad at me for moving on while he’s out there hunting for Mickey’s killer. And the whole me being gay thing. He’s never liked that,” he added with a sheepish grimace.
“Please explain to me again why you care about this man.”
“It’s complicated but he’s the only family I had until I met Blake. I never said he didn’t deserve to face the consequences of all the awful shit he’s done. I just don’t want him to die and I don’t want him to hate me,” Speed explained, allowing Lavender to see how much it ate him up inside.
There were times when Speed loathed Francis and wanted him to pay. But then Speed would recall how sick he’d let himself get when he was a kid so Francis would feel sorry for him. They weren’t pretending when they took care of each other and ran the streets as Mickey’s minions. Francis and Speed loved each other like they were brothers for decades and it was all real. Possibly more so because Francis loved Speed, knowing he was gay, and because Speed loved Francis, knowing he was a bigot. Both were ashamed of each other but had held onto the love they’d shared as children.
“What if that’s not enough to save you if Leary’s figured it out?” Lavender asked, giving Speed a gentle shake.
“I want to believe that he might love me enough to forgive me or at least understand why I had to do it. But he won’t. That’s just not Francis. That’s not how Mickey raised him.”
“You know I have to take him out if I get the chance. I’ve already been given the order because of Reginald but he’ll do whatever he can to burn you from behind bars if Beesley brings him in. And I can’t allow Leary to get away with trespassing on my territory.”
