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Zander closes his book and lays it on his chest but doesn’t move to sit up. His eyes dart to Jade before looking back at Rick as if checking up on her. He doesn’t even acknowledge that I’m in the room.
Rick pushes himself off the door jam and walks farther into the room. I look down at my still-empty cup and let my shoulders fall as I follow him toward Jade and Zander. I’m sure whatever he has to say is important, and I’m sure I’ll want to hear it, but damn it, do I need some coffee before my brain decides to check out.
Rick stops just in front of Jade’s haphazard circle of books while I sink into one of the oversized chairs just a few feet from them and not in their direct line of sight. I need to hear the information, but I also don’t want to be an active part of this conversation unless necessary, so for now, I’m more than happy to listen and blend in.
“Kratos said that Corey was found dead in his cell Tuesday morning.” Rick says, cutting right to the chase in his usual no-nonsense way.
Against my will, my eyes dart to Jade with this information. I’m not sure what I expect to find there, but she gives zero reaction. I’m only able to see her profile from the seat I picked. Now I wish I was somewhere I could see better.
“Why are we just now finding out if this happened days ago?” Zan asks as he finally pushes himself up in the chair before swiveling his body around to sit in the chair the way it was intended. His book falls to the floor in the process, and he makes no move to pick it up as though he’s already completely forgotten about it. That’s much more Zander’s typical mindset, and the action slightly eases something inside me that’s been off with his new behaviors and how strange they are compared to the guy I grew up with.
Rick shakes his head, and I can see his jaw clench and unclench a few times before he responds, but I know from his reaction what his answer will be.
“I don’t know.” Nothing makes Rick quite as mad as not having an answer to something in our line of work.
Rick and Zander’s attention turns back to Jade, whether for her reaction to the news or looking at her to see if she knows anything; I’m not sure.
She looks from one of us to the next as she realizes that all eyes are on her before she gives a slight shrug of her shoulders.
“Good.” She says even though her face is still completely blank, I’m sure her years of doing things she didn’t want to, while also killing those around her, has given her one hell of a poker face.
“I mean, yeah, good, he’s dead but aren’t you upset that you didn’t get to handle him?” Zan asks her as he pulls himself out of his chair and walks over to her.
He folds himself onto the floor beside her before reaching out his hand to thread their fingers together. She doesn’t pull away. Instead, she looks down at their joined hands for a moment before a small smile pulls at the corner of her mouth.
“Why would I be upset?” She asks him as she looks back up at him and then at Rick as if she genuinely doesn’t understand.
“He needed to die for what he did, and now he has.” She says it as if it’s painfully obvious, and I mean, when she says it like that, it kind of feels that way.
“Yeah, of course, but he also should have suffered for what he did. He shouldn’t have been able to take the easy way out of this like a coward.” Zander tells her, and I can see him squeeze her hand in his. He seems to be more upset about this than she is.
“He didn’t.” Rick says and, in doing so, pulls everyone's attention back to him. We all just look at him for a moment waiting for an explanation.
“He didn’t kill himself to get out of it. Kratos said his cell was a bloody mess, and while minimal, there were still some signs of struggle.” Zander nods at the information as if it’s good. I don’t care how he died, really, but I know it will be one less thing for us to potentially handle later. We could have had a new ring to worry about if he had gotten out. Between that and the fact that he really did deserve to die, no matter how much I don’t care for Jade, I can’t deny that he was the worst kind of monster, the kind that preys on children and women. Yeah, his murder sounds better and better by the second.
“So are we on clean-up if there were signs of a struggle?” I ask, we aren’t usually part of the clean-up crew on this kind of shit anymore, but I can see Froggie and Kratos sending us in, considering the girl is now in our care.
Rick shakes his head, “No, the signs of struggle were minimal enough that my dad still ruled it as suicide. Trent called Kratos because he knew we were handling this ring for Froggie.” He says, and while it would make sense to call us, I know there's more to it than that. Trent hates to call us for anything.
“Oh, I see. Trent wants to get in good with us in hopes of having a chance.” I say when it finally clicks. I don’t bother to elaborate, and I can see on Rick’s face that he had the same thought.
“Possibly.” He replies easily enough.
I catch the look on Jade’s face out of the corner of my eye, but it’s enough to see the clear look of confusion there. Zander must see it, too, because he leans closer to her to explain.
“Trent hates helping us, even though he’s technically under us. Here in the city, he does everything he can to handle everything without us. Like the night you were found, that was his job under the chief, but Froggie had us there for backup anyways.” He says.
“And obviously, that was a good call because the dumbasses would have left you behind.” His voice comes out more harshly, and I can’t even blame him. I know he has feelings for Jade, even if it’s just going to be a passing crush. I can understand his anger with the situation. Shit, I’m still upset about it, and judging by Rick’s stiff posture, he hasn’t forgotten either. I don’t have to want Jade here to understand that her being left in that hell would have been fucked up on so many levels, all of which would have been Trent’s fault.
“Anyways, he never just helps because he’s supposed to. So it would appear as though he’s helping now because of the interest he showed in you at the party, not because that’s what he’s supposed to do since that never mattered to him before.” As he explains, anger bleeds out of his voice, and I feel my brows arch up in surprise. Zan isn’t one to let his anger go, so hearing him get upset about Trent and then snap back to normal is a bit strange. I look over to Rick, who also seems confused, but when he catches my eye, he simply gives me a one-shoulder shrug and turns his attention back to Jade.
“Why would he have an interest in me?” She asks Zander, and again it’s so strange to see someone as capable and damn dangerous as she is not understand something so basic. It feels fake, but after spending the week around her, even with most of it spent actively avoiding her, I know that might be the most real thing about her. Well, that and the fact that she’s dangerous, there’s no arguing that either.
Zander throws his head back and laughs before he leans forward and kisses her cheek, murmuring something to her that’s too low for me to hear. The confusion doesn’t leave her face, but her cheeks take on a slight pink as she blushes, and I have to force my eyes away from her.
There is no denying Jade is beautiful. I’m not sure she would have made it to the number one spot in each ring she’s been in if she wasn’t. Between that, her determination, and her overall badassery, she could be most guy's wet dream.
If only she could be trusted.
