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Then he’s gone, out the door while wrestling into his clothes. I sit there, adrift in the sudden capsizing of the morning. Breakfast is abandoned and Killian is gone with a creak of the stairs and a slam of the door.
Silence falls, broken only by my own shortness of breath.
Blair is dead… right? Killian’s reaction suggests he thinks the same and a swell of bitterness rises in my heart. Is it through sheer effortlessness that she manages to overshadow me at every turn or is it actually planned?
I slide from the bed, trying to focus on that bitterness but my mind has other plans and drifts to Samuel. If he’s real, he’s surely at home waiting for his mother to come home and she never will.
My hands ghost lightly over my stomach at the thought and while Killian says he’ll handle it, he’s a Mafia man first. The explosion at where he was supposed to be will take precedence.
I grab my phone, dial Kimmy’s number, and throw it on speaker as I dive into the wardrobe and grab the first clothes I see.
“Hello?” Kimmy answers cheerily.
“Kimmy!” I exclaim, “I need your help.”
“Ohh?” The interest is clear in her voice as I drag on a pair of whitewashed jeans.
“I need you to help me find out where Blair lives.”
“Planning on stabbing the bitch?” Kimmy chuckles and rustling comes from her side of the phone as I yank on a t-shirt. “Alright, I’m a huge fan of confrontation and revenge so let’s see what we can find.”
It’s not strictly the reason but I’m happy to let Kimmy think that. The tapping of her nails on her phone screen drifts through the call as I pull on socks, and shoes then I pull my hair into a rough ponytail.
“Any luck?”
“Wow, impatient this morning huh? Nohi, Kimmy how are you? How’s life with two overbearing detective parents that can’t let you wipe your own ass without needing full evidence debrief because the holidays are approaching and they’re insufferable!”
Even now, Kimmy’s rant draws a slightly unwilling smile to my face.
“Hi Kimmy, I’m sorry, I love you!” I reply and she scoffs good-naturedly. Snatching my phone, I scramble downstairs in search of my coat as Kimmy’s investigation continues.
“Got her!” Kimmy explains suddenly and she hums a few sing-song notes. “Just call me Kimmy, Social Media PI!”
Kimmy reels off the address for me and I kiss the screen with a happy rumble bubbling in my throat.
“Thank you, Kimmy, thank you!” I snatch my jacket from over the back of the sofa as my heart rate kicks up.
“Do you need some backup? I amverygood at delivering some payback,” Kimmy offers and my chest warms.
“Thank you but I’ve got this, I appreciate you!”
“Kick her ass!” Kimmy yells and as I hang up, the house falls eerily quiet.
No matter. I have her address and it’s the best place to start looking for Samuel. It’s a rough plan, one that I’ve cobbled together in the space of ten minutes and one that didn’t account for Archer to be standing right on the other side of the front door.
Shit.
“Archer.” I offer my sweetest smile but he doesn’t fall for it. He pointedly runs his gaze over me, from my jacket and shoes right down to the car keys clutched in my hand.
“Going somewhere?” he asks cooly and I nod, although from his wide stance it’s pretty clear he’s not planning on letting me leave.
“I have somewhere I need to be,” I state sharply but he barely blinks. I can’t imagine much could shake him considering he works with Killian. Still, it’s worth a try.
“No, you don’t,” he replies and his lips twitch slightly into a sympathetic smile. “Killian’s orders. You’re to stay here until he comes back, or sends for you.”
“I’m not some sort of parcel,” I snap as heat flushes up the back of my neck. “He can’t just order me to be locked away like some common prisoner.”
Archer remains silent.
