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“Okay. We’ll do this your way.” Wit went on. “Relay has a good handle on the tech stuff. She’ll be a real good add to the team when all this is over. Maybe send her over to do the Safe Haven stuff. Your cousins checked in, and Declan said absorbing the rest of the Dozen as Keepers was a done deal. They’re drawing up contracts to bring those who want to stay in the game on board.”
Killion looked at Wit. “Just like that? They moved quick on that. How many?”
“At least half that team, from what I can tell. A couple are retiring altogether, and a few are going after different opportunities. They said they have some unfinished business to wrap up first, so it won’t happen right away,” Wit shared. “It’ll be good. We can use the help ramping up ops for Safe Haven, and we all know better than most just how broken the world is. There’ll never be a shortage of work.”
“That’s true. We have been spread thinner than usual lately. It’ll be good to have experienced operators on the team while we continue to raise the next generation of muscle.”
“You gonna be okay with Relay hangin’ back? I mean, now that Rainy’s back in the picture?” Wit boldly asked, knowing it was a tender subject and frankly, none of his business.
Killion took to a nearby chair and rested his elbows on his knees. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You and Relay were gettin’ cozy before Rainy came back…” Wit reminded. “You and Relay, well, you’re like two nerds in a pod.”
“Peas. Two peas in a pod,” Killion corrected.
Wit took the seat across from Killion and clicked on the gas firepit between them. “No, I meant what I said… nerds.”
“Fuck off.”
“Again? It’s my lucky day,” Wit teased. “But seriously. Is there going to be an issue? I noticed a little tension in the Lair earlier between the two women. You breakin’ someone’s heart?”
“What tension?” Killion was genuinely curious.
“Oh c’mon, man. Surely you caught that. I think they’re each a little threatened by the other,” Wit shared. “To be honest, my sister sorta sucker punched that one. Relay isn’t tryin’ to get in the way of nothin’, and my sister was makin’ sure of that. I think she believes there’s somethin’ to worry about with Relay.”
“Why would she be worried about Relay? She’s only here to help and doesn’t pose a threat to anyone.”
“Killion, my man? Sometimes talkin’ to you is like talkin’ to a wall. When y’all were workin’ my case and the Dozen jumped in to help clear me and Hen, you and Relay worked double time together, and it looked like things were gettin’ steamy. You were so in sync with each other.”
“We did work well together. We process information similarly and have similar work habits and ethics,” Killion said. “If you mean there was something beyond work and more romantic between us, you’re mistaken.”
“You two weren’t a thing?”
“A thing? No. Sure, we may have flirted a bit, but it was nothing more than that. We respected each other’s work, which carried over into the case.”
“Did Relay know that?” Wit asked.
“I don’t know why she would have thought otherwise. Sure, it easily could’ve gone further, but we were both determined to get ahead on that case and get answers.”
“Maybe Relay’s urgency was for different reasons. Maybe she was holdin’ out for you?”
Killion leaned back in his seat and scratched his chin. “I mean… maybe? She never really said anything about us being… more.”
“Dude, you’re a special guy.” Wit chuckled. “Listen. I get it. I know you see the world through a different set of lenses, but I’m here to tell you, Relay had a thing for you, and I think she believed the feeling was mutual until my sister re-entered the picture that night. She’s been respectful and given y’all space to figure it out. Meanwhile, Rainy sees what the rest of us do, and it’s that there might have been somethin’ there, and given all that’s gone down these past months, it’s no wonder either one of them feels a little threatened by the other.”
“Rainy is the mother of my children.”
“Exactly. And when the mother of your children gets her feathers a bit ruffled, that could come across as a bit threatenin’.”
“Oh.” Killion pondered Wit’s statement a moment, and as the light bulb went off, he sat a little straighter. “Ohh.”
“Now you’re gettin’ it,” Wit joked. “You’ve had a lot goin’ on, and you’re not entirely yourself… understandably so. I think you’re trying to stay the course and get from point A to point B and might have the blinders a little high during the journey.”
“I have no idea why you talk like that,” Killion said. “Why can’t you just say, I’ve been distracted.”
“’Cause my way’s a lot more colorful. Yours… a little flat.”
“Flat is easier. Direct. To the point,” Killion defended.
