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“Yeah.” Both of us were quiet and my hand was on the doorknob. I needed to get out of here, I needed to take care of this. “Hey, Sara—thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said.
My mind went to the flash drive, and I couldn’t believe it but I heard myself say, “Can you get to my apartment?”
“Yes, but isn’t it bolted up pretty damn tight?” Sara asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll send you instructions via an encrypted text. If you go into my office, to the left, under some post-its and shit, you’ll find a tiny flash drive on a necklace.” Sara made a surprised sound. “What? You have that? That’s mine.”
A ripple of energy filled me. I’d have to sort out my feelings about that later. “Really? Yeah. I’ve been combing through it, made a copy, but I don’t know—I couldn’t find anything definite to nail Hendrix.” I let out a dry laugh. “Plenty to incriminate Ty.”
“What are you looking for with this Hendrix?”
“Tying him to the murder of Ivan Volksov or Marina,” I said. “And—Sara, I won’t be home tonight. You should stay there, though. Just to be safe.”
“My place is pretty safe, too.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Maybe this is a bad idea. I can bring a copy to you—”
“No, I’m going over there. Send the instructions or I’ll just break in.”
“I don’t want to have to bail you out of jail on top of everything else, Tailor,” I said, feeling oddly light-hearted. “Just be careful. Can you call Heavy or Artie to give you a ride? Please?”
Sara huffed. “Fine. But won’t they be suspicious if they drop me off at your place?”
“Let them be,” I said. “Just be careful. I have a bad feeling.”
“Danny—” Sara stopped and then seemed to change what she was about to say. “Lia is alright, right?”
“Yeah, she’s with Ty,” I said. “Probably the safest place she could be.” I swallowed hard. “I have to go. Be safe. Keep me posted. I—”
“Bye.”
“Thanks.”
With that I hung up and took a deep breath. Everything would be okay. We’d figure this out. Starting with what the hell was going on with Mickey Weiss. I knew he’d seen me the night that we’d jumped him and brought him back to his house to rough him up and get some answers. The same night that Lia had been there, hiding in the closet.
The same night that I’d disassociated hard and gone into “Demon Mode,” as the guys called it, trying to make light of how much the Reaper had fucked with my head.
He knows who I am.Ty had told me as much. As I reached for the doorknob, I prepared myself for the revulsion, the fear, the hatred in his eyes, and went in. But the man on the bed didn’t stir. I frowned as I drew closer. Christ, he looked like shit.
My eyes tracked over him and a nasty sense of foreboding filled me as I noted his bandaged fingers, his bruises, and the unsteady breathing. These were all fresh injuries.
As I came to this conclusion, Mickey stirred and gave me a bemused look. “Hey, kid.” He tried to sit up and I shook my head coming around. “Michaelson. What can I do for you?”
“What the fuck did you tell Hendrix?” I asked.
Mickey shrank back, looking suddenly too old and heartbroken to be brawling with mobsters. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His gaze was a little foggy but his voice sounded strong, for all that it was ragged with pain. “Why are you here? Haven’t you and your cousin done enough?”
I sucked in a breath. “Ty said I didn’t hurt you.”
Mickey’s face twisted with consternation. “Sorry. You didn’t. You just got—” He swallowed. “I’m sorry, kid. I can’t imagine what kind of hell you grew up in.”
I pulled out my phone and started when I saw that I had a text from Flora, along with a picture.Danny—I think this is a burnercharger. I’ve never seen it before, but I found it in Lia’s things. Why does she have this?
“Oh hell,” I said. “Hendrix got to you and had you come up with some shit to make Lia go running to him, didn’t she?”
Mickey stared at me. “Lia—Lia Goldin?”
