“In cash?”
“Yeah, then he took off with two guys.”
Fear cut through me like a blade. It must have been Muratti. His goons had let Daddy pack. Given him that false sense that everything could be worked out.
I swallowed, forcing myself to push back the fear and focus. “Tell me about the two guys.”
The clerk’s face scrunched up as he remembered. “Um, a pretty-boy type in a suit, and a black guy—maybe some Hispanic blood there, too, had that light-skinned look, you know? But who can tell? Big, though. He was in a suit, too.”
“Did they say their names?” I asked, though I knew the answer would be no before he said so.
That didn’t matter, though. I knew who the men were.
Evan and Cole.
Shit.
Cole had come up with a plan, all right.
But despite looking me in the eye and promising to keep me in the loop, he’d gone and moved my dad without telling me a thing.
He’d lied to me, goddammit.
And that, frankly, pissed me off.
I sat in my car with the engine off and the top down and worked the phone. Not that it made a difference. Neither Cole nor Evan were answering, and though I caught Angie at work, she didn’t know a thing.
“Evan only said that he and Cole had something to take care of this morning. Why? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” I felt guilty that Angie knew nothing about my dad. Hell, about my old life. But how could I tell her now? “Nothing,” I repeated. “Long story.”
“Does this have anything to do with you and Cole finally hooking up?”
I’d been eating one of the bean and cheese burritos, and now I choked. “Oh my god. What did he tell you?”
Angie’s delighted laugh sparkled across the phone line. “Nothing, are you kidding? When has Cole ever overshared?”
“But—”
“He didn’t tell me or Evan anything. Or, if he told Evan, then he’s keeping it to himself.”
“Like Evan would keep something from you,” I said.
“I know, right?” She said the words matter-of-factly, like a given, and I felt a tinge of jealousy. How nice to know someone so well. To trust them so completely.
“I figure Cole is keeping quiet,” she continued. “No, Kat, the sad truth is that you are the source of your own intelligence leak.”
“Me!” My voice rose indignantly—at least until I figured it out. “Flynn,” I said.
“I had breakfast with him this morning. He sends his love. And,” she added airily, “he told me to tell you that the apartment did not burn down last night, in case you’d acquired some misinformation and that’s why you didn’t go home.”
“You know I hate you both.”
She laughed. “You do not. That’s why you’re my maid of honor.”
I made a grunting noise of acquiescence. “All right. Maybe I love you. A little.”
“Mutual, Kat. And I’m thrilled about you and Cole. I mean, that’s been a long time coming.”
“No kidding.”
“Listen, I have a meeting in a minute, but tell me quick what’s going on with your house.”
“I close tomorrow,” I said, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.
“I thought it was tomorrow. That’s so cool.”
“I’m giddy,” I admitted. “It’s like a rite of passage or something.” I hesitated, then pressed on. “Listen, about the house. There’s something else—”
“What’s wrong?” I heard the sharp note of concern in her voice.
“Nothing. I swear. It’s just this thing I’ve been thinking about. You know, my ever-present plan to get rich quick. Only I’m not sure this would be quick.”
“I’m intrigued. Tell me about it over drinks?”
“You get married in a week,” I reminded her. “When are we supposed to do that?”
“Maybe before the bachelorette party? Or breakfast? Anytime really, if I can tear you away from Cole.”
“Speaking of, I need to try again to track him down. And you need to go to your meeting. We’ll figure it out,” I promised, then we said our goodbyes and ended the call.
Angie was smart. If getting into real estate was a bad idea, she’d tell me. Mostly, though, I just liked knowing that I had a friend to share my plans with.
I sat in my car and ran my fingers through my hair, wondering when in hell I’d become so settled?
And how the hell could I be settled with a missing con man of a father, and two of Chicago’s most wanted escorting him around the city?
The knights own a lot of businesses, and I called every one of them. No Cole, no Evan, no Tyler. And the more time passed without any word—without any report as to where they’d taken my dad or what the plan for keeping him safe was—the more my temper soared. And, yes, so did my worry.
I had no real reason to go see Sloane, but I did anyway. I told myself I wanted to know if she had a clue. And if she didn’t, I wanted a distraction. But it was more than that.
I was about to buy a house, I was getting serious about a guy, and I was thinking about pursuing an actual career outside of the coffee-pouring arts.
I was putting down roots, just like I had told my dad.
In other words, I was looking dead center at Big Life Things, and coming clean with my friends was part of making those things happen.
This new life I was building—this life that I’d be starting tomorrow when I signed my closing papers—needed a solid foundation. But until I cleared up a few lies of omission, that foundation didn’t exist, and I was terrified that one day everything that I’d built would crumble, and everything I wanted and loved would shake and fall and turn to rubble.