Becoming Rain (Burying Water #2)(88)

Luke’s brow spikes. “The good stuff?”

I roll my eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t.” His fingertip tugs at the V at my T-shirt, exposing the lace on my bra. “Why don’t you show me.”

I smack his hand away with a smile and point at the screen.

“Fine . . . Maybe there’s a good movie on. One without aliens.” He scrolls through the pay-per-view channels, taking a second to check his phone screen. He frowns.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just . . .” His frown deepens, and he moves to set his phone back down on the end table. “Nothing. I was just expecting a call.”

“Oh yeah? A work call?” The dragonfly pendant hanging around my neck weighs ten pounds tonight.

Elmira’s words weigh ten times that.

I’ve replayed them all afternoon, twisting and turning them, trying to read between them. Unable to figure out her motives. Aref’s wife wants Luke and Rust to back out of the deal. She can’t know I’m investigating him; otherwise she’d never bother trying to get me to steer Luke away from business with Aref.

Unless she knows that I’ve already been sabotaging the case so far.

I’m torn between doing my job—or at least, making it appear like I am—and relaying Elmira’s warning, something I can’t do with ears on me.

“I’m just waiting for Rust to call me, to sort something out.”

Perfect intro. “How is he after last night? Did he and that Vlad guy work things out?”

He snorts. “I doubt it. That guy’s an *.”

“I’m sure your uncle wouldn’t want to lose his business, though, right?” I choose my words carefully so as not to repeat anything we’ve shared in our private moments, going off only what’s been captured on the wire. But it’s getting harder to distinguish the conversations; there have been so many private moments now.

“No, not yet anyway. Not until he has things up and running with Aref.”

I curl up into his chest. Hating myself for setting him up like this. “How long will that take?”

“Well, we’ve got a deal with Vlad next week and one with Aref in about a month, so we’ll see how that goes.”

I close my eyes against the sound of that “we.” “Big ones?” I hear myself ask.

He sighs. “Yeah. One of them’s worth—” A phone rings and Luke’s hand jumps, his words dropping off. But it’s not his phone ringing. It’s mine. There are only two people who have that number besides Luke: Sinclair and Warner. But neither would be calling me while I’m meeting with my target.

Unless it’s serious.

“Sorry, I need to grab this. I was waiting for my mom to call.” I step over Licks and Stanley, curled up on what I’d now call the communal bed, and move to where Luke won’t hear the male voice on the line.

“Hi.”

“Can you talk?” Warner’s gruff tone fills my ear.

“Yeah.”

“We’ve got a big problem.” He sighs. “24’s body was found this morning.”

I turn toward the kitchen, away from Luke, so he can’t see the color drain from my face. “Why am I just hearing about this now?”

“Because I just found out an hour ago. I was waiting for Sinclair to make a call on our next move.”

Shit . . . “How bad?”

“Bad. Execution-style, in a black SUV. But he was obviously roughed up beforehand. The kind of roughed up when someone’s trying to get answers. I think this may have something to do with the Russians and this other deal.”

“No shit.”

Luke snorts in the background. I glance over my shoulder at him to find him staring at me in disbelief. “You talk like that to your mother?”

I turn away, feeling like I’m about to vomit. Luke’s listening to my conversation. I need to be careful what I say. “So what happens next?”

“Well, at first Sinclair was ready to bring 12 in and give him the hot-lamp treatment.”

“No!”

“He changed his mind. We don’t have 12 on anything solid. It’s better to see where his head’s at after he finds out. He may sing like a little choirboy. I just called Franky and Rix so they know. They’re listening in on this all right now. I’ve got more reinforcements coming. We need around-the-clock surveillance.”

“Is that the best choice?” I’m struggling to make my answers ambiguous to Luke but clear to Warner. “Is that the safest option?”

“It’s the only option right now because it’s what Sinclair has ordered. You need to stay on 12. Have your gun on you at all times.”

“How?”

“I don’t care how. Figure it out. If we lose 12 too, this case is dead.”

Lose Luke. I can’t even think about that without feeling a sharp pain piercing my heart. “Okay. Yeah, definitely. How long before . . .” Before Luke’s happy, oblivious bubble is crushed.

“Uniforms just pulled into his building. 12’s marked as his next-of-kin.”

Of course he is. And that’s why Warner called now. He had no other choice.

“Keep them from asking too many questions. We can’t let the locals f*ck up this case for us.”