A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(16)
“We can pretty much guarantee you’ll get anything you need, Doctor,” said Martine.
Maldonado was called away then by one of the technicians. Dominic came to stand by Levi’s side, gazing at the bodies.
“This is . . .”
“Sickening,” Levi finished for him. “These people weren’t even human to the Seven of Spades. They were practice dummies who were dumped like trash once they’d served their purpose.”
Levi didn’t need forensic evidence to confirm the truth he knew in his gut. This was the work of the Seven of Spades; there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his mind.
“Levi.” Martine waited for him to look at her before continuing, her expression troubled. “If this was the Seven of Spades . . . these bodies have been here for years. Years in which Leila was living in St. Louis, fifteen hundred miles away. It couldn’t have been her.”
Dominic woke to a cold, empty bed-which in itself wasn’t unusual, even on a weekend, but it troubled him after the events of last night. He dragged himself away from the lure of the blankets and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before going in search of Levi, noting how weird it felt to not have Rebel in the apartment. He’d dropped her off at his mother’s house before the wedding yesterday, and wasn’t planning to pick her up until their family brunch.
Levi was standing in the living room, looking out through the mesh grating on their balcony door, a coffee mug clutched in both hands. Dominic’s eyes flicked toward the kitchen, and he grimaced when he saw that the French press was already empty.
“Levi,” Dominic said softly from a fair distance away. It was never a good idea to catch him by surprise.
Levi turned around. He managed a weak smile, but there was a pale cast to his skin and purple hollows beneath his eyes.
Dominic recognized the aftermath of Levi’s recurring nightmare. “You’re supposed to wake me up when you have the dream,” he said, closing the distance between them and cupping the side of Levi’s face.
“You needed sleep.”
“I need to know you’re okay more than I need sleep.”
Levi lay one hand atop Dominic’s, pressing it more firmly against his face for a moment. He turned his head and kissed Dominic’s palm before pulling away.
“Same as usual?” Dominic asked.
“Every time. The setting changes, but the dream itself doesn’t.” Levi blew out a harsh breath, his attention returning to the grated door. “You know, I never catch up with whoever it is I’m chasing. Maybe that’s a good thing.”
Levi had been plagued by nightmares of being hunted by an unseen enemy for most of his life. When he and Dominic had gotten back together, though, he’d confessed that the roles in the dream had recently flipped: now Levi was the hunter, bloodthirsty and relentless, running down his hapless prey. These nightmares wreaked more havoc on him than the old ones had, especially after he’d put out Raul Acosta’s eye.
After watching the way Levi’s hand shook as he sipped his coffee, Dominic snagged a banana from the fruit bowl on the dining table. He gently tugged the cup away from Levi and pushed the banana into his hands instead. Levi grunted an objection, but then cooperated and peeled the banana.
Though Dominic was tempted to drink from the cup himself, he’d probably go into cardiac arrest if he drank the jet fuel Levi called coffee. He set it aside. “I know what triggered the dream this time, but there’s no point in stressing yourself out over what happened last night. It’s gonna take a while for those bodies to be identified, and there’s nothing else you can do about it until then.”
“That’s what I’m worried about. When the Seven of Spades finds out that their early victims have been discovered, they might just vanish, and then we’ll never catch them.”
Dominic shrugged. “It’s a possibility. But if someone from your life suddenly disappeared, at least you’d know the Seven of Spades’s identity for sure.”
Levi nodded thoughtfully and took a bite of his banana. Dominic squeezed his shoulder, then headed into the kitchen to make himself breakfast. Unlike Levi, he never voluntarily skipped meals; maintaining his muscle mass required a significant caloric intake.
Levi followed him, swallowing his mouthful. “Whatever surveillance measures you put in place to monitor Leila, you need to remove them as soon as possible. If she finds out-”
“I know. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow, though. She’s too likely to be home today.” Dominic pulled a saucepan out of the cabinet beside the stove. “Do you want to skip brunch at my mom’s later?”
“No. I like being around your family. They always distract me from whatever I’m worried about.”
“Because they’re the loudest, most opinionated human beings on Earth?”
Levi raised his eyebrows. “You really haven’t spent much time around Jewish families.”
Dominic laughed, leaning over to kiss Levi before he turned to the refrigerator.
They took separate cars to Dominic’s childhood home, as they were headed for different destinations after brunch. Levi did seem to relax during the leisurely meal, plied with rich comfort foot by Dominic’s mother and grandmother and quality wine by his sisters. Dominic was less concerned about him when they went their separate ways-Levi to Counterstrike to train with Adriana, Dominic and Rebel to follow Miranda Cassidy’s ex-husband.