Call the Shots (Swim the Fly #3)(67)

As if on cue, there’s a pounding on the front door. The entire houseful of animals erupts into barks, hisses, and squawks.

I freeze. My eyes go wide. I look at Matt. At Coop. My hands start to shake.

Coop lets out a nervous laugh. “Come on. That’s so not him.”

Another set of bangs on the door. The sound of a massive fist beating on wood.

I gulp. “You guys, what the hell should I do?”

But Coop’s still in denial. “There’s no way. What are the chances of that? It’s like he followed Matt here and then waited for him to fill you in before —”

“I know you’re in there, Sean! You and your pals!”

There’s no doubt about it. That’s Nick’s voice.

He shouts again, and we have no trouble hearing him all the way up in my room: “You and me need to talk, guy, so get your ass down here right now!”





“ALONE, IF YOU DON’T MIND,” Nick says when I show up at the front door flanked by Matt and Coop.

“Whatever you need to say to Sean you can say to us,” Coop replies. He’s armed with a baseball bat. Matt wields my replica wakizashi sword. And I’m clutching my shillelagh like my life depends on it.

Which maybe it does.

Nick laughs. “You guys are cute.” He chin-gestures to the weapons. “I’m not going to hurt you, Sean. It’s true, my sister’s very upset, but I’m here as peacemaker. I swear.”

I don’t know why I believe him, but I do. Something about the tone of his voice. The look in his eyes. The lack of any visible firearms.

I turn back to Matt and Coop. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”

“You sure?” Matt asks.

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

“Okay.” Coop nods. “But we’ll be in the family room watching TV if you need us. Just give a shout.” He narrows his eyes at Nick as if warning him, then motions to Matt with his head. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Once they’ve gone, Nick shoots me a smile from the doorway. “May I come in?”

“Sure,” I say, moving back to let him enter. I rest my shillelagh against the wall.

Nick steps inside. “Cute dogs.” He squats as the pups jostle one another to get a cuddle, all of them in total suck-up mode. Not even Klaus is acting like the watchdog he’s supposed to be. Once Nick has given each of the animals some attention, he stands and faces me. “So. Let’s cut right to the chase. Yes?”

“All right.” I gulp.

Nick jams his hands into his coat pockets. “You f*cked up. You know that, right?”

I shake my head. “It wasn’t my fault. I don’t know what Evelyn told you but —”

“She told me you ditched her to meet up with a girl in your drama class.”

“I didn’t meet up with Leyna. I swear.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“You do?”

“Sure,” Nick says. “Because I happened to have been tailing her.”

My mouth goes dry. My heart starts pounding in my head. “I’m sorry, what? Tailing? As in . . . following her?”

He shrugs. “Evelyn asked if I would do a little investigating. Find out what I could about this drama-class girl. So, I got her name. Her address. And her cell-phone number.” He laughs, shaking his head. “GPS makes it so easy to follow people these days. Anyway, when I saw she was headed to the mall, I debated with myself whether or not to tell Evelyn. But I decided it was best to wait and see how things played out. I mean, I didn’t really think you’d be stupid enough to cheat on my sister right under her nose.”

“Ha. Yeah. That would have been really stupid. Can you imagine? I mean, who would even think to . . . Ha.” I take the most massive of massive palm whiffs. That flock of shitting gulls may have saved my life. Lucky boxers, indeed!

“Anyways,” Nick says, “I laid it all out for Evelyn last night — how this girl had some coffee by herself at DeLuca’s and then did a little shopping before heading off. And while Evelyn was extremely relieved to hear this, she’s still very hurt that you abandoned her. It was shades of our father all over again.”

“Right. No. I understand that.” I’m chewing the hell out of my tongue. “And I was trying to apologize when I called last night.”

Nick jabs me in the shoulder with his Navy SEAL finger, punctuating each sentence with a fresh poke. “Apologies don’t mean dick, Sean. You need to do something. To make it up to her. Something romantic. Something that says you value her.”

I resist the urge to rub the spot. “Okay, sure. Romantic. I can do that. Do you, uh . . . ? Do you have any suggestions?”

Nick smiles. “Funny you should ask.” He pulls a hand from one of his pockets and holds out a little red jewelry box.

I stare at it suspiciously. “What’s that?”

Nick thrusts his hand out to me. “Go on. Open it.”

I take the box and slowly lift the hinged cover, like whatever’s inside might spring out and bite me. Lying on a tiny cushion is a pair of sparkling blue sapphire earrings. “Wow. Those look . . . expensive.”

“Not too bad,” Nick says. “I know a guy who knows a guy. They only set you back a hundred and fifty bucks. But Evelyn’s worth it. She’s had her eyes on those babies for a while now. Of course, you wouldn’t know that, so I thought I’d help you out. Plus I’ve made a reservation at Le Chat Noir for the two of you for Valentine’s Day.”