Page 52 of Lovesick Titan

“What you do normally is more than enough, but if you think throwing me under the bus might protect him better…do it. I just want to keep him safe.”

Mrs. Pak tried to hold Danny longer, to talk to him more, but Danny politely declined. He didn’t know the rest of the neighborhood, other than Haven, so Mal wondered if he’d stop here, head home, jump away and be gone. He didn’t. As Mal snuck out of the corner store to continue tailing Danny, he watched him turn toward Andrews Electronics.

Shit.

Risking Danny spotting him, Mal hurried to get there first. He fumbled with the key when he reached the back door and was not at all stealthy as he entered. If Danny saw Priestly… More complications were not what they needed.

Mal rushed through the back room, nearly plowing into Arty who came toward him with a baseball bat raised, only to sag in relief when he saw that the person breaking into his shop in the middle of the day was Mal.

“Geez! Where’s the—”

“Hart!” Mal called, knowing he had moments before Danny entered.

“What?” Priestly’s disembodied voice yelled back in irritation.

“Get back here!”

The sound of the bell chimed just as Priestly’s head peeked around the side of the curtain. “What is your problem—”

“Excuse me?” Danny called from the front.

Mal pleaded intently with his eyes for Priestly to get with the program but Danny’s voice was enough. They’d crossed paths before as Hephaestus and Detective Grant. Priestly stiffened, straightened, caught between the front of the shop and the back, but at least he wasn’t facing Danny.

“Uhh…” he made a strangled effort to affect his voice, “one moment please!” and dove into the back, swiping the curtain shut behind him. He gestured madly at Arty to get out there instead.

Arty glanced between Mal and Priestly as he carefully set aside the bat he’d grabbed and opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on, but Priestly shook his head and Mal managed a very low, whispered, “Please.” Arty sighed.

“Hi there!” he said as he entered the front of the shop with a flourish. “Sorry about that. My engineer had an emergency. Dropping off or picking up? Or looking for something to buy?” At least Arty was a picture of calm, not even a mild hitch to his tone to betray what was going on behind the curtain—namely Priestly continuing to gesture emphatically while Mal brushed him off with a wave and moved to be within better hearing distance.

“I’m not here to shop, actually,” Danny said. “Are you the owner?”

“Technically my father is, but he doesn’t come in much anymore. How can I help you?”

“Oh. Well…you know, maybe this was a bad idea. I’ll just—”

“You’reDanny, aren’t you?” Arty said with a dawning of understanding.

Mal shot Priestly a glare, but Priestly just rolled his eyes.

“Uhh…yeah. So youdoknow.”

“About you and our dearTitan? ‘Fraid so. Don’t worry though, it isn’t my business. Was there something I could do for you? A message you wanted to pass along?”

“No. No, nothing like that. I’m just worried there might be some police coming by soon to ask questions. About him…and me. The comms he used, they came from this shop, didn’t they?”

Mal paled as Priestly glared at him. They were on either side of the curtain now, both trying to peek through the visible slits on the sides. All Mal could see was Arty’s back.

“Sorry, not at liberty to answer that, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, right, of course,” Danny chuckled nervously. “It’s just…I messed up and they’re in evidence now, and if that leads anyone back here, I wanted you to be prepared. I know how much he means to this neighborhood. I don’t want to ruin that just because I was careless.”

“So if anyone comes asking, what should I tell them?” Arty asked suspiciously. “Don’t think I’ll be sayingPrometheusstole anything.”

“No! No… I had something else in mind. Tell them you made those comms for Zeus.” Mal and Priestly stared at each other as Danny pushed on through the pregnant pause that followed. “I promise he’ll back up your story to the police. I think I finally figured out how to make things easier for everyone, but if they can’t be easier for me…that’s okay.”

Mal glanced back to see Arty nod. “I suppose I could say that. Doubt they’ll believe me, but if you really have that much clout with Zeus…”

“He works with my dad. He’ll agree to this. Don’t worry. Also, can you not tell Mal I was here? He doesn’t want to hear about me right now.”

---