Page 149 of Coff

I wake the next morning surprised to find Ozzie sitting up in bed, wide awake, staring at his phone.

“Good morning,” he says. “You should check your phone.”

I grab my phone from the nightstand. “It’s dead.”

“Here,” Ozzie unhooks his from a charge. “Use this.”

“Thanks. You carry chargers on you now?” I plug my phone in.

“No, I asked if they had one I could use when I checked us in last night.” He nods at my phone. “That’s going to be a while. Reed sent us a message this morning.” He turns his phone around so I can read it.

I read it again as it sinks in. “Holy shit. We took out Manzia’s biggest enemy?”

Ozzie nods.

Maybe there is hope. “If we can take out the other enemies, then she can be free.”

Ozzie smiles. “That’s what I was thinking, but based on what I’ve dug up, there are a lot of enemies.”

My phone rings. “Guess it’s partly charged now. It’s Reed,” I say, then answer it. “Reed?”

“I’m about five minutes away. Just wanted to give you a warning so you didn’t get spooked when I knock on the door.”

I laugh. “All right. I’ll let everyone know.”

I end the call and tell Ozzie Reed’s on his way. Then I turn to Delaney and kiss her cheek to wake her up.

She smiles as she slowly wakes up. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. Reed is going to be here in about four minutes.”

Her eyes widen, and she jumps up and runs to the bathroom. She’s still in there when Reed knocks on the door. Ozzie checks through the peephole and then opens the door.

Reed walks in carrying what appears to be a grocery bag on top of a pizza box.

“I figured you guys might be hungry.”

“Pizza for breakfast?” I ask.

Reed frowns and then glances at Ozzie, who is grinning.

“Late lunch. Check the time.”

I do, and it’s almost one in the afternoon. “Late lunch? You mean normal lunch?”

Ozzie takes the pizza from Reed. “I don’t care what we’re calling it. I really appreciate it. Thank you.” Ozzie sets the box on his bed and opens it up. “Pepperoni. Perfect.” He takes a slice and has it half eaten by the time he finally looks up. “What? I’m hungry.”

Reed shakes his head. “Anyway, I have something for Delaney.”

“I’m here,” she says as she steps out of the bathroom. Her hair is wet from a quick shower.

Reed pulls a white envelope out of the bag and hands it to her. She opens it up and spills the contents onto our bed. Then her glassy eyes meet mine. “Brian did it. He got me a new identity. But he said it could take days.”

This is really happening.

“Due to the urgency, he was able to push it through faster than normal,” Reed says.

“Urgency?” I ask. “We just took out one of Manzia’s biggest enemies last night. We take out a few more and she can stay.”

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