Page 70 of Stone
“And in the meantime, Juls isn’t safe,” Mantis said.
“It sounds like neither of them are, if they found Stone’s house in San Francisco,” Charley pointed out.
“They may not know who I am,” Simon said. “Neither the truck nor the house are in my name. They’ve figured outsomeonefrom the club is involved, but maybe not which one of us.”
Charley cast an alarmed look at Mantis. He picked up her hand, kissed it, then set it on his thigh, covering it with his own. “The security measures we have in place here are the best,” he said. “It’s safe. And for those of us who have homes elsewhere, we have top-notch security there, too. Your brother and his team recently added a few additional perks,” he said to her.
Mantis’s comments seemed to reassure Charley, but still, she turned to Juliana. “What about you? You must be staying somewhere safe.”
Juliana barely had time to register the heat blooming on her chest when Simon answered. “She’s staying with me.”
The guys already knew, but still, a flush of embarrassment crept up her chest. She and Simon were adults making adult decisions, she told herself. Unfortunately, that truth didn’t silence the voice in her head—the one that sounded like her aunt telling her that she was too weird, too awkward, too heavy forany man to truly want. The one telling her that, like a whore, her only value to a man was what lay between her legs because no one would ever want her for anything else.
Intellectually, Juliana could not be more misaligned with her aunt—there were so many things wrong with the woman’s outlook. Still, the lectures, the insults, the judgments, thedisgusthad left their mark.
“Oh, good,” Charley said in response to Simon’s statement. “I’m glad to hear that. It’s always safer to be with someone.” She paused. “Well, the right someone, anyway.”
Juliana heard no judgment in Charley’s response, only genuine relief. Still, she set her half-eaten burger down and picked up her glass of water.
“What’s your next move?” Juan asked.
She took a sip of her drink, hoping the cold beverage would settle her stomach. As if sensing her distress, Simon’s hand began rubbing small circles on her lower back. Sherman crawled under the table and set his nose in her lap.
“Agent Parks may take the case over,” Simon said.
“The FBI could take years to investigate,” Mantis pointed out.
“All the while, Juliana could still be in danger,” Charley added.
“We’ve been talking to Leo,” Philly said, finally joining the conversation. She glanced at him, and he cast her a worried look before turning his attention to Charley. “Can HICC take over? They have to go through all the same motions as the FBI, but they do it a thousand times faster.”
Charley looked at her as she explained. “They have an agreement with several law enforcement agencies,” she said. “I don’t totally understand it, but they can request to take on certain cases—usually ones tied to employees of HICC ortheir families—and in exchange for being granted subcontractor status, they provide assistance on other cases the agencies keep.”
Juliana started to point out that she wasn’t family, but Scipio spoke first.
“Based on what I’ve heard, the triad are little more than glorified thugs,” he said.
“Big fish in a small pond,” Griswold added.
“My guess is it won’t take much for one of them to cave. My bet would be on either Lowery or Polinsky,” Scipio said.
“I’d like to see that,” Monk chimed in for the first time.
“So would I,” Lovell agreed.
“You’d have to get them into questioning first,” Simon pointed out. “Parks mentioned doing that, but I don’t know if she has enough intel to pull it off. Or if she wants to tip her hand before the bureau has more evidence.”
“If it’s not official, it doesn’t matter,” Griswold said.
Dottie frowned. “What does that mean?”
Scipio crossed his arms and leaned back. “It means that if we don’t want to wait and see what the investigation reveals, our best bet is to get the men talking.”
“No,” Simon said at the same time as Mantis.
Juliana frowned. “What am I missing?”
“Nothing,” Simon said as Mantis shot each of the Falcons a look daring them to disagree. Philly and Monk appeared on board with whatever Simon and Mantishadn’tsaid. Viper appeared thoughtful, while both Lovell and Scipio looked to be biting their tongues.
