Page 80 of Degradation
‘None of your business,’ he shrugs.
Then, he surveys me with a knowing look. ‘Haven’t seen you in days. Where you been?’
I let out a long sigh. ‘Cops raided the club.’
‘Like we thought they would.’
I nod. ‘They didn’t find anything. Everything was moved out and the basement is secure, but they’re watching us. There are plain clothes in there every night. Sandy is pretty good at noticing them, so I keep putting her on the door.’
‘Good idea. Anything else?’
‘I haven’t had time to go see Sark and he’s been busy dealing with his own shit, but I will have to soon.’
I run a hand through my hair as Blake closes his eyes and tips his head toward the ceiling.
‘What are you gonna tell him?’
‘What can I tell him?’ I whisper urgently. ‘Just wait longer? We need results and we need them quickly. They aren’t going to let us have any more time to give them what we promised.’
I clench my fists. ‘Fuck Angelo Giuliani for not keeping his mouth shut! If it wasn’t for him, the other juniors would never have had to take the fall for us last year, and we wouldn’t be in this position.’
Blake shrugs. ‘Well, he didn’t, and we are. Mav thinks we’re close though. You should go to the lab tomorrow and see if any lightbulbs turn on with a new pair of eyes on it.’
‘Yeah,’ I mutter. ‘I’ll try but I have to go see my father in the morning.’
He straightens a little, his eyes narrowing. ‘What about?’
‘Could be anything.’
‘Could be Daisy,’ he says.
I nod. ‘Could be Daisy,’ I agree.
‘If it is, can you spin it?’
‘Yeah, I’ll have to figure out what he knows first. Hopefully, he hasn’t heard about her change in majors, but she’s registered in her dad’s name, so it might be okay. I’m the one who's supposed to be keeping tabs on her, so I doubt he’s got anyone else watching her.’
Blake's concerned face stares at Daisy’s door, seemingly deep in thought for a few seconds. ‘What about Applegate? Would he have mentioned anything?’
I shake my head. ‘No, not to John Novelle. Applegate’s quiet about it, but they aren’t friends, and he seems sort of...protective of Daisy. It’s kind of weird. I can’t work out if it’s because she’s brilliant or if it’s something else. But, at the moment, he’s on her side and on ours.’
With a snort, Blake takes a step back toward Daisy’s room. ‘At the momentis right. But we know how fast loyalties switch in Richmond, especially when there’s money involved. Applegate’s on our side so long as we’re lining his pockets. But if we can’t figure out how to make Envy work properly, our friends will start disappearing like shadows in the light.’
‘Yeah,’ I nod.
‘Go to bed. It’s late and you need to be able to think on your feet tomorrow if you’re dealing with John.’
He turns to go back into Daisy’s room, and I frown.
‘You’re going back in there?’
He snorts. ‘I told you; she asked me.’
‘Why?’ I ask, my gaze boring into his face.
‘What do you mean ‘why’?’
‘You forget, I know her better than you do. She wants you in her bed with her? Bullshit. I know for a fact that she prefers to sleep alone, with no one touching her.’
