Page 104 of The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The Second Collection
At six minutes, my phone goes.
“Walk out of the shop and turn left instead of going back to the bed and breakfast. Don’t look around. There’s an uber waiting two blocks down. Get in. The driver will hand you a piece of paper with directions. If I don’t meet you by midnight, you know where to go,” De Leon tells me.
“Got it.”
“Good. Go. And save me a pie.”
I hang up without answering or saying goodbye.
twenty-two
I followhis directions to the letter, sliding into the Uber’s back seat with my pulse banging in my ears and my fingers slippery on my phone.
I was calmer under fucking fire. I’m out of practice being in physical danger.
The Uber driver, a young Sikh with a full beard, bright blue turban, and lively eyes, passes me an envelope. “Where we off to, mate? Your friend told me to wait here for fifteen minutes but he was light on details.”
“Give me a second,” I say, opening the envelope and reading De Leon’s precise print.
Text only from now on until we’re back together. Tell the driver to drive towards Nadderwater, outside Exeter. If I don’t text you in thirty minutes, redirect the driver to the evac point.
I flip the phone over and set a timer.
“Nadderwater, buddy,” I say.
“Sure, mate. Usually, the destination has to be pre-booked, but your mate paid a hundred extra for the privilege, so I guess I’m going wherever you tell me to.”
“Good,” I nod, pulling a different phone out of my bag. I text Squid, then Manny and Logan.
Squid: Get your heart rate down or I’m sending an ambulance to your GPS.
I send him back a middle-finger emoji, but I put my head back against the Uber’s seat and take slow, deep breaths.
As I’m starting to focus on the rolling, green countryside beyond the window, my phone goes.
Logan.
“Get out of there, Max,” he says, without a hello. Picking up my bad habits. “I’m assuming De Leon has an escape plan. Take it. These interviews aren’t worth the risk.”
“I’m okay,” I reassure him, glad my voice is steady after Squid’s warning. “Just moving locations. And I’ve got a great lead I want to talk to you about. Did you ever meet, uh,herboyfriend, Fred?”
“No, but I vaguely remember her mentioning him once or twice. Who is he?”
“Long-time boyfriend. He wasthere.”
“Jesus,” Logan says softly. “Really? I didn’t think we had a shot at finding an eyewitness. Do you think he’ll talk to you?”
“Worth a try. The breakup was ugly. Destroyed his marriage. He might have an axe to grind.”
“Max, fuck. I have no way to thank you for this. But fuck’s sake, stay safe.”
“I will. I still think he’s only one step away from being on Interpol’s most wanted, but ourfriendknows his business.” I rub my hand over my face, remembering my conversation with De Leon over black pudding. I haven’t been able to talk with Logan without De Leon in the damn room, so I seize my chance and hope he hasn’t bugged this phone. “He’s asking a lot of questions about our girls. He’sinterested.”
Logan’s swallow rings over the phone. “Interested like he might want his own little, or interested like he might want to add one to his butterfly collection?”
“Personally, I think the latter, but he says he’s going to ask you to come to playgroup when we get back.”
“Uh, do you think that’s a good idea?” Logan asks.
