Page 44 of Heart Stopping
Although, they were similar, now I thought about it.
"Yeah it could have been worse," Cass agreed. "So, what do we do now? I want to help." He pressed his lips into a line so tight they went white. "I've waited long enough for justice for Auggie."
"We need to figure out where Fairfield is and how to get at him," Harlow said. "When and where he's the most vulnerable." A fire burned in her eyes, like she was ready to burn the world down on behalf of her sister.
Totally fair. If I had a sister and anyone did to her what they'd done to Lettie, I'd burn the whole fucking universe down. Same if anyone tried to touch a hair on Harlow's head. It wouldn't be the first time I'd cut off hands. It wouldn't even be the first time I slapped them across the face with their own fingers.
That was funnier than it should have been.
No, it was just fucking funny.
You should have seen the expression on the guy's face. Somewhere right between offended and in a shit ton of pain. It was a thing of beauty.
"I can get a hold of his schedule," Cass said. "That shouldn't be too difficult. Taking down his security system long enough for us to get in and out is doable." His mind was turning over with thoughts and plans, I could see that in his eyes. Although, I suspected his ideas were straight out of a Hollywood movie. I liked the guy, but he had a lot to learn. He better learn it quickly.
"You won't be going in with me," Harlow told him.
"Us," I corrected. "I'm not sitting out."
She looked like she was about to start arguing with me, but closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.
"We need to make a plan," she said. "Then we can work out who's doing what."
"I can get behind that," I said. Of course, I was going to make sure I was as involved as possible. I'd be happy to go in alone if need be. Whatever it took to get the job done.
She raised an eyebrow at me in justified suspicion. Yes, I was up to something, why else would I back down so quickly?
We both knew what I was up to. I wasn't going to be left out. Never let it be said that I wasn't a stubborn prick.
"Okay, let's get that schedule first," she said. "Then we can go from there." She rose and moved the laptop back into the center of the desk. "You think you can find it without seeing anything else?" From the way her hand pressed down on the lid of the laptop, she wasn't going to open it again if it meant confronting Cass with more.
"It's probably publicly available," Cass said. "I won't need to go back into that…area." He rolled the chair closer. "He'll notice if we delete all of that, won't he?" He sounded regretful.
"He might," she agreed. "Once we deal with him, we can delete it. Or make sure the cops find it. They'll be looking for a motive. We can give them one. Let them see what he was really like. Hopefully that will give everyone some closure."
I'd like to think the police wouldn't look quite as hard for his killer once they realized he got exactly what he deserved. Unfortunately, every cop I'd ever met was dogged about doing their duty. Even if they completely agreed with what we did, they'd keep looking until the trail went stone cold. Which would be quick, because we were, after all, good at covering our asses.
Sometimes I felt sorry for them. I thought about joining the force when I was younger. Once I saw how tied their hands were by the law, I abandoned the idea. Having to abide by the rules would have driven me crazy.
If I wore a hat, I'd take it off to them. Instead, I occasionally threw them a proverbial bone. Making sure they got leads to find the kind of people who deserved to be locked away, rather than dead.
I'm a vigilante, not an asshole.
"Right." Cass waited until Harlow stepped aside before easing the laptop open and waking up the screen. He closed out of the files he'd hacked into and tapped at the keyboard, looking for Fairfield's schedule.
I watched Harlow watching him, her expression difficult to read. She really didn't want to drag him into this, but he was in it. I understood her apprehension. Not just bringing a guy like this into the craziness, but working with him, me and Archer as well.
And dating us. Yeah, I knew Archer had a thing for her too. This whole situation could easily become complicated, and people like us didn't like complications.
As for me, I couldn't drag myself away from her if I wanted to. I could very easily fall for this woman. I'd die for her. I'd definitely kill for her. I'd drive a knife into Cass' neck right now if he showed any sign of not being on our side. If he didn't think I’d watch him closely, then he needed to think again.
People like me, we didn't survive by being naïve. We survived by being untrusting, suspicious pricks. Something I definitely intended to continue being for as long as I lived.
"Okay, I'm in," Cass said. He leaned in closer to the screen. "This lists every place he'll be for the next eight weeks.” After a few moments of reading, he whispered, "Fuck…"
CHAPTER 17
HARLOW
