Me: It’s on my list for tonight.
Harlow: Good. Just wanted to make you smile. Hope your day isn’t too shitty.
Me: Trust me, you made me smile. See you tonight.
As I sent my last text to Harlow, Bourne called me.
“What’s up, Bourne?” I asked, keen to get this phone call over with fast.
“I’m wondering where you and I stand? I never did hear back from you after you left Adelaide.”
“I’m putting together a plan to deal with Julio.”
“Good. The sooner the better.”
“Let’s get one thing straight here, Bourne – once this is done, you’ll owe me, and when I come calling on that favour, you won’t hesitate to say no.” No need for him to know I was already working on this plan before he asked me to do it.
Silence for a moment, and then – “Agreed.”
“I’ll let you know when it’s done.” I hung up without waiting for his response.
“Just for the record, again, I truly despise that asshole,” Griff said.
I let the tension in my body go, and blew out a harsh breath. “I’m with you on that.”
After we left the last place we visited, we walked the block back to where we left our bikes. Reaching for his helmet, Griff said, “You wanna try Scarlett’s brother again?”
We had visited his place this morning and he wasn’t home. I nodded. “Yeah, let’s see if we have better luck this time. And then we need to check in with J and Nash to see if they have anything new on Julio.”
Surely we’ve gotta have some luck somewhere today.
* * *
Scarlett’s brother, Bailey, lived in what could best be described as a hovel. When we arrived there the second time for the day, it was clear someone had visited him since our first visit. Where his house had been closed up earlier, the front door had been kicked in since and the place had been trashed. And Bailey was still nowhere to be seen.
I called Scarlett. “Your brother still isn’t home. Do you have any idea where else he might be?”
“He mainly hangs out at a local pub when he’s not working, and sometimes he’s at his on-off girlfriend’s place. I’m not sure if they’re together at the moment, though.”
“Can you text me those addresses and I’ll check them out?”
She agreed and we ended the call.
Griff was poking around in the kitchen and looked up as I entered the small room. “This guy’s got a bad addiction. I don’t reckon Scarlett’s got a chance in hell of helping him kick it.”
I had to agree with him. Bailey’s kitchen counter was littered with used needles and other shit. Not only was he a junkie, he was a dirty fuck who didn’t like to clean up after himself.
My phone began ringing and Griff eyed it. “Jesus, your phone never shuts up.”
Blade.
“Tell me this is good news,” I said as I answered him.
“Sorry, can’t do that.” The tense strain in his voice was undeniable – Blade had more bad news for us.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“It’s Rogue.”