“Hey, Aug,” Joe said.
How Auggie had gotten to a point in his life a man like Joe greeted him like they were buds, he had no clue.
Wait.
He did.
Cisco, who was an equal opportunity felon (this meant he dabbled in anything illegal that might make him money) had kidnapped the women—those women being Evie, Ryn, Hattie and Pepper—because he’d been framed for a murder he didn’t commit. And Evie had been pulled into that situation by members of her family.
After Cisco did that, Auggie’s entire crew had been dragged into the search for a ring of dirty cops.
“Joe,” Auggie replied.
“Come on in,” Joe invited, stepping aside.
Auggie entered.
Short hall that widened exponentially to a big room with an insanely good view of the lights of Denver beyond which, during the day, would be an even more insanely good view of the Front Range.
Yup.
Crime totally paid.
Auggie walked to the landing above a sunken living room, the edges of which were all one continuous couch or bench, including right up to the window. You could lie there and be nose to view, feeling like you were floating over Denver.
The place was stylish, neat and minimal to the point it didn’t look welcoming, comfortable or even lived in.
Aug knew Cisco didn’t spend a lot of time in Denver. He preferred the mountains.
But he needed a place in town, primarily to conduct business.
And this place gave nothing away about the man, which was a strong tactical move in his kind of business.
“Joe, we’re good.”
He heard this from off to his left, and he looked that way to see Cisco walking down a long hall wearing suit pants and shirtsleeves.
The minute they locked eyes, Cisco greeted, “Hello, Auggie. Can I get you a drink?” like Aug was there to catch a game.
“You can tell me why a number that Juno used to phone me traces directly back to you. And then you can promise me you won’t have anything to do with Juno at all, unless Pepper invites that, from now until the day you die,” he replied.
Aug felt Joe hesitate, but Cisco glanced at him and shook his head.
Joe took off.
Cisco kept moving until he got to a side cabinet that butted a pristine kitchen that was entirely white. Gleaming white cabinets with no handles. Sleek white countertops. Glossy white backsplash. Three white light fixtures hanging over the island.
Cisco touched a panel, it sprang open, he pulled open its mate and revealed a wet bar.
He turned to Auggie.
“I’ll repeat, can I get you a drink?”
“No,” Auggie answered.
Cisco went about making himself a vodka rocks.
Auggie practiced patience while he did that.
He then lost his patience.
“Cisco,” he warned.
The man turned with glass in hand.
“Juno came to me. I gave her the phone because I didn’t want her conniving again with one of her friends to cover for her while she walked alone to someplace she could meet me, which was what she did the first and only time we met,” Cisco shared.
Auggie stood unmoving and tried not to think of Juno alone on the streets of Denver, making her way to some meeting place that clearly not her mother, nor any other adult, knew about.
Aug was a kid guy. He loved kids.
It did not take deep reflection to understand he liked being around kids for two reasons.
One, because kids were awesome.
Two, because his childhood was so fucked up, he was all for being that guy you could have fun with, that guy who was never too serious, that guy who understood viscerally that you were only a kid once, and you should make the most of it, because it didn’t last.
But Juno was more.
Juno was cute, sweet, open, funny, smiled quick, and her eyes were always bright and happy.
And she was Pepper’s.
“We met at Fortnum’s and Tex MacMillan would tear off his own arm if it meant keeping her from harm, even if he doesn’t know who she is,” Cisco continued. “And Tex was there. So she picked well. But mostly, she picked lucky. Since she was desperate enough to do that, I felt establishing a safe line of communication was in order.”
“Why was she meeting you at all?”
“Because she very much wants her mother to fall in love with you and she was enlisting support in her efforts to make that happen.”
Auggie felt his chin list back into his neck and his eyebrows go up. “Say again?”
“I think you heard me.”
Cisco took a sip of his vodka then wandered to the island where he leaned a hip against it.
And then he kept talking.
“Now is the part where I would have told you, if Juno was keeping you from taking things forward with Pepper, or if she was what was keeping Pepper from taking things forward with you, neither of you have to worry about that. It’s safe to say Juno is very much at one with the idea of you two being a couple, and I sense this has to do with the fact she very much wants her mom to be happy and thinks you can make her that way. However, I won’t say that. Instead, I’ll ask why in the fuck you called her mother a cocktease.”