Rory’s the last one to head down the stairs, and I stand at the top of the stairs, listening while they talk in agitated voices on the way out. Once the front door closes behind them, the house turns quiet, and I feel weirdly unsettled.
Almost worried for them, although I’d stick hot pokers in my eyes before I’d admit that out loud.
It’s probably going to be dangerous, whatever they end up doing, and I keep thinking about how Levi’s brother was killed in a confrontation with the Jackals. When things were really bad. They’re getting bad again, he told me, and I stand with my fingers wrapped around the rail for a second as I contemplate that.
But I don’t have time to worry about them. Not that I am worried. They can handle themselves, and it’s no problem of mine if they can’t.
With the house empty, it’s the perfect opportunity to do some snooping. It’s so rare that I’m alone in their home, and I don’t know how long they’ll be gone for. They have to get to this building, wherever it is, deal with the shit that’s going down, and then come back. I’m guessing that’ll take a good bit of time, but I move quickly anyway, starting with Sloan’s room since it’s the closest.
His room is surprisingly neat, and unsurprisingly sparse. There are no decorations or trinkets laid out, and his bed is mostly made. There’s a laptop on the desk, the one I see him working on sometimes, but when I lift the lid and wait for it to wake up from sleep mode, it prompts me for a password. I have no idea where to start even thinking up what Sloan might set as a password, so I close the laptop and look around the desk more, finding a couple of post-it notes with two names written down on them, along with a time—ten p.m.
I commit the names and time to memory, then poke around a bit more. Once it’s clear I won’t get much else from Sloan’s room, I move on to Levi’s.
His has more personality, and it’s a bit messier. His laptop is also password protected, just like in Sloan’s, so I poke around in the desk drawers. When I come across a notepad with the same name and time written on it, I perk up. If both he and Sloan felt the need to write this down, it must be important.
I scan the paper, quickly realizing that Levi’s note has a date
at the bottom, not just a time. It was a few days ago, which probably means whatever this is about already happened.
My lips purse as my shoulders slump a little. I remember Levi telling me about a couple of big deals the Black Roses just did, so maybe this relates to one of those. But if it’s in the past, I’m not sure how much that’ll be worth to the Jackals. If I can find out what the Black Roses have coming up, the Jackals could sabotage their illegal dealings. But it’s hard to fuck with an event that’s already happened.
There’s something else written at the bottom of the note, and my eyes almost bug out of my head when I read it. It’s a sum of money larger than I’ve ever seen in my whole damn life.
Holy fuck.
So something definitely went down recently. A lot of money changed hands, and who knows what else. It’s good information, and I hope there’s another piece of the puzzle in Rory’s room.
His is the closest to mine, and the only one I’ve been in before. His laptop is open, but it needs a password to unlock it, so I ignore it and hunt around on the desk. There’s a picture of Piper in a popsicle stick frame, and I smile in spite of myself when I see it. Piper probably made it herself, and it’s not surprising that Rory keeps it right there on his desk so he can see it when he wants to. If ever there was a man who loves his daughter, it’s Rory.
By this time, it’s been about an hour since the guys left, and I move a little faster and more urgently as I open drawers in Rory’s desk, looking for more names or a date or something.
Then I hear an engine gunning outside, and the screech of tires. It takes me a second to realize the sound is coming from the driveway out front.
Shit. The guys are home.
Closing the drawer I was peeking in, I slip out and practically sprint down the hallway. I run down the stairs to the living room, managing to get myself parked on the couch with my phone out by the time the garage door opens. I try to look as bored and vegged out as possible, despite my racing heart. I want them to think I was just lying on the couch dicking around on my phone the whole time and definitely not snooping through their stuff.
“Careful,” Levi grunts as they come in.
“Son of a bitch.” Rory curses. “The bleeding hasn’t stopped.”
My head snaps up. I sit up straighter to look at them, shocked to see Sloan between Rory and Levi, his arms around each of their shoulders. There’s blood staining his shirt, red and vivid against the white fabric, and he looks pale and a little dazed as they get him inside.
My heart jerks a little to see him like that. In all the time I’ve been here, I’ve never seen him look so… human.
“What the hell happened?” I ask, getting up to follow them as they head for the kitchen.
“He got shot,” Levi replies, his voice tight.
Oh, fuck.
Of the three of them, Sloan has always seemed the most untouchable. He keeps everyone at a distance with his attitude, even Levi and Rory to a certain extent, and it’s weird now to see him leaning on them, letting them help him get into the kitchen from the front door. He’s not glaring or grumbling, and his jaw is tight, but probably from pain more than anger.
Between the two of them, the guys get him onto one of the stools at the kitchen island, and Sloan grimaces as he starts to undo his shirt, peeling it away from the wound in his side.
“Fuck, that hurts,” he grumbles.
“Course it does. A bullet went clean through your side,” Rory retorts, helping him shrug off the shirt entirely. Even with all the blood, it’s clear to see he got tagged right in the side. It’s not as bad as it could be, but it definitely needs some care.