“I really need to finish my packing,” Raine stated. “I’m sure Laura would like to join you though.”
Thank you, Raine.
We paid the bill and headed outside to part ways. Before we could, John Paul called me over for a cigarette. Raine rolled her eyes, but she was happy enough to chat with Lindsay and Nick a little longer before we headed back to the condo.
“We got interrupted.”
“Yeah,” I said as I lit my smoke, “what were you going to say?”
“It’s about Landon.”
“What about him?”
“Well, he is basically the next logical dude in succession after Franks,” John Paul said. “The thing is, they’d been arguing—arguing a lot. People knew about it, and now everyone’s convinced he put out the hit on Franks.”
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “What’s he going to do?”
“It sounds like he’s made a run for it,” John Paul said. “No one’s seen him since this morning when Moretti made the accusation.”
I considered the information for a moment. Normally, I would have thought Landon was too difficult to track, and he’d never be found by anyone. However, I had found him, and I wasn’t a bounty hunter. If I could trace him, maybe someone else could, too.
My thoughts shifted to Evan Arden. If anyone could find and locate Landon, it would be him, but he was dead as far as Moretti was concerned.
Wasn’t he?
Would he have gone against everything he seemed to believe and contact Moretti to let him know he had survived? Had he even gone as far as to tell him about the hit on Franks and to plan to blame it on Landon the whole time? Just how devious was this guy?
I had no idea.
The whole line of thinking made me uncomfortable, and John Paul was giving me a bit of a look, so I swallowed and focused my thoughts elsewhere.
“Landon could be in trouble,” I said.
“I know,” John Paul agreed. “That’s why I’m leaving. Tonight.”
“I’m not getting involved,” I stated. “No fucking way.”
“Not asking you to, bro,” he said. “I just wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate it.”
We shook hands, and John Paul walked off toward his car as I rejoined Raine and her friends.
Lindsay decided to stick around for a bit and keep Alex occupied so Raine and I could finish the packing. The whole condo was a fucking disaster of boxes. I didn’t know how we had managed to accumulate so much shit in the brief time we’d lived here, but I was sure it wasn’t mine. I blamed Lindsay and the effect her addictive shopping habits had on Raine.
They had both bought a shit ton of stuff for Alex, too. The kid had more toys than he knew what to do with, and all he cared about was drawing and playing with any kind of blocks you put in front of him. He was either going to end up in art school or engineering school.
I made sure Alex and Lindsay were occupied with a movie on Disney before I snuck off to the bedroom. Raine’s ass was sticking out of the closet and making me want to grab on to it for a little ride. I didn’t though.
Focus.
I took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. My hands were shaking a little, and I rubbed them against my thighs to try to make them stop. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this. Maybe I should just wait until we were all moved in to the new place. Right now, it was too easy for her to grab her stuff and take off if I fucked this up.
She wouldn’t do that.
I couldn’t quite convince myself.
Just fucking do it, you pussy.