Page 52 of Hidden But Not Safe

She also understood his communication style much better than anyone else, even Diego. Most of his conversations with his friend were one-sided.

Diego said nothing while Naz gathered the cameras. He just rubbed the child’s back and stared down a nearby hallway with a worried frown.

The hallway was dim, not dark. The house itself, what Naz could see anyway, was nice. It reminded him of the house he’d grown up in when he was little. Not in size, it was much bigger than what his father had been able to afford, but in the neatness of it, the well-used but comfortable-looking furniture.

“You’re bugging the place kind of catacorner to us in the back. 2527.” Diego’s gaze focused on him. “Be careful. There are a few fuckers hanging around. If you can’t get all the cameras up, a few should be good enough. Ram said they weren’t very careful.”

Naz didn’t bother to say anything, but the idea that it might take a while made the muscles in his neck tighten. Meg would be fine, he reassured himself. Better than staying back at the warehouse would have been for her. He glanced at Diego, wondering if he should say anything about bringing her along, but he left without trying instead.

Crossing through the backyards was simple enough. The neighborhood was nowhere near as nice as the last one Diego had been placed in. Though there were fences, most were chain-link and sagging or missing chunks.

The property was a piece of shit, one that should have been demolished instead of left standing. Naz’s nerves skittered when he peered inside. Not because he was going to have trouble getting in. The few men he saw were sprawled around the living room, sleeping off whatever they’d pumped into their veins. They looked like they used more of what they made than they sold, but that wasn’t his problem either.

The inside reminded Naz of the second place he’d been locked up in after his father was murdered. It hadn’t been the worst. He’d been mostly stuck in a room and ignored, but he’d also been forced to consume shit his body couldn’t process, not at that age. It’d made him paranoid as hell, and the walls had bled together.

Bleeding walls had been better than the reality.

No one in the room stirred as he set up the first camera. The back rooms were empty except for someone collapsed on the bathroom floor, a needle sticking out of his arm.

Since he had extra cameras, Naz set up a few around the outside of the house. Night had fallen, and the streetlights were shit out front. If anyone saw him, he doubted they would care, but he was quick to finish anyway.

There was a detached garage that screamed drug activity. He set up the last couple of cameras there, both inside and out, then made his way back across the yards.

When Naz returned to the living room, Diego had swiveled to use one hand on the computer desk in front of him. He’d already pulled up the feeds on most of the monitors.

His other hand still absently rubbed the toddler’s back while she drooled on his inked chest. He looked comfortable with her.

“At least this job will be simple,” Diego murmured in a voice almost too quiet to pick up. “Everything else I’m dealing with is damned complicated.”

Naz figured that was one word for it. He stared at the sleeping child and waited to see if Diego would ask for anything else. He sure as hell hoped it wouldn’t involve the toddler in any way.

Diego finished fiddling with the screens and swiveled toward him. “Not gonna ask?”

Naz shook his head.

Diego blew out a breath. “That’s typical. How are you holding up?”

Naz had no way of answering that. The only thing he was sure about was that having Meg nearby in the van made him feel more settled than he’d felt in days.

Diego studied his face. “Looks like not good but not as shitty as me. I’ve got a lot on my plate, but reach out to me or Ram if you need to.” He sighed, his hand moving from the toddler’s back to the hair on her head. “I guess I can skip the proof-of-life request for another week. Go ahead and get out of here.”

Naz didn’t look back, not wanting to see Diego that way anymore. While Diego had always been there for him, he’d always been careful not to touch Naz. It was stupid to be envious of a child.

Meg was awake, but she remained huddled in the passenger seat with her head propped in the curved edge. She was staring at the screen of his phone and jerked when Naz opened the driver’s door.

When she lowered the phone, it wasn’t his message she was looking at. It was his locked screen, where the picture she’d taken of the two of them still showed as the wallpaper.

He stared at the image until the screen went dark again, then climbed into the seat, his heartbeat thrumming.

“I’m sorry,” Meg mumbled, passing him the phone.

The apology pulled his gaze to her again. He had no idea what she was apologizing for.

“I’ve been stupid,” she said, twisting her fingers. “And a coward.”

He didn’t like the tight expression she wore. Or that she was calling herself names.

“Meg.”

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