Page 81 of Byte

I attempted to shrug and grimaced when a pain shot through my wounded shoulder. “If you’re referring to the man who was in cahoots with the crazy bitch who tried to kill me posing as my boyfriend and visiting my birth father in prison the same day said birth father was stabbed, I think I’m appropriately disturbed by the situation. If you’re referring to my inability to care for myself because of said crazy bitch, I’m frustrated and more irritable than usual,” I said and inhaled sharply as a new issue occurred to me. “Byte doesn’t have a bidet in his bathroom.”

Keegan pulled out her phone and started typing. “I’m ordering one for pickup right now. As long as you don’t have to poop before noon, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I never thought pain pills causing constipation would be a plus, but here we are,” I said flatly.

“Is it really that bad?” she asked.

“I guess not. It’s only been a day or two.”

“Not that. I meant everything else,” she said.

“What do you think? I’m drinking coffee through a straw.”

Her face scrunched in disgust. “Eww.”

“Exactly.”

24

BYTE

Ileft Gabby and Keegan in the common room and went to Phoenix’s office. I wasn’t surprised to find Shaker already there, filling him in. When Shaker got to the part about Lawrence’s visitor using an ID with my name, I opened up my laptop and showed him the screen. “Meet Chad.”

“This little shit is really starting to piss me off,” Phoenix said. “Basically, we know what he looks like but have nothing new to help us find him, correct?”

I nodded. “Pretty much. We could have somebody keep an eye on Lawrence’s hospital room in case he tries to visit him.”

“Might as well. We’ve got eyes on Gabby’s house and Lauren’s hospital room. Can you think of anywhere else he might show up?” Phoenix asked.

“Maybe my house, if he thinks Gabby’s there,” I suggested.

Phoenix nodded. “Shaker, you and Ranger hang out at Byte’s place today. Take his truck so it looks like he’s there.”

I frowned but held out my keys for Shaker. I understood why Phoenix didn’t send me to watch over my own house, but I still didn’t like it.

Shaker took my keys and clapped me on the shoulder. “Take care of my girls.”

“Of course,” I said and turned back to Phoenix. “Was the detective able to get anything out of Lauren?”

Phoenix shook his head. “No. Apparently, she isn’t as stupid as we’d hoped. He said she started saying ‘lawyer’ through her closed teeth the second he entered the room.”

“Maybe Carbon should try to talk to her,” I suggested, only half kidding.

Phoenix laughed. “I’m sure he’d be happy to give it a shot, but I’d prefer it be somewhere with less of an audience.”

“What about Lawrence? Any chance we could get someone to talk to him?”

“I’m sure Luke could get in to see him. Do you think he knows something?”

“He has to. He called Gabby six times yesterday right after Chad visited him. I doubt he suddenly had the urge to say hello after all these years. She said she didn’t want to know what he had to say, but I think it’s worth checking into.”

“I agree,” he said and reached for his phone. “I’ll give Luke a call. Anything else?”

“Is anybody free to hang out at the diner?” I asked. “I know there’s a slim chance he’ll show up there, but I’d like for Irene to have some help in case he does.”

He nodded. “I’ll send one of the guys at Gabby’s house to the diner.”

“Thanks, Prez,” I said and got to my feet. “I’m going to keep digging. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

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