Page 218 of Dark Love

Dahlia: Every woman does.

Should I write her a poem?

Dahlia: But this guy is different. He reminds me of you.

WHAT?

Calm.

You are calm. Anger leads to mistakes and death.

Me: How so?

Dahlia: I think he’s a fighter of some sort. Could you check him out to make sure he’s a good guy? Daria is such a sweet innocent person. I don’t want him to hurt her.

I let out a sigh of relief. Dahlia isn’t interested in this guy. She’s looking out for her friend.

Me: Give me his name.

Dahlia: Colin Knight

There’s no need to look him up. I know Knight. He ran The Nest, a refuge for abused women and children, for a long time. I’ve brought enough women there to know he’s trustworthy.

Me: Your friend picked well.

Dahlia: You know him?

Me: I know of him.

Dahlia: Thank you, Darling.

The world settles into place. I love that woman.

***

“Where did you stash Imogene?” I ask as Payne walks into my office a few hours later.

“She’s in Barb’s office.”

“Barb isn’t a people person.” And that’s an understatement.

Payne shrugs. “The two of them seem to get along pretty well. Barb has visited her several times. Not always for medical stuff.”

That’s odd. Never try to understand a woman. “Shock should be here soon. Did he give you any clues about the trouble he’s gotten into?”

“None. But he seems even stranger than normal.”

Shock and weirdness go hand and hand. “Do you think he’s gotten in trouble with the government again?”

“That will be a pain to fix up. Maybe we should move him to another country. Somewhere with no extradition treaty.”

“Those places don’t usually have the internet capabilities he needs.” Not that I haven’t thought about it many times before. “Maybe we should get him a babysitter.”

“Like we can find one that would have the slightest clue of what he’s doing.” Payne walks over to the window overlooking the club. The view is very similar in his own office.

“We could hand him over to Max. Let him handle Shock. Then outsource our needs.”

“You’d outsource that?”

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