Page 55 of Stay Toxic

“Whatever,” Broderick said.

Man of few words.

“I’m headed down there tomorrow. The next shipment is in a week,” I said. “I plan to stay down there long enough to find out exactly what’s going on with them.”

“Do you want us there as backup?” Milo asked, sounding bored.

“No,” I said. “I’m just letting you know where I’m at if I happen to go missing.”

“Noted,” Broderick said. “Let us know your findings. If I hear anything about Cayden, I’ll update y’all via the chat.”

The “chat” was actually a secure messaging server that we used to communicate. When messaging wasn’t enough, then came the secure server we used to talk face to face via the internet.

An insistent knock was coming from my door, and I looked up and found Artur pushing his way in. “Boss.”

I held up my finger to him outside of the camera’s range and said, “Bye.”

I hung up without waiting for their goodbyes, then turned to Artur.

“Your little rabbit is on the move,” he said. “She’s currently wading in the water in the back.”

I smiled.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll take care of it.”

I was halfway down the length of the backyard’s walkway that led down to the lake when I got the text from Romeo saying exactly what I suspected.

Romeo:

Everyone knows he’s gone. No one knows where he’s gone.

Frustrated beyond belief, I shoved my phone in my pocket and hurried my steps.

I found her at the base of my yard, steps away from being on my dock.

“You’re trespassing,” I pointed out.

She jerked her head up, then suppressed a smile. “I’m not trespassing. In Texas, you can be in the water, just not on the land.”

“Those are semantics, and you know it,” I retorted. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

Maybe if I warned her enough, she’d get the hint and stay away.

Because, it seemed, I couldn’t make her leave on her own. And my warnings so far had gone unheeded.

“I’m interested in finding out some answers.” She shrugged. “I figure if I annoy you enough, or maybe if I show you that I’m trustworthy, you’ll tell me.”

“Those two things are semi-contradictory,” I pointed out. “You want me to trust you, yet you’ve been casing my house for days. You won’t leave me alone. And you trespassed today.”

“I didn’t trespass,” she disagreed. “I’m telling you. I googled it. I can be here.”

“If you say so,” I said, jerking my chin toward the dock. “Come up here, then we can go for a walk through the neighborhood.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

She hopped up to the dock without my help, even though I was about to offer her my hand.

She practically skipped toward the end of my dock, then hopped onto the concrete that led up to my back door.

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