Page 85 of Death Trap

Kay held up a finger for us to wait a minute. Then, she scooped up a still sleeping Zach and carried him into one of the back rooms. There was mumbling, and soon Kay came back with Laurence this time, dressed in his usual gimmick tee and a pair of sleep pants. A baby monitor was clipped to his waistband.

“Baby in his crib?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

Unable to hear me, Laurence rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Sorry to wake you all in the wee hours of the night,” I added.

“Again,” Kay said with some bite to her tone.

I hesitated. Kay was always perky and so full of light. I’d never seen her angry. Never. And she’d gone through one hell of a traumatic experience with Xaver and was positive through the entire thing.

“Yeah, again…” I mumbled and glanced at the men behind me. “We just need a place to lie low for a bit. Discuss our plans.”

Kay crossed her arms and rocked on her heels. “Jade, you know I love whenever you come around, but this is getting a bit…”

Ridiculous. I heard the word hovering in the air between us.

“Unpredictable,” she settled with instead. It was nicer, but I knew the truth. “We have a baby now. A little person who needs us to protect him. I can’t have you bringing trouble to our doorstep like this anymore.”

Whoa, that stung. It wasn’t like I was a magnet for trouble.

Okay, that was a straight-up lie. Even I didn’t believe it.

Let’s face it, trouble flocked to me. Like a moth to flame.

Stunned, I glanced at Laurence who was struggling to focus on where we were standing, since he couldn’t see us like Kay could.

“Jade, we appreciate everything you’ve done for us. Truly,” he said. “I even met with Arianna, and she’s been helping me a lot with my spells. Thank you for that, too, but Kay’s right. We have to think about Zach now. And this is too much stress for Kay.”

Kay glanced at him.

“Well, it is. She won’t admit it, of course, but she barely sleeps anymore. After Xaver—”

“Laurence,” Kay warned.

I held up my hand to stop them, despite the aching in my chest. “I understand. I got it. No need to explain.” I turned around and waved for Eli and Simon to go back down the steps. “We’ll leave you guys alone. I’ll talk to you some other time.”

“No, Jade. Wait.” Kay sighed. “Come back. It’s fine.”

I paused. “Kay, if you want us to go, I told you, I completely understand.”

“No, no. Come in. I know you wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t important.” She ushered us back inside.

The five of us filled up almost every inch of her small living room. Laurence collapsed onto the couch, still struggling to keep his eyes open.

“I’ll brew some coffee,” Kay said and walked into the kitchen.

I turned to Simon and Eli. “Let’s make this quick, guys.”

They both nodded in agreement.

“So first things first, how did you find me?” I asked.

“Well, the moment your friend Marla came to your apartment and I saw you were gone, I knew you’d gone and done something mischievous,” Eli said. “Something you didn’t want me to know about.”

I winced.

“Once I explained to her the magnitude of losing you, she told me where you were and let me go.”

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