Page 80 of Shadow Dance

Chapter 24

Jaime

I’ve just gotten back with Maeve when Cal comes into the kitchen. “You were gone hella long,” he says, tilting Maeve’s chin up so he can kiss her.

I look away before I do something stupid and remind myself of what I just told Maeve. She’s just playing a part. We both are.

“I needed corn husks and all this other stuff. We had to go to a couple places.” She grabs the vape pen from his hand and hits it a couple times before giving it back. “Is that … blueberry? Yuck. I hate that fake stuff.”

Hiding a smile at her little act, I set the case of beer on the counter. “All right. Let me know if you guys need anything else.”

“Jaime, just a sec.” Cal hits the vape, motioning for me to come.

Leaving Maeve to her tamales, I follow him into his office.

“You know anything about Maeve’s phone?” he asks, shutting the door.

I give him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

He pulls out his own phone, frowning as he taps the screen. “I haven’t been able to get a read on her location lately. Thought it would clear up after a couple days, but it hasn’t.” He thrusts the phone at me, showing me the app he uses to track her.

“Huh.” I squint at the screen, then shrug. “Could be buggy. Try uninstalling, then reinstalling the app.”

“On my phone?”

I nod.

“Okay, but it’s possible she turned it off, right?” he says. “Onherphone?”

“I guess, if she knew you were tracking her,” I say neutrally. “Does she know?”

Cal’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck do you think, Jaime? No, she doesn’t know.”

I hold my hands up. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Well, I need you to figure it out because I don’t like not knowing where she is.” His eyes flicker to mine. “It’s bad enough she’s out there every day with everything that’s been going on.”

“Anything I should know about?” I ask.

“A deal fell through, and my uncle’s pissed. I’ll work it out, though.”

I consider this, wondering which deal, and with who. “Do you need Maeve to go someplace else for a couple days? For safety?”

“Nah.” He shakes his head firmly, glancing down at his phone. “She’s good here. Just don’t let her out of your sight. Mac might be sticking around more to make sure you have backup if necessary.”

“Sounds good.” But it doesn’t, not at all. I’m definitely missing something here. I make a mental note to use the Stingray later so I can scan for any burner phones that Cal’s recently acquired. There could be whole conversations I haven’t been privy to lately. “And I can take a look at her phone, see if that’s where the issue is. Could be a software glitch, or maybe the firmware.”

“Yeah, that’s good. I can give it to you when she’s in the shower later,” he offers.

Nodding, I turn for the door.

“Has she said anything?” he asks suddenly. He used to always ask me stuff like this, but I guess time has made him complacent. Either that, he’s been too busy to care.

“About what? You?”

He lifts his chin.

My heart skips a beat. “No. We don’t talk all that much.”

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