Page 65 of Never Enough

“Have I ever turned you down?”

“I need you to keep some people under watch for me. Three males. Rowan, Oscar, and Gael Dawson.”

“Gem’s brothers. Already done when I dove into her background.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“Believe it or not, I don’t tell you everything I do. Some of it you don’t need to know, and a lot of it would bore you,” Midas groused. “Anyway… relax. They’re all good, although I haven’t been able to tag Oscar in a couple of weeks. He must be underground. Possibly literally. Last I knew, he was in the Andean Mountains.”

“Does that mean you also have her father on file?”

“He passed away in 2018, shortly after you two ran into each other in Riquewihr.”

“Ah. The changes in her personal life before taking the job with Mythos.”

“Yeah, I’m guessing. Complications of dementia. He was in a nursing facility for his last three years.”

Nemo cursed softly. “What about her mother?”

“I had to really backtrack to find her, but that’s another dead end. She left her husband when Gem was two. Aneurysm about fourteen months later.”

“Okay.”

There was a pregnant pause again.

Nemo knew his brother better than he knew himself. Something wasn’t right. “What’s going on, big bro?”

“Look, I don’t know how to ease into this, so I’m just going to spit it out. There’s a hit out on Gem.”

Nemo’s heart stuttered. “Fuck. The Kaders?”

“Yeah. I’m watching it. So far, no takers, but that probably won’t last long. I don’t want to take it down and risk any leads we might have, but keep her close and your head on a swivel. You gonna tell her?”

“Yeah, she deserves to know. But not right now. When we’re in the air, maybe.”

“Good idea. Use us as the buffer for when she either flips her shit or freaks out.”

“Not sure how she’ll take it. She’ll likely be scared, but it won’t stop her.”

“Nope. And what’s the saying? Forewarned is forearmed?”

“Thanks for the recall to base and the warning. We’ll head back now.”

“Copy that.”

Nemo tapped his watch to end the call. He spent a few minutes just watching Gem run with Scheherazade, allowing her the freedom and joy of playing with the dog. She had taken off her shoes and had Zade’s manatee up above her head, running through the surf, laughing as Zade chased, jumped, and barked for the return of her spit-riddled toy. It made him smile to see her so free.

He pushed off the picnic table and whistled at the pair. Gem was breathless when she reached him, but her eyes were sparkling. Scheherazade was appeased as she had her disgusting toy in her mouth, rescued from the evil queen who kidnapped it.

Eww. That’s going in the washing machine as soon as we get back to the apartment.

“We have to head back,” he told her. “We’re leaving earlierthan expected. Have to make a stop to pick up the infamous Cerberus on the way.”

She nodded, looked down at Scheherazade, and gave her head a solid rubbing. “This girl pretty much tired me out anyway.”

Nemo clipped the leash to Scheherazade, grabbed Gem’s hand, and they headed back toward Tribe. The walk was silent but comfortable. She didn’t pull her hand from his, and he took that as a good sign.

Once inside his apartment, he threw the toy in the washer, and Scheherazade promptly sat in front of the front-loading machine, watching it go round and round. She’d be on guard until it came out so that she could see it was still in one piece, safe and sound.

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