Page 35 of Gambler's Fallacy

“So… Is any of this supposed to make sense to me, or are you going to keep me in the dark?” Seven finally asks once the door has closed behind him.

I wrap my arm around his shoulders and pull him closer. “It barely makes sense to me. I guess Vortex will need to start making inquiries.” I kiss the top of Seven’s head. “Let’s go to bed.”

I can tell Seven wants to ask more questions, but he nods and lets me help him to his feet. Together, we return to my room and get ready for the night. Seven curls up against me while the cats join us.

“Good night,” Seven murmurs sleepily.

“Good night,” I respond.

I wish I could sleep easily, but the endless list of problems is spiraling in front of my eyes.

Only negotiate from a position a power, I always tell Seven.

Unfortunately, I feel like I’m at the bottom now, and my grandfather is holding all the cards.

EIGHT

VORTEX

Three hoursinto this damn stakeout, I’m ready to murder Havoc. He’s playing something on his phone that makes stupid beeping sounds, distracting me from keeping an eye on Earl’s house.

“Do you mind?” I hiss at him. “You could at least mute your fucking phone.”

“I use the sound cues to play,” Havoc answers. He glances out the car window at Earl’s home. “Seriously though, what do you expect will happen? Dear Uncle Earl hasn’t left the house all day.”

“It’s still early in the evening,” I say. “The whole point of a stakeout is to wait and see what happens. Not to sit outside someone’s house and play video games. Why did Caleb even send you with me? Shouldn’t you be keeping Seven company instead of being up my ass?”

Havoc glares at me. “He sent me so you could take your long-ass piss breaks. Which you already did twice.”

“I went and got us dinner,” I correct him, “since your stomach was growling even louder than that stupid game. And I could’ve brought someone else with me.”

Fucking Caleb. He might’ve thought that putting me and Havoctogether would make usbondor whatever shit he’s got in his head, but he should’ve known that putting us in a car alone together for hours would be a bad idea.

“Didn’t even get us decent food. And…” Havoc trails off and sits up, staring out the window. “The garage is opening.”

I mentally curse Havoc for distracting me like this, but at least Earl is finally making a move.

I’m still not surewhatCaleb wants me to find, but he’s certain Earl is involved in something worse than dodging alimony payments.

We wait for Earl’s expensive sports car to pass—he’s definitely the one driving—and follow him at a decent distance. Earl makes his way deeper into the city, away from Spade territory.

“You’ll lose him like this,” Havoc says as Earl makes a left turn on a yellow light.

I grip the steering wheel tighter. “I know what I’m doing,” I growl. “There’s only so many places he can be going.” It’s not ideal, but I’m not going to race through red lights and start a fucking chase in downtown Calamity City.

“You shoulda let me drive,” Havoc says once we’re back on track, Earl’s car visible a few cars ahead of us. “With how slow you’re going, he’s got time to, I don’t know, murder somebody in an alley and drive off without us ever knowing.”

I turn my head to glare at him. “Because Earl’s moonlighting as a serial killer,” I say sarcastically. “So that’s really what we’re worried about here.”

“I don’t know the guy! He’s part of the Spade family, so for all I know he’s a contract killer,” Havoc mutters. He points ahead to the bright lights of the nightclub on this street, one of Calamity City’s largest: The Club of Clubs. “Is Earl stupid enough to go in there?”

“Earl is stupid enough to do a lot of things,” I mutter. “Going in there probably isn’t even the worst of it.”

Fuck. I really don’t want to go into a nightclub, especially the Club of Clubs. It’s run by one of the other organized crime families in town, and they’re not any more pleasant when crossed than we are.

“At least it’s not the Diamantes,” Havoc grumbles.

I slow the car near the entrance to the Club of Clubs, its logo highlighting the people waiting in line. I spot Earl begging and cajoling the bouncer by the door.

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