Page 2 of Blind Luck

I hadn’t met Alexa, and neither had Ari, but Zach knew her from years ago when he shared a house with her and a bunch of other people. That had come to an end when thedude who owned the place killed one of their roommates in her own freaking bedroom. Zach said that when the cops showed up, Alexa got sent to a foster home because it turned out she was still a minor. After she decided the foster system wasn’t for her, she’d run away in the middle of the night, and nobody had heard from her again until recently.

“Maybe don’t call her ‘weird computer girl’ to her face?”

I wouldn’t, mostly because I never actually saw her face, but also because I liked her. She’d offered to pay my rent when I was having a hard time, and I would’ve ended up homeless otherwise.

“She’s probably bugged the house,” Zach muttered. “Alexa has zero respect for boundaries. Why is she involved with a casino?”

“From what I understand, she isn’t,” Ari said. “Jerry’s involved with the casino, and Alexa’s helping her out.”

Zach groaned louder than I’d ever heard him groan before, and considering I’d set his kitchen on fire last week, that was big. Not the fire—that was small, and I threw the toaster out the window real quick. The place was all minimalist, so there was hardly anything to burn anyway.

“Jerry’s crazy, you know that, right?” Zach said. Jerry was another of his old roommates.

Ari calmly sipped her coffee. “I met her last month, remember?”

“Did I tell you about the time we were in a bar and some asshole called Ruby a slut? Jerry walked up behind him and poured a pint of beer over his head, then ducked when he swung a punch. Two guys tried holding him back, so he spit at her, and she whacked him in the nuts with a pool cue. And Ruby was just standing there, drunk out of her mind, saying, ‘But I am kind of a slut.’” Zach gave asoft laugh. “In some ways, I miss those days. Don’t go to any bars with Jerry, okay?”

“We’ll try to avoid that.”

“So we’re just trying to find out whether the loan is real?” I asked. “Why would they hire us to do that? Why not ignore this Jimmy guy if there’s no evidence the loan even exists?”

“Is it because of the interest?” Kai asked. My brother was smart, even if we shared the dumbest parents alive. “The longer they bury their heads in the sand, the more they owe?”

Ari grimaced slightly.

“There was an incident that might or might not be connected.”

“What sort of incident?” Kai asked as Zach muttered words we definitely wouldn’t have been allowed to say in the Promised Land.

“Several guys showed up at Cole’s home.”

“And…?” Zach prompted when Ari didn’t elaborate.

“And that’s as much as I know so far. Jerry said they wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

Wow, Zach knew some really creative swear words. Kai didn’t curse; he just didn’t look particularly happy about the situation.

“Is it dangerous?” he wanted to know.

“Jerry said her team would handle any hazardous parts.”

Zach raised his gaze to the ceiling. “Heaven help us all.”

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Kai said. “This Jerry woman sounds sketchy.”

“I only want Erin for surveillance,” Ari promised. “She’ll mostly be sitting in the hotel bar.”

“Kai, stop being such a quimby. I’ve helped with surveillance before.”

“I care about you, that’s all. Let me do the big brother thing.”

His unspoken words?Because I couldn’t do it before.

I made an effort to soften my voice. “I swear I’ll be careful. And I promise I won’t do anything foolish.”

I could tell he didn’t entirely believe me, and maybe that was because I’d punched a guy on live TV last year? But there had been extenuating circumstances. It wasn’t as if I’d done it for fun.

Kai nodded grudgingly. “Then I’ll see you when you get back.”

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