Page 54 of A Fine Line

I pause the video and look at Darius, who has a grim expression. “So, when did Dec change sides? The whole point of your falling out is that he didn’t want to lead our life. He wanted to make music and be a good-time guy making millions of dollars.”

“He always liked the whole get-famous idea,” Darius replies with a sigh. “We all know he didn’t choose a different path than us because he was afraid to kill bad people. He liked being the center of attention too much to take on a life career that took him out of the limelight. Of course, if he’s now getting attention because people are confusing him with me, that’s a problem. And taking Carolina is a huge fucking problem. The dumb shit.”

“He probably did it because he thought it was funny,” Matt replies.

“What a stupid fucker,” I spit out. “I don’t care what you say, Dare. When I see that prick, I’m gonna kick the shit out of him.”

“Pretty sure we’re all gonna help you.”

Dare’s relationship with his estranged brother is complicated on a good day. On the other side of the story, it’s difficult to call it complicated because the breakdown of the relationship was based strictly on common sense and necessity. There has never been any outward animosity between them; they decided to go in separate directions, and those paths are better off not intersecting.

If anything, Declan might have some bitter feelings, given he never truly understood the life we chose to live. It was difficult for him to accept that attempting to remain in the life of the Beast could be detrimental to his health. It could quite easily cost him his life.

Darius never had any qualms about cutting out people he cared about in order to protect them until Nettie. Sure, he dabbled in that mindset a few times at the beginning of their relationship, but he wasn’t able to maintain it for long and gave up.

“Are you gonna be okay with this?” I ask.

“I’ll be fine,” he replies dryly. “Since he made a public spectacle out of pulling one over on us, it’s highly likely someone else might get to them first, though. Of all the dumb-ass shit I’ve seen in my entire career; this one takes the cake. After the shit he has seen, after the things we have explained to him, he goes and does this. I can’t even fucking believe it.”

“He must be bored,” Matt says. “You’d think the life of a rockstar would be exciting enough for him.”

Nettie speaks up from behind me. “Anything in particular I need to know about this guy?”

“No,” Darius answers. “He’s obviously still an infant. All we can do is hope that his idiocy isn’t getting people killed.”

Nettie squints at him but says nothing. Then she turns to me and asks, “Shall we leave Flora here?”

“This is the safest place for her, so yes,” I reply. “Maybe reach out to Mickey and see if he has anyone closer to Declan’s place. Even if we leave within the next hour, it’s gonna be a while before we get there.”

She’s already pulling out her phone as she heads out of the room, and I turn to Matt as he says, “Luckily, the helicopter’s still here, so we can get to the airstrip quickly. You should speak to Flora first, though, so let’s say wheels up in an hour.”

By the time I say my goodbyes to Flora, and we get our equipment together, it’s about an hour on the nose when we’re boarding the jet. I never ask where Matt comes up with these last-minute flight options, but I’m relieved we’re not in the cargo hold of a C-130 because that’s never comfortable.

This particular luxury jet is a fancy house with wings. There are two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, and then there’s a third bathroom and a kitchenette. And with a cruising speed close to MACH-1, we’ll be able to make up quite a bit of time in the air.

Nettie and Darius take one of the bedrooms, and when I tell Matt to take the other one, he waves me off, pointing at the table full of electronics he brought.

I shrug and close myself into the other bedroom, taking the time to strip down because if we crash, it won’t matter if I’m clothed or not, and I prefer to be comfortable.

While I’m pissed Declan pulled this crazy stunt, I’m relieved to know for certain that Carolina is alive. Part of my anger with him is due to the fact he’s likely put her in even more danger than she was already in, especially after basically advertising her location for any bloodthirsty criminal to see.

Pain stabs through my chest again, the thought of having to withstand her being taken from me enough to make me feel panicky. I take a few deep inhalations through my nose, exhaling through my mouth, repeating some of the annoying, positive mantras Nettie’s always forcing us to do when things are feeling out of control.

I lie on my back with an arm up over my head, my hand beneath my neck, and I close my eyes with a sigh. Then, I let my mind wander.

Chapter Twenty-One

Tony

Six-ish months ago

Iwasn’tgoingtodo it. I was going to sit back, mind my own fucking business, and let Dare do whatever Dare is gonna do without any concern for what kind of fuckery he might’ve gotten himself into.

Lilith and I talked about it and decided the best thing for us to do is to stay quiet and let Dare and Agatha do whatever they’re doing while we worry about ourselves. I talked to Matt, and I talked to Nettie, and all of us agreed. It’s not our fucking problem.

But here I am, staking out a location where I have no business being because I feel like I have no choice but to confront a possible enemy.

Regardless of how Carolina Tennent presents herself to the public, there’s something shady going on there. Her background is too spotless, like it’s been staged. Kind of like with Nettie’s background back when we first started investigating her, but this one’s too polished, too detailed, and there’s too much public information for it to be legit.

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