Page 18 of The Devil We Know

Lilith sighs, her head falling forward briefly as she stares at the desk blankly. After a few moments, she looks over at me as she says, “We can’t go in there.”

I reply, “Why not?”

“We’re going to get made within seconds. They all know us.”

“Even Antoinette?” I ask.

Lilith nods and then adds, “Antoinette, Agatha, me, you, Tony, everyone. It will be nearly impossible for us to sneak in there.”

Tony’s jaw clenches, and I can tell he’s getting pretty close to breaking shit. Then, Antoinette asks, “Well what are we gonna do? We can’t leave him there, not even knowing if he’s there of his own accord, so what are we gonna do?”

We continue to look at each other for a few moments, everyone contemplating our options, and finally, Lilith responds, “We’re gonna have to find someone who can do it. I’m not sure who, considering the majority of the people I trust would be known to everybody involved.”

Tony raises his hands in the air helplessly, shaking his head as he says, “There has to be someone who can get the job done without us having to worry about them turning on us.”

We all fall silent, each of us considering our limited options. Lilith and Antoinette turn back to the computer, but Tony moves closer to me, his voice low as he mutters, “Do you really think we’d be made that easily?”

“Sadly, she’s probably not exaggerating. We’ve used up all of our inconspicuous cards at this point in the game.”

“That fucking blows,” Tony snipes grumpily. “I wonder if we—”

Tony’s words are interrupted by a ruckus in the doorway, a loud squeak of the door punctuating we have a new arrival.

7

A New Recruit

Jessica

I stop just insidethe doorway, eyes wide, to find they’ve all turned to gawk at me.

The room is quiet for a moment, and then Antoinette smiles broadly, walking toward me excitedly. “Oh, it’s the Bobby killer!”

I frown, a bit taken aback by her excited statement, but then, from what I’ve heard about Antoinette from Issa, it isn’t overly surprising. Apparently, it’s a well-known fact that Antoinette is alittle out there.

My brain registers that she’s not going to stop within a reasonable distance of me right before she wraps her arms around me. That’s another thing I learned from Issa. Antoinette is a hugger.

I stand there rather stiffly, mostly because I can’t do anything with my arms pinned to my sides. A voice pipes up from across the room, “Come now, Antoinette. Release the poor woman.”

She does the opposite of that and instead squeezes me a bit tighter, and then her voice is in my ear, “Super jealous that you got to take out that douchebag. But good job.”

A choked laugh falls from my mouth, and I shrug as I reply, “Thank you?”

Antoinette laughs, and I’m immediately enveloped in this warmth that has no real definition. I suppose that’s just Antoinette.

After another moment, Antoinette releases me and steps back. She grabs my hand and gives me a yank, so I follow her across the room, none too gracefully. We stop in front of the two men, and Darius shakes his head at her, but Tony just grins, obviously entertained by her antics.

The blonde woman walks toward me, stops in front of me and asks, “Who the fuck are you?”

I stand up straight, reaching my hand out in offering as I reply, “Jessica.”

She stares at my hand warily and looks back up at my face with her eyebrows raised as she says, “That doesn’t fucking tell me anything.”

Darius interrupts, “Lilith, give her a fucking break.”

Lilith turns and looks at Darius over her shoulder as she says, “Give who a break? Why give her a break?”

“Jessica is Issa’s manager and long-time friend,” he explains. “She’s the one who notified us that something was wrong. She’s one of the good guys.”

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