Page 93 of Lose Me In The Shadows

“I’m not even sure we shouldgoto Marcus’s apartment,” she argued. “What if he has people waiting for us there, in case the explosion didn’t finish the job?”

Micah stopped walking, turning to her. “He wouldn’t kill us. Marcus is loyal to his family—and I’m his family.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? I thought your family abandoned you.”

“They did. But I have a half-brother from my father’s first marriage, before his wife died and he joined the ultra-Orthodox community and married my mother. Marcus is that half-brother.”

Kara tried to absorb this, a million questions fighting for space in her head. “But—”

“Let’s table this conversation,” Conor suggested, and the four started walking again. “The important thing is that we can trust Marcus. We have more important things to worry about, like how the hell we’re going to get that evidence now that the Frenchman is dead.”

Kara crossed her arms over her chest; it was a chilly night and she hadn’t brought a sweater. Absentmindedly, Micah unbuttoned his blazer and wrapped it around her shoulders. It enveloped her in his clean, sharp scent, and with it, comfort and safety, false as the latter might be.

“I can see what I can dig up on the dark web,” Micah volunteered as they walked. “Maybe there’s been talk.”

“Or this is a dead end,” Luke said, voice laced with bitter humor. “End of the line.”

Conor held up a hand to interrupt him. “Stubborn girl, your feet must be killing you in those heels.”

Kara, overwhelmed by everything that had happened, hadn’t even noticed. But suddenly her feet began to pinch and ache.

“I don’t have much of a choice,” she pointed out. “It’s fine. I’m not walking around barefoot.”

“Who said anything about barefoot?” Conor stooped down. “Hop on.”

No fucking way.

“You’re not going to give me a piggyback ride after we almost died,” she said.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. And since we’re still in danger, you still have to follow our directions.”

Luke chuckled. “Man’s got a point.”

Grumbling, Kara climbed onto Conor’s back. He hefted her up. As he started walking, she leaned down and whispered: “Was that to distract Luke from his spiral?”

“I’ll never tell,” Conor whispered back.

They were quiet for a while as they walked, Kara bouncing on Conor’s back. At any other time, the contact would have turned her on, but she was too busy mulling over their conversation with Jean Pierre for any possible clue he could’ve given them.

“Wait. What about his wife?”

“What about her?” Luke asked.

“Maybe she has the evidence, or knows where it is,” Kara said. “I know it’s a stretch, but…”

Conor twisted his head to look at her, so close their noses were almost touching. They’d turned back onto a main thoroughfare, and the streetlamps bathed half his face in gold light. “Brilliant girl,” he said fondly, and kissed her.

“I’ll make some calls,” Micah said next to them, patting Kara on her hip. “Research tonight, get some sleep. Wherever his wife is located, we’ll head there in the morning.”

23

When Micah was young, his family took a lot of road trips. It made sense: with six kids, and his father’s aversion to accidentally rubbing shoulders with another woman who wasn’t his wife, it made the most sense to travel by car. They’d all pile into the family van with their suitcases and a cooler of kosher food, and head out to Disney or the beach in North Carolina or somewhere. As the oldest, Micah had always prided himself on not being the one to askare we there yet, even though all his siblings would do so throughout the drive.

Aside from his friendship with Marcus, Micah hadn’t spoken to a single member of his family in years, including his five younger siblings. They’d banished him from their home and their lives as a teenager after his girlfriend hinted to Micah’s father that Micah was bi, and Sam Feldman went hunting through his son’s room to find a stash of porn—of both genders. Micah sometimes wondered if he’d just beengay, if they would’ve accepted him, but it was being bi that made him a deviant.

He could admit it was a little misogynistic of him, but after that happened, he didn’t trust women anymore. In fact, he didn’t trust anyone, except for Conor and Micah. Kara’s first introduction to their lives was a threat, but Micah had realized after a while that she wasn’t what was going to tear them apart, she was what was going to bring them closer together.

And she had. Here they were, on a road trip together, driving down the California coastline to Catalina Island—where they’d discovered Jean Pierre had hidden his wife. And even though they were all tense, and tired, Micah couldn’t deny that having Kara with them was keeping them all centered and sane.

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