Page 69 of To the Grave

Wolf kept tapping. “You ever been to Philly?”

Chapter 46

Daisy

Iwas bleary-eyed by the time we arrived in Philadelphia, the sun setting behind the city, turning the glass and steel skyscrapers gold. The Beasts had given me the option to fly, but a road trip had sounded like more fun, and we’d spent the day crossing two states in Benji, swapping spots in the car, eating junk food, and sharing our favorite music.

It was the kind of thing I might have done to get to know a guy — or three guys I guess — in another life, one where I wasn’t trying to figure out the identity of my biological father, where I wasn’t trying to figure out who was out there kidnapping girls.

Putting Blackwell Falls in the rearview was like pushing a lead weight off my shoulders. My problems — Ruth and my dad and Mac and my future with the Beasts — still existed, but they didn’t feel quite so oppressive.

We got out of the car in front of the Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton and handed our bags to the bellhop before checking in. Fifteen minutes later we were stepping out of the elevator on the thirtieth floor.

It had been a while since I’d stayed in a hotel, and I’d forgotten the cocoon-like feeling of being encased in miles of glass and steel while the rest of the world — troubles included — moved around you, far away.

“This is us,” Wolf said, using the key card to open the door to a room at the end of the hall.

He held the door so I could go in first and I stepped into a well-appointed living room, a wall of glass offering up a bird’s-eye view of the city, a huge bedroom visible through a set of open French doors.

“Whoa,” I said, looking around. “I’m not sure I can afford this.”

“You’re not paying,” Jace said, studying me. “That’s why I gave them my card. This trip is on us.”

“Are you sureyoucan afford this?” I made a point of not asking about the Beasts’ financial situation. I knew they had money from the illegal stuff they’d gotten into before going to prison, but it really wasn’t my business.

“I’m sure,” he said.

Looking at the mini-suite, I felt almost stupid for luring them with money to help with the renovation of the house. I’d used it as a motivator — letting them live rent-free while they helped out — in addition to the space I thought they might want from their families after being in prison.

Clearly I was off the mark on the money part.

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“Get what, doll?” Otis was opening drawers and cupboard doors, mapping the place like a spy looking for all the exits.

“Why did you do it?” I asked. “Why did you agree to help me with the house if you didn’t need the money?”

They exchanged a glance before Wolf spoke. “We knew about the missing girls from the news.”

“So?” Until I’d gotten the broken vase from my first stalker — Calvin — the missing girls hadn’t been connected to me at all.

“So do you think we were going to take a chance after what Blake tried to do?” Otis asked, finished with his inspection.

“You accepted my offer toprotectme?”

“Among other things,” Wolf said.

I didn’t know what to say. I’d been totally focused on trying to figure out if they’d killed Blake, sure they were the enemy, but the whole time they’d been there to look out for me.

“You should take a bath,” Jace said, changing the subject so fast I almost got whiplash, “get ready.”

“Ready for what?” We’d come to talk to the professor who’d run the law review for the past thirty years, but we knew from his schedule that he didn’t have any night classes. We were going to see him in the morning.

“Dinner,” Wolf said. “We have a reservation at eight.”

“You made a reservation?” I asked Wolf.

“Yep.” There was a knock at the door — the bellhop with our luggage probably — and he headed for the door.

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