Page 19 of Howl You Doin?
Vlad snorts. “I don’t really care if he does or doesn’t.”
“Dammit, Vlad, you can’t just go hijacking Frank’s things.” I inwardly groan and settle back into my chair as my head starts to thump with an oncoming headache.
“It’s just one of them.” He says this as if it’s nothing to commit grand theft yacht. “The prick has several, as you know. And what the fuck is he going to do, Doyle? Call the authorities?”
I realize he has a valid point.
I hesitate since I don’t have a response. For the most part, none of us have ever taken from one another and generally try to stay out of each other’s way since it all fell apart.
“You don’t know what he will do, Vlad.”Ihave no idea what Frank will do in retaliation, and that’s even worse.
“You tell that fucker I will be waiting for the day he thinks to tell me what I can’t take or borrow as I please. He wouldn’t have a pot to piss in if it weren’t for us, and furthermore, he owes me for absconding with my mate,” Vlad seethes, still upset over Frank’s most recent blunders.
I groan and drop the phone into my lap on speaker, then dig the heels of my palms into my eyes.
“You know I’m right. I’m always right,” he says, and a vein pops in my forehead.
I get to my feet to pour myself a glass of brandy, as it’s the only way I’ll get through this. “I swear on my giddy aunt, one day I am buying an island and going to live alone. To hell with the lot of you. Why the blazes are you calling me to begin with?”
Vlad tuts. “Your aunt is dead, I hate to say, and why so testy, Doyle? Is Whitley giving you problems again?”
“Hey, I like Whitley,” Aubrey chimes in.
“So do I,” I reply, my tone defensive even to my own ears. The words are shocking, even to myself, but I find they don’t ring untrue. Ilikeher.
Aubrey squeals abruptly, making my ears ring and I’m unsure of who has the phone now.
“Don’t look at me like that—I didn’t do anything,” Vlad says, his tone of voice whiney and absurd.
“I’m hanging up now before this gets weirder than it already is,” I tell them, needing away from their bullshit.
“Aubrey wants to know what you’ve done to Whitley,” Vlad suddenly says, back on the phone.
“You realize I can have Clarence turn around, right?” I warn, knowing I can call Frank’s captain and have Vlad back here within a few short hours. It would be interesting to see his reaction at not being able to coerce the pilot.
“What have you done with Whitley?” Aubrey shouts. “Is she okay?”
“Is she okay? Why am I the one being accused of foul play? It’s not like I’ve murdered her and buried her corpse—yet—but the thoughthascrossed my mind,” I deadpan.
The line goes silent for a beat.
“See? It’s not a stretch of the imagination. Besides, it’s what I would do.” I can hear the smirk in his voice.
“Vlad, I have killed as many people as you this week—that is to say,none.” I pause, my body tensing at the thought of someone touching Aubrey accidentally or some equally ridiculous thing that could send him on a war path. “At least it had better be none.”
“Calm yourself, Doyle. I haven’t killed anyone,” he answers. “Yet.”
My shoulders sag with relief.
“Have you settled on the costumes?” Aubrey asks, her voice louder, and its apparent she’s taken the phone from him.
My lips lift into a small smile. “Not yet. I have a meeting with a costume designer who says he can design the lot of it, though. I’ll forward them to you when I can.” It was partly her idea anyhow.
“What? Who came up with this?” Vlad says, his tone pissy and I realize I am on speaker phone.
I chuckle. “Do you really even need to ask?”
“Aubrey,” he replies, and I nod, even though he can’t see me.
