Page 33 of Seize the Night

“Weare going back,” Julien said. “All four of us. Right, Salena?”

Salena smiled at Julien. “I go where you go,” she said to him, a display of loyalty that made Remi love Salena just a little bit. What next? Was she going to love Merrick next?

“And I come where you come,” Merrick said to Salena and bopped her on the tip of her nose. Nope. No love for Merrick.

“It’s settled then,” Julien said.

“You’re coming back with me?” Remi asked, her heart fluttering with the new and dangerous love she felt for Julien.

“Yes. I just got you back. I’m not going to let you go that easily this time,” Julien said, taking both her hands in his.

“Julien, I don’t want to leave either, but we can’t be seen together. And I don’t want to drag you into this mess. I can take care of it on my own. Merrick and I can, and then we’ll come back here.”

“I don’t care if you can take care of it on your own,” he said. “You’re not on your own. It’s my family’s mess too. I don’t know what the plan is but I don’t care. I’m going. We’re in this together.”

She sighed and then smiled.

“Okay, we’re in this together,” she agreed. “Whatever this is. We need a plan.”

“I’ve got the plan,” Merrick said. “First I get hard evidence against your parents. Then we put the thumbscrews on your parents.”

“How do you propose to get hard evidence?” Remi asked him.

“The usual,” Merrick said. “I’ll sneak into the offices and snoop. Hopefully I won’t find naked pics of your mom. Again.”

“Nice plan, but someone’s always at our house,” Remi reminded him. “And my family doesn’t like you or trust you.”

“My parents work from the house too,” Julien said. “One of them is always at home. But I can try to dig around their home offices at night.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re looking for?” Merrick sounded skeptical.

“Well…no,” Julien admitted.

“You know anything about gambling?” Merrick asked. “Anything about business, finance, or record keeping?”

“No.”

“Are you a computer hacker and/or know your parents’ passwords to their bank accounts so you can see if you they perhaps have received payments from mysterious sources?”

Julien sighed. “Okay, you got me there.”

“Then I have to do it,” Merrick said. “I just have to get into your house. Is it alarmed?”

“Not when we’re home.”

“Cool. We’ll need to get everyone in your house out of your house and we have to make sure they’re in such a tizzy-”

“A tizzy?” Remi repeated.

“A hardcore stone cold motherfucking tizzy,” Merrick said. “They need to be gone for several hours with no chance of them returning and walking in on meà lathe Christmas Party four years ago. I computer hack naked. It’s just a thing. Don’t ask.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Remi asked. “You have one, yes?”

“Yeah, and it’s a fucking good one,” Merrick said. “It’s also insane and horrible and you’re probably not going to go for it.”

“Let us decide that,” Remi said, although she truly dreaded whatever was about to come out of Merrick’s mouth. If even he thought the plan was insane and horrible, she could only imagine her reaction to it.

“I’m not telling,” Merrick said.

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