Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
I'm the baaad guy. Duh.
LILA
Unlike the last time Reed dropped me off, my tummy isn’t fluttery. Well, not in a good way. This time, it feels like I ate something rancid.
I collapse onto the couch, my chin wobbling as I come to terms with what I must do.
Goodbye, freedom. I had a good run.
On the drive home, I checked my phone to find a slew of texts from Kenzie. In the last one, she asked, in coded language, whether I got him talking. I gave her a thumbs-up icon. Wearing a hopeful smile, she was waiting excitedly when Reed walked me to the door.
No cheek kiss from him this time. No real kiss either.
Not that I deserve one of those.
I haven’t had the heart to tell my bestie what a disaster I’ve made of things. She’ll see it on my face soon enough. Right on cue, she bounds in with a bowl full of popcorn under one arm and two glasses of wine.
Noticing my defeated vibe, she tampers down her excitement some. “What’s wrong? I thought you got the scoop from him.”
“I did. Sort of.”
I take the wineglass offered to me. Although I’m not a big drinker—calories and all—I’ll make an exception tonight.
She sets the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. “So why are you sad? I figured we’d be celebrating your freedom.”
“Because it’s bad, Kenzie. It’s all bad.” My voice quivers. “And I’m destined for the opposite of freedom.”
Shaking her head ardently, she protests, “No way.”
I hold up the glass, feigning a toast. “Cheers to my last night as a free woman.”
She settles on the couch and takes my hand. “Tell me everything.”
“I might as well have been made of glass for how that man saw right through me.” I struggle to keep the deluge of tears at bay.
“When I started asking questions about his case, as innocent as I tried to appear, his entire demeanor went flat. He knew what I was doing. Maybe not the reason why I was doing it, but he knew. No doubt he’s more convinced than ever that I’m involved. There’s no point in—”
She squeezes my hand, cutting off my words. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. There’s no room for negativity. We can’t give up, Lila. Not when we’re this close.”
I wish I shared her enthusiasm.
“Isn’t this weird?”
“Isn’t what weird?” she asks.
“You. Cheering me up. It’s like we did a body swap.”
Her smile warms my frigid soul. “That’s because you’re my yang.”
“Well, you’re gonna be yangless soon.”
“What did you learn, though? Maybe it’s not too late.”
Ignoring her misplaced optimism, I ask, “Will you feed the birds for me when I’m in prison? And that assumes I’m able to free them before I’m hauled away in cuffs.”
“Huh?” Kenzie asks, a handful of popcorn frozen in front of her mouth.
I explain how all but one lonely male peacock has been missing for the last three days, followed by a recap of my interaction with the jerk next door.
As expected, she doesn’t care much about my bird woes. But she does give me a consoling pat on my back. I’ll take any comfort I can get tonight. Even if it’s merely patronizing.
“Anyhow, yeah. Since I’m about to go to jail, I might as well do one last act of service and free the birds before I go.”
Kenzie groans and rolls her eyes at my dramatics. “How about you don’t get trespassing added onto your rap sheet?”
“Rap sheet? Ha.” I nod solemnly. “I bet your brother is probably typing up the warrant for my arrest as we speak.”
“Given your comments about the bird and your general gloom and doom aura, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume you’re being completely overdramatic. Tell me what really happened tonight.”
“Let’s see.” I savor a sip of wine and then launch into a recap of my most recent horrific encounter with Reed.
“This is way bigger than we thought, Kenzie. They’re investigating eight home invasion cases.
Eight. The FBI knows all the victims are tied to casinos.
And not just mine. Those monsters are doing this down in Miami and on the gambling cruises on the East Coast. And in other states.
” My tone darkens like my thoughts. “And he said they’ve been violent. Like really violent.”
She barely takes any time to let that sink in before asking, “Any mention of missing persons? I find it hard to believe I’m the only one they kidnapped.”
“He didn’t say anything about that. If Silas kidnapped other people to use as leverage, they must not have found the connection to the home invasions. Yet. But his entire team is working on the case. It’s only a matter of time before they figure everything out.”
She worries at her lip, seemingly deep in thought. “This is more intel than the nothing you promised, so give me a moment to gloat about being right that you were overreacting.”
I flip her off with my index finger and middle finger together. My hands aren’t fond of cussing either.
She waves my indecent hand out of her face. “Although that’s a solid start, I don’t know if it’s enough to barter with Silas. What else?”
“Um.” I sift through the hopelessness clouding my thoughts to recall other specifics.
“Apparently, some of the victims have been helpful. But he didn’t specify how.
He became a human vault after that. I’m not gonna get anything else out of him.
He probably won’t ever speak to me again.
It’s over. I need to turn myself in. I’m gonna call Agent Dad tomorrow.
You’ll need to be ready to answer questions about your abduction. ”
From behind a bemused smirk, she asks, “Did you just say Agent Dad?”
A giggle frees itself from my chest. “Yeah. He was older and nice. Bet he’s a good dad.” I shake free of Kenzie’s hand and fill mine with a handful of popcorn. “He can arrest me instead of Reed. I’ve humiliated myself enough in front of your brother for one lifetime.”
Kenzie and I munch on popcorn and sip our wine for a few minutes, neither of us talking.
Seeing no good way out of my mess, I latch on to the memory of how Reed’s face fell at the end of my failed attempt at espionage. All the light left his eyes, like a candle was snuffed right in front of me. No warmth for me anymore. No lingering touches or heated looks.
That’s for the best. He shouldn’t be associated with a criminal. That can’t be a good look for an FBI agent.
“Give me your phone,” she orders, almost out of nowhere.
“Why?”
“To set up a meeting with Silas.”
“But we don’t have anything worthwhile to offer him.”
Her eyes scream at me. “You know that. And I know that. But Silas doesn’t.”
“What are you saying?” My gaze bounces from side to side as I try to follow her train of thought. “You want to bluff him?”
“Why not? It’s our best hope at this point.”
“Valid.” I purse my lips, still unclear how that would play out. “Why would Silas believe us?”
“In movies, there’s always an initial information exchange to set the stage for these types of deals, right?
It’s part of the negotiation process. Each side offers a little something to gain trust. That’s what sets the deal.
Then they swap info. If we work it like that, by the time Silas finds out we don’t have anything substantial, you’ll be protected, and the FBI will be on their way to arrest all of them. ”
I’m rapidly getting on board with her plan. It’s a last-ditch effort and probably won’t work, yet it’s all I’ve got.
But what if it does work? It would end this nightmare.
I sit up straight, my back shooting off the couch. “Okay. I think we can do this. Essentially, we’ll entice Silas by telling him I’ve been dating the FBI agent investigating him for the purpose of helping Silas. Hopefully, that makes him want to negotiate.”
She rubs her palms together. “Exactly.”
“We get him to tell us the type of info he has on me, which would be his side of the negotiation. Once he does, I’ll tell him the few things I did learn tonight as the first layer to gain his trust. Or vice versa.
As soon as we have his blackmail material on me, I can come clean to Reed and confess what happened to you. Maybe he’ll forgive me.”
Kenzie’s entire body tenses into a jarring cringe, hands balled into fists and head kicking back. Even her nose and mouth are crumpled. “That’s not what this is about, Lila. Don’t get your panties twisted over him. He’s only using you. Again.”
A bubble of unease settles in my stomach as I feign a nonchalant scoff. “That’s not what I meant. There’s no chance of my panties having anything to do with Reed. Don’t worry. I just hate lying. With my people-pleasing tendencies, it’ll make me feel better if he forgives me.”
She relaxes her posture. “Fine. Just don’t forget who the bad guy is, Lila.”
Me.
I’m the bad guy.
Also, Billie Eilish is the bad guy, if her music is truthful.