Chapter 22
ARCHER
"I'm going to fucking kill whoever did this to us," I said.
“No, you're not." Boner was still shaking out his own arms and legs. "I'm going to kill them before you get there."
"Get in line," I told him.
"I am in line," he said, pushing himself to his feet. "I’m in line in front of you."
He squinted around. "She might be in the kitchen."
"She's not in there," Cass said, stepping out of the kitchen. "I’ll check the storeroom."
He disappeared again, only to return half a minute later, shaking his head angrily.
"She's not there either."
I'd already come to that conclusion, but he had to check, just in case. She could have been lying somewhere hurt, just within reach.
"Our old mate Getzoff isn't here either," Boner said, straightening his hair.
"Do you think he took her?" Cass asked. He tangled his fingers in his fringe, tugging at it like it was the enemy.
"Someone fucking did," Jules snapped.
"Did you see who?" Boner asked. "You were outside."
No one missed the accusing tone in his voice, especially Jules, who took a step toward him.
"I was keeping a close eye on the place. The only people who came out were customers. Do you think I wouldn't notice someone carrying Harlow away? Assuming they carried her away." Now his expression was accusing.
Boner closed the distance between them until their chests were almost touching.
"What the hell are you saying?" he snarled. "That she drugged us and snuck out the door with Detective Getzoff?"
Jules opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again. The exhale he let out was ragged with barely contained frustration. Not at Boner for once. He cared about her as much as we did. I saw that on his face. This might be the first time he let himself admit it, even a little bit.
"She wouldn't do that," Cass said.
His faith in her was as unwavering as mine. Not to mention, if she wanted to poison us and walk out, she had plenty of opportunities to do it in the privacy of my apartment. She wouldn't taint Angel's Rest by doing it here. This was far too public.
And yet private enough for whoever actually put us out.
Assholes.
"They must have gone out the back," I concluded.
I rolled over and forced myself to my feet like a baby deer, even though my head was still groggy and aching.
I staggered a couple of steps before regaining my balance and walking to the back door. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it was unlocked.
Mindful there might be an ambush straight outside, I eased the door open.
"What are you doing?" Boner reached past me and shoved it the rest of the way.
"It's called being stealthy," I told him. "I thought you knew how to do that."
"I do know," he agreed. "But if they were going to kill us, they would have done it while we were having a nap on the fucking floor, wouldn't they?"
"Only if they're thinking logically," I said. "This might come as a surprise to you, but not everyone does."
He looked like he was ready to argue, but his shoulders slumped.
"Yeah, I guess so." He perked up again a moment later. "After you then." He gestured toward the alley.
"Thanks. I think." I gave him the side eye before stepping past him and looking one way down the alley then the other.
As I expected, there was no sign of anyone.
I have to admit, I'd half-expected to find Harlow lying dead in the alley, her throat sliced. Or strangled, her eyes staring up at us. Lifeless. Her body already starting to cool. Possibly missing her heart.
If that happened, I'd be missing mine.
"Nothing here," I said over my shoulder.
I walked a few steps, my gaze scanning the ground. Nothing caught my eye. No cigarettes still cooling in the gutter. No accidentally abandoned identification that would lead us to whoever took her.
She was just…gone.
"So we know the culprit is one of four people," Boner said slowly. "We've already ruled out Harlow walking out and leaving. That narrows it down to three: Getzoff, Hypnos, and Zeus."
"We don't know Getzoff isn't one of them," Cass pointed out.
"Yes, we do," I said. "He was drugged too. He lost consciousness before the rest of us."
"Have you ever heard of a red herring?" Boner asked.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. "This isn't a mystery novel. Miss Marple isn't going to jump out and help us to solve this."
"I always preferred Sherlock Holmes," Boner said.
"He's not coming either," I pointed out.
"Not even Benedict Cumberbatch?" He looked disappointed.
"Not even him," I sighed. I wasn't sure what use an actor would be, if I'm honest. Although I was a big fan of his. I mean, his performance in Doctor Strange, am I right?
Anyway…
"We have to find her," Cass said. He pulled out his phone.
"What are you going to do? Post about her on social media?" Boner asked.
Cass glanced up at him before looking back at his phone screen.
"I’m going to track her phone."
"Oh," Boner said, with a nod. "That's a much better idea. Do that."
"I will," Cass said without looking up again. He tapped at his screen. His brow deeply creased as he worked.
"You're assuming her phone is still active," Jules said.
"What else have we got?" Cass didn't look up at him either. "I've got her. She's two blocks away. In that direction." He pointed south, before tapping at his screen again.
"What are you doing now?" Boner asked.
"Calling us an Uber," Cass explained. "It'll be quicker to drive two blocks than it will to run."
"Right," Boner said. "As long as we don't hit too many one-way streets." He scratched the side of his head. "I’m starting to think whatever they drugged us with has addled my brain."
"It came that way," Jules muttered.
"You might be right," Boner said cheerfully. He strode out to the street as the Uber pulled up.
"Can you tell us exactly where?" I asked.
"Right now I can," Cass said, "as long as her phone keeps…" He froze.
"What is it" Jules asked, all but shoving him into the waiting vehicle.
"It stopped." Cass looked devastated. "I don't know why, but it stopped." His eyes shone in the light of a vehicle, traveling the other way, fear etched on his face. "What do we do?"
"What we were going to do anyway," Boner said reasonably. "We go there and we find her."
Cass nodded and sat with his elbows on his thighs. So far forward in his seat, I thought he might hit his head on the one in front of him. He, Boner and I huddled in the back, while Jules sat beside the driver in the front passenger seat.
None of us said a word while we travelled the two blocks, and climbed out of the Uber.
"This looks—" Cass started, staring at the building we stood in front of.
"Ordinary as fuck?" Boner offered.
"Yeah." Cass nodded. "An ordinary apartment building."
"I don't care what it is if she's in there," I said. "If we have to break down every single door to look inside, that's what we're going to do. Unless her phone is on again?"
Cass shook his head. "It's not. I have no idea which floor she was on. All I have is that she's in this building somewhere and she needs us."
Boner opened his mouth as if he was going to say something facetious. Like, ‘The blip of her phone told you that?’ For once, he closed it without speaking.
Now wasn't the time to be snarking at each other. Now was the time we had to work together to find our woman.
I pulled out my own phone and looked up the address.
"What are you doing?" Jules asked.
"I’m seeing if I can find a floor plan for this place," I said. "It'll be easier to figure out where to go if we have a map."
"Right," he said slowly. "Good idea."
I glanced over at him and gave him a faint upward twitch of my lips.
"Curious," I said, squinting at the screen to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.
"What's curious?" Boner asked, looking over my shoulder.
"Apparently this place is owned by Danforth Holdings."
"Danforth, as in Solomon Danforth?" Cass asked.
"Exactly," I said. Now we were both searching, our fingers flying over our screens.
"Solomon Danforth has a cousin named Harrison Frankel," Cass said. "He was out of the country until yesterday."
"Of course he fucking was," Boner said. "How much do you want to bet this asshole is Hypnos?"
"Nothing," I said, "because it makes too much sense.”
"How does any of this help us find Harlow?" Jules demanded.
"It confirms the fact this building is suspicious as fuck," I said. "It has ten floors, two apartments per floor. And a basement."
"If I was going to do devious shit, I'd do it in the basement," Boner said.
I looked up at him, right in his eyes, and said, "So would I."
"How do we get into the basement?" Jules asked, taking a step toward the building.
I pinched the screen to take a closer look at the floor plan.
"There's a set of stairs off the main foyer. It leads to a door at the back of the building."
"Then that's where we go," Boner said. "By the way, I brought a little something with us."
From under his leather jacket he pulled a towel, one from Harlow's restaurant. The Angel’s Rest logo was embroidered on the corner.
Holding it carefully he spread the sides out, one then the other, revealing five of her chef knives, shining in the streetlight.
I knew for a fact each one was wickedly sharp, ready to slice anything and anyone. I'd seen her use them with skill and dexterity, slicing everything like the knife was passing through butter.
They were perfect. Like her.
"I figured we should be prepared when dealing with Hypnos."
He offered us each a knife before taking one himself. "Let's go get this asshole."