Chapter 20 #2
Something flashed in Paisley’s eyes and snared Locke’s instincts. Knowing if he cornered her, he’d get nothing useful, he tried to circle around the topic. “You ever been there?”
Paisley blinked at him, her brow furrowing. “Where?”
“The Alchemist.”
Tension crept through the hunched shoulders as she dropped her gaze, but she managed a jerky shrug. “A few times.”
He pushed back, set his foot on his knee and rested his arm on the smooth table. His fingers drummed quietly as he considered how to seed the trail. Since every time Isaiah’s name was mentioned, she tensed up, he decided to try another name. “Ever meet a guy named Leo?”
A look of mild disgust flashed across her face. “Total sus.”
Okay, he knew that word. Clearly, Leo had failed to impress Paisley. “How so?”
“He hangs with the elders, you know, yet he keeps trying to link up.” She scratched her nail over the tabletop. “Isaiah’s cool with him, even though he wouldn’t leave Isaiah alone.”
Elders? He shot a look to Mari, who gave an amused shake of her head. Kelly is barely five years older than this girl, so what does that make me—ancient?
“How so?” Mari asked.
Paisley shifted in her seat, pushing back from the table a bit. “He kept talking to Isaiah about some new gig he had going, but Isaiah wasn’t buying it—said he had no rizz.” She reached for her glass and pulled it closer.
Dear gods, if this interview went much longer, he’d need a translator. Based on context, he figured Leo’s erratic behavior had become problematic for Isaiah, which meant he must have already been using when he hit up Isaiah.
“What about Jigz?” Locke asked.
She stiffened so fast the water in the glass sloshed. “Jigz?” Her voice pitched high at the end as her gaze went anywhere but to him.
“The truth, Paisley,” Mari warned. “Otherwise, we’ll be having a different conversation, one that will include locating your nearest relative.”
For a moment, the real Paisley peeked out with a spark of youthful mutiny. “Good luck finding one who’s sober.”
A flash of pity hit Locke, but Mari didn’t flinch. She simply held Paisley’s stare. That cool-eyed look had Paisley’s rebellion sputtering into resignation. “Fine.” She shot Locke a resentment-filled glare. “Yeah, I’ve seen him around.”
Likely used him to get her fix when needed. “He another friend of Isaiah’s?”
Her nose wrinkled as she gave a snort. “Not a friend. More like a… what do you call it?” She looked to Mari.
“Acquaintance?” Mari offered.
“That.” Paisley nodded and turned back to Locke. “Isaiah only dealt with him because Carter told him to.” She drew her leg up and wrapped her arms around her blue scrubs–covered shin, brushing her chin over her knee.
Next to him, Isa stiffened, but he was already putting a name to the stone-faced bouncer at the Den. “Who’s Carter?”
Paisley cocked her head and stated blithely, “He’s my agent.”
It was not the answer he’d been expecting. “Agent?”
Paisley sat up straighter. “Yeah, I got picked up by Streetwise Talent.” She tilted her head and flashed a gorgeous smile that saddened him because it offered a glimpse of what she could be if not for the disease shoving her down a darker path.
“Carter was getting me paid gigs, which was great, but I was already behind on my rent. I had a payment plan going with my dick of a landlord, but when he found out Isaiah was staying with me, he kicked me out.”
Locke’s fingers stilled. “Isaiah was staying with you?”
A hint of color stained her cheeks, more proof that they were talking to someone young. “It’s not like that.”
Locke lifted his hand. “I never said it was.”
“But you were thinking it. Everyone always does.” She spoke with a world-weary cynicism.
“Whatevs,” she muttered. “Look, he just needed a place to crash for a few days, to stay off his brother’s radar and all, but shit changes.
Besides, it wasn’t like it was forever. Isaiah was going to get his own place.
He just needed time to put money away, you know.
Plus, having him around meant we could split expenses. ”
Locke nodded, feeling every one of his twenty-nine years and then some. “And when you got kicked out, where did you two go?”
She plucked at the blue scrubs and twisted the material so it tightened around her calf then loosened. “We were crashing at one of Carter’s places.”
Mari frowned and sat forward. “You’re living with your agent?”
“Ew, no. Carter offered to put us up in an apartment. I don’t know if he owns it or if it belongs to the agency, but he said it was available. Said he’d just take a higher percentage from my bookings for the rent until I could get on my feet.”
A slow kernel of anger bloomed in Locke. Considering the way Isa was white-knuckling her chair, he wasn’t the only one getting pissed. This girl could not catch a break.
Paisley continued to talk. “At first, Isaiah was all, ‘Man, we should think about this.’” She tried to mimic Isaiah’s voice then quickly switched back.
“And I was like ‘Bro, it beats sleeping on the streets.’ He didn’t back down until Carter offered to get him a meeting with his boss, maybe to get him into some kind of entry-level job with a steady paycheck, you know? ”
Locke forced his hand to uncurl and flattened it against the table as that simmering fury grew. He could guess exactly what kind of job Carter got Isaiah. But he wouldn’t let his reactions seep into his voice. The last thing he needed was for Paisley to clam up now.
“And did he get Isaiah a job?”
She stopped messing with her scrubs and gave a shrug. “I guess so. He had Isaiah running laps.”
What the hell? Locke frowned. “Laps? Like running around a track?”
Paisley gave a real laugh, amused and girly. “No, not that. He had Isaiah doing things for him. Like a list of jobs to do. It kept him busy and his pockets full.”
“Right.” A headache threatened Locke, but he kept going. “And Isaiah? Do you know where he is now?”
Her fingers returned to knotting up the scrubs as she looked from Mari to Locke. “He’s probably still back at the apartment.”
Even though he could guess the answer, he still asked, “The one we found you at?”
She flushed. “No, not that one. We kind of got into it because he was being a buzzkill. I had a shitty day—went in for an assignment, turned out the guy was a creeper—so I needed to blow off steam. Isaiah didn’t like how that was going down and stormed off.
I had a bit too much, went home with friends, then you showed up. ”
For the first time in the conversation, Locke thought there might be something worth salvaging in Isaiah. His reaction to Paisley’s behavior spoke volumes and offered the hope that he wasn’t completely lost to Angel’s poison.
“This apartment you two were crashing at—you have an address?”
She rattled off a location near Seventh Street.
Locke spent another fifteen minutes circling through carefully worded questions.
While he confirmed that Paisley had heard rumors that something new was hitting the scene, there wasn’t much more she could share.
By the time he shut it down, she was gray with exhaustion and was jumping or wincing at every little noise or unexpected movement.
After thanking Paisley for her help and promising not to hurt Isaiah, he rose to his feet and watched Mari hand the girl off to a kind-faced staff member, who guided her gently down the hall.
Locke pulled out his phone and texted Zev an update, including the address Paisley had shared, using the unique shorthand most of Emilio’s trusted people used. He shoved his phone back into a pocket and caught Isa’s questioning gaze. “Zev.”
She gave a nod then turned to Mari, who had come back and closed the door. “Tell me you’ll get her help,” Isa demanded.
Mari’s eyes flashed, her jaw set in stone as she faced down the seething woman. “It’s already taken care of.”
“And after she dries out…?”
“I called in a few favors and got her a spot at Jericho House,” the stalwart justice warrior said.
Locke recognized the name of a highly successful recovery program that shied away from publicity. Isa appeared somewhat appeased as she finally rose from her seat. “Good.”
Mari eyed both of them. “How much trouble is Isaiah in?”
“I don’t know. If we’re lucky, he’s a minor player in this mess,” he said.
“If we’re not?”
He didn’t bother answering, just held her gaze.
She looked away with an irritated noise. Whatever wheels were turning in her head drove her to pace the room. When she finally stopped, she turned to Isa. “You know this Carter person?”
Isa shot him a questioning look. He answered with a raised brow, wondering if he should have warned her that Mari was a Truth Seeker. Too late now.
Isa turned to the lawyer. “Yes, and we know his boss.”
Mari nodded as if they’d confirmed something she already knew. “You’re going after the boss.”
Isa didn’t even look his way. “Yes.”
Mari studied Isa for a long, unsettling moment. Then a vicious smile curved her lips. “Good. When you’re done with him, I want a turn.”
Locke was still contemplating how much of Angel he would leave for Emilio—and that was if Isa gave him a chance—so he couldn’t make Mari any promises. Instead, he moved up behind Isa so they faced Mari together. “Take it up with Emilio,” he said.
That cold smile warmed into a feminine one. “Don’t worry. I will.”
Locke almost felt sorry for the intimidating head of the Cordova Family.
Almost.