I T didn’t take Kiko long to stuff his sunglasses into a front pocket for later use, do whatever else he was doing, and come outside. Ready and raring, they headed toward Beverly Hills, where the Friends had tracked Milton Crockett, Esquire, to a power lunch at the Grill on the Alley, or “The Grill” to those who spoke L.A.
Even though they were in the dog days of summer, the team all wore coats of different sorts, the better to cover and hold weapons with. The SUV’s air-conditioning and Dawn’s light jacket over her sleeveless dress helped a little, but they didn’t completely erase the heat.
Sipping from an iced water bottle, she stretched out in the front seat, which she’d grabbed since Kiko hadn’t been there to do it first. And because there was no Dodgers game right this minute, Breisi wasn’t wearing her usual earpiece to block out any and all conversation. Instead, she was decked out in a white pantsuit, a filmy long robe coat, and sunglasses. A faux Greek heiress, if Dawn said so herself.
“The plan is to get Kiko near enough to Milton Crockett for a touch reading, and that’s all,” Breisi was saying as she turned onto Santa Monica Boulevard.
“Easy as pie,” Kiko mumbled from the backseat.
Dawn turned around to glance at him. He was as relaxed as someone with a back brace could be, staring out the window. Even from here she could tell his eyes were bleary.
“How many pills did you take?” Dawn asked.
“Just…one.”
“One.” Breisi was confirming, not actually asking. “Because if you’re off in dreamland, Kik, you’ll do us no good. Maybe we should take you into the doctor today—”
“No, Breez, just drive. I’m on full power, baby.”
He closed his eyes, conversation over.
Dawn turned to Breisi, but neither of them commented.
It wasn’t until a full minute later that Breisi said, “I wonder if we should make contact with Crockett another day, when Kiko’s at his best.”
“And when will that happen?”
Did Dawn ever sound pushy. But why shouldn’t she be? Frank needed her, needed all of them. A while ago, Kiko had discovered he could divine occasional vibes from her dad’s clothing—like the T-shirts Dawn wore to keep him close to her. Since the readings proved that Frank was still alive somewhere, they checked on him several times per night. Yet, lately, Kiko hadn’t been picking up anything. Yeah, sometimes there’d be flashes of Frank in what had to be either physical or mental pain, just like the ones they’d gotten before, but nothing that led them onward. But, hey, why expect more? Not even Breisi’s tracking inventions—locators—had produced any results.
“Hey.” Breisi’s smooth voice reflected a woman who had everything under control in her own world. “You keep saying it yourself, Dawn—we’re going to find him. Never doubt it.”
She wanted to believe that, because Breisi made it seem so possible with her rationality. But Dawn wanted to find him now. Wanted this all to be over, damn it, so she could know her dad was okay, so she could go back to normal. Whatever that was.
Still, she followed Breisi’s advice, taking in a lungful of oxygen and allowing it to pacify her, to temper last night’s visit to Jessica Reese.
“There you go.” The other woman smiled as they stopped at a red light.
“It amazes me,” Dawn said.
Breisi raised a brow in question.
“Your faith.” Dawn shook her head. “For a woman with such a scientific bent, you’ve got a lot of it. Way more than I do, even if I’m always telling you that we really are going to find Frank.”
“Faith is what has always kept me going.” The light turned green, and Breisi urged the vehicle forward. “Faith in my ability to defend my mother when my father would go on a bender and threaten us. Faith in my studies, because that was what would get me out of that house and into a better life at college. Faith in the church.”
Dawn wondered if Breisi’s crucifixes might work better than her own in a vamp fight. Did believing in what they stood for matter? If so, she was in trouble. Having a mother taken away from you so violently and needlessly kind of helped with the whole lack-of-faith thing.
“So…” She couldn’t say what she wanted to without choking a little, so she took another sip of water, coating her dry mouth. “I know you think I haven’t cared that much over the years, but there’s a lot between me and Frank that—”
“That’s between the two of you, Dawn.”
She shut up at that. Really, truly shut up. Breisi was right. Dawn couldn’t make anything up to Frank by apologizing to his girlfriend.