But Molly is in Zen mode at the back of my head.
“I wasn’t blocking her, Taylor.”
He has to let go. So do I.
I open my mouth to relay Molly’s message, but I stop. Taylor needs to let go, too.
I check my phone again—nothing—and Taylor says, “What time is it?”
“Eight forty.”
Taylor tosses the last bit of crust into her mouth. “A bit too early, but at least I can shower before we go.”
“Go where?” Aaron asks.
She gives him a duh look and nods toward the computer. “To check out the house. The street should probably be quiet by eleven, wouldn’t you think?”
“We’re not going to check out that house.”
Already halfway up the stairs, Taylor turns back and gives a shrug. “Thought Anna might need a distraction. She’s pulled that phone out of her pocket to check for messages three times since I came downstairs, even though I imagine she’s got the ringer turned up to full volume.”
She’s wrong. It’s on vibrate. If a message comes in, I want to know what it says before I decide whether to share.
“But,” she continues, “if you guys would rather stay here, I’ll go myself.”
“The hell you will!” Aaron says.
Her eyes narrow and she comes back down several steps so that she’s just a smidge above eye level with her brother. “Like I told Sam, I have to clear my head. Each time I try to focus on Deo and the ear cuff, I get interference from that damned pink purse. So, yes. I am going to check this place out. If you want to come, great. If not, I’ll take the Jeep.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
We do not take the Jeep to Havre de Grace.
Taylor argued in favor of it at first, saying that its off-roading capabilities would come in handy if we needed to make a quick exit. I caught her little smirk as she said it, however, so I suspect she was picking on Aaron.
I’m pretty sure that Aaron would have continued trying to talk Taylor out of going, but Sam called around ten thirty with a bit of news. He couldn’t find any connection between Cregg and the property in Havre de Grace, but the owners listed in the incorporation papers for HLMC CORP are Honoria Lucas and Miguel Cruz. Honoria Lucas has an older brother named Franco Lucas, who usually goes by his last name.
So that pretty much clinched it. They were going. I didn’t see why that meant I needed to go, however. It would be beyond stupid to take the trackers with me when we’ll be snooping around a location connected to Lucas. And it’s been more than twenty hours now without any sort of contact concerning Deo. I’m more convinced than ever that they’ll be coming in person. Being alone at the beach cottage when they show up is exactly what I want. And exactly what I dread.
Aaron’s clearly aware of this. He refused to go unless I did, and since Taylor was clearly hell-bent on going with or without us, here we are. But I’m going to be on edge until we’re back . . . although I guess I’ve been on edge all day.
Anyone watching us leave would probably think we’re headed out for a late-night robbery or goth-fest. Taylor and Aaron are both in black—stuff Taylor grabbed from the closets at their house. I pulled my hair into a messy updo with a big barrette, and I’m in the darkest clothes I own, topped off with my gray-and-white Old Navy hoodie. Not exactly ninja mode, but the best I can do.
“You can sit up front,” Aaron says as I go to open the car door. For some reason, that triggers Taylor’s smirk again.
“That’s okay. I’m fine back here.”
That’s not entirely true. I’ve been known to get queasy in the back, and normally I’d use that as leverage to ride shotgun. But if a message comes through on my phone when I’m riding up front, they’d both have a good view of it. Back here, I might have some privacy.
“How far is it?” I ask as I settle in.
“A little over eighty miles.”
“Round-trip?”
“Um . . . no,” he says. “Sorry.”
As soon as he turns the key, a man with a heavy British accent starts talking about giants not being meant to live in groups.
“That’s . . . Hagrid.”
“Order of the Phoenix,” Aaron says. “I got the full set as a Christmas present from Mom and Tay, since I’m in the car so much. I’ve read the books, of course, but . . . nice to listen to them, too.”
And so we listen for the next ninety minutes. Well, Aaron and I listen. Taylor is asleep ten minutes in.
I close my eyes and try to lose myself in the story. The entire trip, I only check my phone twice. That’s the closest I’ve been to relaxed all day.
Harry is just wondering whether Cho cried because of Cedric Diggory or because he’s a rotten kisser when Molly speaks up. It’s almost a whisper.
Anna?
Yes?
I have to say good-bye. And thank you.
To Taylor and Aaron?
I already did that. To you.
None of my other tenants have said good-bye. A few said “thank you” after we completed whatever task was anchoring them here. Mostly, they just left behind their excess baggage and drifted away.