“Good night, Nick,” I say again.
“Promise me you’re coming inside soon. It’s really not safe out here. Not these days. Bosses aren’t content with just taking out the guy they want. They mow down entire families—wives, children.”
Again, I shudder. But I don’t want to give Nick the satisfaction of seeing me afraid.
“I’m not going to cower inside our home because of who you and Father choose to do business with.” I sound much braver than I feel. “If you don’t like it, that’s not my problem.”
Nick mutters a terse good night and shuts the door firmly behind him.
I gaze up into the sky. This deep in the city, the sky is more of an ashen gray, even after midnight, as it reflects the city lights. There are stars up there. I don’t see them—I rarely do unless I’m at Tim’s—but I know they’re there. I sit for a while, trying to spot a single star, but I can’t. If I chose to, it would be easy to deny their existence.
They’re there, I tell myself. Even if your eyes can’t perceive them.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
I stare into my leather shopping bag—containing my notebook, several pens, Nick’s pocket knife, a length of rope, and my F. Scott Fitzgerald novel for while I wait. I’ve never staked out a man’s apartment. I’m not sure what all I need.
With all leads in Lydia’s case pointing to the Finnegans, I’m at a bit of a dead end. I can’t exactly go after them on my own, and even though I’ve thought of little else but Mariano and how to reconcile that he lied to me with my Father’s belief that Mariano isn’t mixed up in the family business, I still don’t really know how involved with him I want to be.
So if I can’t go after the Finnegans, I can at least help Emma solve the mystery of the very nice, but very vague Robbie Thomas. A consolation prize of sorts while I figure out my next move with Lydia.
There’s a knock at my door.
I fold over the top of my shopping bag. “Come in.”
I hold in a groan when Alana pokes her head in the door. “Hi, Piper.”
“Hi.”
She steps into my room, all grown-up glamour in a geometric-print dress and heels that make her even taller. “Your room is lovely.”
Under her scrutiny, I feel even more aware of how it looks like a little girl’s bedroom. “Thank you.”
Sidekick sniffs at Alana, and she moves to pet him. He jumps back.
“He’s very skittish around new people.”
She crouches lower and holds out her hand. “I’m hardly new, right, Sidekick? You know me.”
Sidekick seems unsure. He sits and stares at her.
“Did you need something, Alana? I’m actually getting ready to leave.”
She stands to her full height and aims a bright smile at me. “Are you doing anything fun?”
“Just running an errand with a friend.”
“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
Why, exactly, does she care?
I don’t voice the question, but it must be obvious all the same, because Alana rushes on. “I know you’ve been feeling rather blue since the wedding. Nick and I thought it would be swell for the three of us to go have dinner together.” Her smile rises impossibly high. “Someplace nice. My treat.”
“That’s very kind of you.” I sling my bag over my shoulder. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be with Emma, though. I’m sorry, but I need to go or I’ll be late.”
“Then tomorrow?” Alana asks as she follows me out of my bedroom.
I’m not trying to be rude, but I just can’t think about a dinner with her and Nick right now, when my nerves are so tightly wound about venturing north with Emma. “I don’t know. I think I told Mrs. Barrow that I would watch her kids for her.”
“So Thursday, then? You can’t possibly be busy every night this week.” Alana laughs loudly as she patters down the stairs behind me.
Nick stands in the entryway, flipping through the day’s mail. “What’s so funny?”
“Your sister has quite the social calendar. I told her about our idea of going out to dinner, but it seems like it’ll be impossible with how busy Piper is.”
Nick narrows his eyes at me. “Surely one day this week can work for you.” He holds my gaze a moment before turning back to the letters in his hands.
I can’t get out of this without being outright rude, can I? And perhaps what Nick said a couple nights ago is right, that Alana’s search for Matthew could maybe even help me. And if it turns out to be mutually beneficial, and she does get a great story out of the deal, what is that to me?
I tell myself to smile. “Now that I’ve thought about it, I bet I can make tomorrow night work after all.”
Alana beams. “Marvelous. We can discuss the place later.”