Page 25 of Fracture
“You pick. But nothing happy. Those movies about people falling in love with their brother’s friend or some stupid shit make me sick. Things like that don’t actually happen. Not to people like us. We have to rely on each other.”
Nina nodded and turned to grab the remote. “A classic?”
The boss chuckled and got up from her chair. “A classic sounds good.”
She sat out on the couch next to Nina as the opening credits started. They both raised the footrests at the same time, then chuckled and leaned toward each other.
Nina’s hair smelled a little funky. It had been a while since the boss gave her extra shower time. She was usually with the rest of the girls and only got a shower before she was supposed to meet with someone, but the boss had been pulling Nina out of the rotation more lately. She needed her.
The movie played, and as the main character smiled through her first kill, the boss felt herself relax. It was a good night for murder. It always was.
The suite around him settled down, and Vinnie knew he had to report in to his boss. Damien had been more than generous letting Vinnie stay in Boston as long as he did, but slow rolling the trip home and then letting Lorelei stay with him might push his boss over the edge.
It was late, but Vinnie knew Damien would answer.
“Are you going to be at work tomorrow?” Damien asked in lieu of a greeting.
“I’m not in Niagara Falls yet.”
“Where the fuck are you?”
“A hotel in Albany.”
“I hope this is a personal expense because I didn’t authorize it.”
Vinnie shook his head. “It’s being handled.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means I’m still with Lorelei Sloane and her family. Her cousin and the cousin’s boyfriend wanted to ride back with Lorelei and found out I had my personal vehicle. Asked if they could all ride with me.”
Damien snorted, then burst out laughing.
Vinnie listened to his boss laugh for a solid minute. He knew better than to interrupt him.
“You got yourself in the middle of a fucking show, didn’t you? Damn. I have a job for you. Tomorrow. We’re supposed to be on shift. I was counting on you being here.”
Vinnie looked around the expensive suite that made him feel like he was out of place. He wasn’t a high-level kind of guy. The motel around the corner with the busted sign and cage around the front desk attendant was more in his price range. Not the suite overlooking the water with the valet parking and all glass entrance.
“I didn’t know I was going to get roped into driving them all back. Or that Lorelei wouldn’t be able to sit in the car for long. She needed to stop every hour or two at the most.”
“Are you going to make it back tomorrow? To be on shift the next day?”
“Yeah, but?—”
“Good… but what?”
“She’s staying with me. Until she’s healed.”
“Are you fucking…” Damien drew a long breath and let it out slowly. “You have a job, Vinnie. One you worked your ass off to get. What the hell is going on?”
“You know this is important. That she’s important.”
“Yeah, I do. Everyone knows. But not everyone left the fucking city to go find her like you did.”
“I…” Vinnie couldn’t explain what drove him, but Damien was human. He would understand a connection. “She’s a friend of a friend. And she knows something. She has to, or this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all connected. If she disappeared forever, what she knows is gone, too. We might never find out what’s going on.”
Damien sighed again. “I know. I get it. What I don’t know is how I’m going to cover your shifts for however long you’re out. A week or two we’ll manage, but five or six more weeks?”