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“Your father wants you out of the room so that Burke and I can talk to Phin,” Val said.
“Why didn’t you just say so?” Elijah demanded. He waved at Jace, who took out his earbuds. “Come on. You can meet my aunt on Skype. You’ll like her.”
Jace looked at Kaj, uncertainty all over his face. “Mr.Cardozo?”
“It’s fine, Jace,” Kaj said kindly. “Come with us.”
“All right.” Jace picked up the handcuffs from the table, but Kaj shook his head.
“No need. Leave those there.”
Jace slowly put the cuffs on the table. There was such hope in his eyes that Val’s breath hitched in her chest.
“Yes, sir.” Jace gathered his things and followed them up the stairs to Elijah’s room.
“Tell your aunt I said hi,” Val called, then patted the sofa. “Have a seat, Phin.”
Phin approached warily. “Why?”
“Kaj needs to visit the jail today,” Burke said. “He wants you to go with him.”
“As his bodyguard,” Val added.
Phin blinked. “Me?”
“If you’re not ready, no one will blame you,” Burke assured him. “But you kept your shit together yesterday. Kaj feels comfortable with you.”
Phin sat so quietly he might as well have been stone. Just when Val was sure he wouldn’t answer at all, he nodded. “I can do it. I want to do it.”
Burke smiled. “Good enough.”
Val studied Phin. He looked... determined. And satisfied. “Have you wanted to do more than night security and handyman work all this time, Phin?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I wanted to work with you, not for you. But I wasn’t ready before.”
“What changed?” she asked. “I’m not judging. I’m just curious.”
“Therapy,” he said gruffly. “Burke found me someone. It helped.”
“Okay, then.” She squeezed Phin’s arm. “Take care of Kaj. He’s... important.”
“You know I will.”
“Wear your vest,” Burke said. “Kaj, too. Hopefully this will be a short trip to the jail, but we need to be prepared.”
“Of course,” Phin said, all business. “I think we should hide the fact that he’s leaving the house. We know someone’s been watching the place and reporting back to Corey.”
The cops patrolling the neighborhood hadn’t been able to find who was watching them and neither had Burke. All the cars on the street belonged to neighborhood residents. No vehicles had anyone lurking inside.
“I asked André to start a door-to-door search,” Burke said. “André said he would, but then...” He trailed off, angry and sad.
Because their friend had been stabbed and the NOPD still had no leads.
“I’ll bring the company Escalade into Kaj’s garage,” Phin said.
The SUV was fitted with bullet-resistant glass and reinforced side panels. That Phin planned to use it for Kaj made her feel a bit better.
“Kaj can lie down in the back under a blanket,” Phin went on. “Will he fight me on that?”
