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ELEVEN
It was time for answers.
The thirty-minute drive from the apartment we’d met Amani at to our safehouse was tense.
Tense and silent.
I was under no illusion Nebraska was using the silence as a way to digest what Amani had told her. Nope, not The Dove; she was scheming. Using the quiet to come up with her next play. She was smart, cunning, resourceful. She knew she would be drilled as soon as we got to where we were going. She’d sat in the back of the car and made good use of her time.
As soon as Smith closed the door behind us, I went at her. “Who’s Badger?”
Her right eye twitched.
She was expecting me to start with Dutch.
“The last person you want to see.”
I’d heard something similar to that already.
“Yeah, your dad already gave me that. But who is he and why doesn’t Zane like him?”
Nebraska averted her eyes under the pretense she was taking in the small living room.
“Nebraska,” I called back her attention. “Badger?”
“Can we sit?” she stalled.
“We can sit. We can stand. We can eat, drink, do fucking handstands for all I care as long as you start talking.”
Her eyes whipped back to me and narrowed.
“Not only are you a dick but you’re a sarcastic one, too.”
Smith chuckled and tossed his backpack on the smaller of the two couches.
There was a lot of furniture shoved into the small area. A two-seater couch, one that sat three, two armchairs, and three stuffed squares I’d heard called poufs. There was also a rectangle table that ate up too much space between the seating selections, meaning anyone over five-foot would have no leg room. None of this furniture matched. The fabric and colors were anything but complimentary. At least the white walls didn’t add to the dizzying ugliness.
“I can show you my—”
Nebraska’s hand came up, palm out in my direction, to stop my threat.
I ignored her hand and Smith’s renewed laughter and went on. “I was going to offer to show you just how sarcastic I can be but you went straight to thinking I was offering to show my dick. So, once again, I have to ask—”
Nebraska’s cute girl growl cut off the rest of my taunt.
As much fun as it was knocking her off balance, I was more interested in Badger. And why Carver mentioned Dutch. And who Black was.
“If you don’t want to talk about Badger you can tell us about Dutch. Or why Maddon thinks the truth will ruin Zane. Or you could explain who Black is.”
Nebraska’s shoulders stiffened.
Bingo.
“Why would chaos end Black?” Smith joined. “And what would Dutch need to rebuild?”
For the first time since I’d met Nebraska she looked genuinely scared.
Trapped.
