He nods slowly. “Got into a car on the street and hauled ass out of here. I wasn’t close enough to get a plate number. I’m so fucking sorry, Gabe. I should’ve gotten a plate. I should’ve gottenhim. I feel like I fucking failed you.”
“No,” I say, shutting down his shame with a shake of my head. “Moses is smart. Wily. Always has been. He knew we were here. He wanted something, probably to shake us up and let us know he can still get to us. Checking on me would be right up his alley, and he said he would.”
“Can we go home now, Gabe? I want to go home. I want Roux.” Bump’s voice sounds so weak after all the excitement it’s been charged with this afternoon, and it makes me want to take out Moses right then and there.
No one gets to steal Bump’s happiness.
“Roux is at my house, Bump. Do you want to come have a sleepover? You remember when you came before?”
Bump perks up, and I could kiss Scarlett for the suggestion. Her building is secure as hell, and Bump would be in a new, different place, so he’d be more likely to be excited and curious than terrified all night. At least, that’s the outcome I’m praying for.
“Your house? The big house?” Bump’s eyes are wide.
“You can see the whole place. Have a tour. But I only live upstairs, where you saw.”
“Can we make a pillow fort again?”
“If you want,” Scarlett says gently. “Or you can have your own room, and make one for you and Roux in there.”
Bump turns to me. “I don’t want to go home. I want to go to Scarlett’s house.”
I ruffle his hair. “Okay, bud. Then we’ll go to Scarlett’s house.” I glance at Hal, and he motions toward the street.
“Car’s a few blocks over. You want to wait until I pull up at the entrance to the park?”
“Yeah. That’ll be good.”
Hal heads off to get the SUV as we toss the remains of our food and the containers.
Bump picks up his air guitar and clutches it to his chest. “Why did Moses come back, Gabe? I thought we were done with him?”
The question makes me feel like a damned failure. What the hell are Creighton Karas’s guys in the Casso family doing, and why the fuck haven’t they locked onto Moses yet?
“He probably was just making sure I look like I’ve been training for the fight.”
“He wants you to lose,” Bump says with a frown. “I don’t want you to lose. You need to win. It makes you happy to win.”
This fucking guy.I swear to Christ, Bump gets how I think and feel better than anyone. He’s totally attuned to my moods in a way that even Q isn’t after fifteen years of friendship.
“Let’s not worry about Moses or the fight right now,” Scarlett says with a forced smile. “Why don’t we make our way over to where Hal is picking us up? I’m sure Roux is going to be so excited to see you.”
Bump forgets about Moses as soon as Scarlett mentions Roux, and I could kiss her for distracting him. He starts chattering about all the treats he’s going to feed her, and how he’s going to let her sleep on the bed—if that’s okay with Scarlett.
By the time we reach the entrance and Scarlett has caved about letting Roux cuddle him on the bed, Hal is just pulling up in the SUV. We all pile in, with Bump taking the far back seat.
We’re quiet for a few minutes, before Hal flips on the radio station and “Highway to Hell” is playing. A shiver rips up my spine, but Bump breaks out his air guitar and starts singing. I try not to take the words as a bad omen, but that only lasts as long as it takes for the ringing to start.
“Is that your phone?” Scarlett looks at me with a questioning expression on her face.
I shake my head. “No. Not mine.”
“Mine’s on silent,” Hal says.
“Mine too,” Scarlett adds.
“It’s coming from your purse, though,” I tell her as I point to her red handbag.
Scarlett shakes her head but digs into her purse anyway. “I don’t have a ring tone that sounds like—” Her words cut off when she pulls out what looks like a cheap prepaid cell phone. “This isn’t mine.”