Page 158 of Bad Attitude
She has? That’s news to me.
“But you don’t know where she is?”
“No. Except…”
“Yeah?”
“Remember she took a few days off before the Rodeo Drive job?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Well, she went home. To her parents.” A pause. “Same as she did three years ago, last time she got… jumpy.”
“Wait. You’re saying she gotjumpybefore the Rodeo Drive job?”
“Yeah.”
“It wasn’t the job, was it?” It was me.
“Nope.”
God damn Mercer and her face-to-face. All I did was miss breakfast and the girl goes AWOL for almost a week.
And if Renner’s right, she’s done it again. “What makes you think she’s jumpy now?”
“I… uh… might have suggested you couldn’t be trusted.”
“Oh, right.” I let that one stand for a moment. “Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”
The length of his pause tells me he hasn’t. Just that he’s running out of options, and I’m the best he has left. “Heading that way.”
Fair. “So where’s her parents’ house?”
“That’s the problem. I have absolutely no idea. And I can’t reach her either.”
“Then what do you expect me to do?”
Renner exhales, loud enough to travel down the line. “I guess I was hoping you knew how to find her.”
“Well, maybe she’s at my apartment. There in a few minutes.”
“Yeah…” He sounds skeptical.
“What do you want me to tell her?”
“Just… get her back.”
“Renner…” I pause, thinking what Hale would say, and phrase it carefully. “Whatever you gave her is valuable, right? You got intercepted by the FBI, and now Raven’s missing. Are youcertainthose two things aren’t related? If she’s got it, can she sell it and disappear?”
“I trust Genesis, Declan.” His tone doesn’t leave room for error. “She’s not the problem.”
No. I am.
“Fine. Well… if I find her, I’ll let you know.”
“Good hunting.”
He ends the call, and I stare unseeing at the traffic in front of me.
