Page 164 of What Started In Deception

“Yeah, I know it’s not ideal… I understand that this isn’t what we agreed to, but it’s a better option for the time being. It’s a climate-controlled unit. At Coolidge Storage off Second Street.” His eyes widened as he continued his pacing. “Yeah, I’ll be there waiting. At two thirty. It’s unit 1333. Thank you again for giving me a hand. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience. Okay. Bye.”

Ty nodded again as Will hung up. “Nice work.”

Will still paced as his hands shook. “Holy fuck, Ty.”

“You sold it, man.”

Will nodded. “He wasn’t happy, but it sounded like he bought it.” Then Will stopped. “But I can’t meet him there. If I meet him, I’m an accessory.”

Ty shook his head. “You’re going to be right here at the compound at two thirty a.m. We’re renting an Audi that looks like yours, and they have an agent—tall, physically fit, with dark-brown hair—who will be waiting at the storage unit. We’ll use the dark to our advantage, and hopefully, they can end all of this before they realize that our guy isn’t you.”

Will dropped into his chair as he nodded. “So, what do we do now?”

Ty shook his head as he shrugged. “Wait. Let the agents do their thing.” He grabbed his phone again, finding Mason’s number.

“Yeah,” Mason said.

“Everything’s all set. Russo’s expecting to meet my guy at the storage unit at two thirty.”

“Sounds good. I’m sending a couple of people over there to keep an eye on things.”

Because they both knew Russo would be doing the same thing—scouting things out to make sure they weren’t walking into a trap. “Okay.”

“I’ll keep you updated as the day goes on,” Mason said. “At this point, everything looks good.”

“I appreciate this, man. I truly do. Call if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

Ty put his phone back on the coffee table. “I imagine you and I could both use a few hours of sleep.”

Will shook his head. “I need to eat more.”

Ty nodded, even though his appetite wasn’t great. “I could eat.”

“What if we go grab some breakfast? We can also grab your stuff and you can stay here tonight.”

He nodded again because it made sense to have his stuff here. He and Will would be spending the rest of the day together until this situation was wrapped up. Then he was going back to DC. “Sure. Sounds good.” Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. “Do you have a plumber who handles things at Monroe House?”

Will shrugged. “Yeah, I’m sure we do.”

“Let’s give him a call and have him meet us up at the warehouse.”

Will frowned. “But there’s nothing wrong at the warehouse.”

Ty shrugged. “So, we’ll back up the toilets or clog a drain. If Russo or any of his buddies do a drive-by, seeing a plumber’s truck in the parking lot will only add to the authenticity of our story.”

Will nodded. “Good thinking. Let me grab my keys. They’re upstairs.”

“Sure,” he said as he looked out the window, staring at the pool house on the perfect summer day. It was still sinking in that Lydia wasn’t there anymore.

Picking up his phone, he hesitated before he started typing.

Will mentioned that you’re back in Virginia. Please talk to me, Lyd.

He sat up straight, holding his breath when three dots appeared on his screen. “Holy shit,” he whispered.

Let’s just leave things the way that we left them. We can always say that we knew each other one summer.