“SO MY BROTHER wants you to leave,” Susannah says to Frankie. “So what? He’s an asshole. Come on, stay, hang out, watch some Tom Hanks. It’ll be fun.”
From the doorway, Frankie smiles, shaking his head. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta get home. Caesar’s going to stay, though.” Across the room, standing in my kitchen, Caesar does not look excited at the prospect.
“Fine,” Susannah sulks. “You go and we’ll hang out with your stupid boyfriend.” She turns her head. “Not that I think you’re stupid, Caesar. Anybody who likes pre-Dominion DS Nine is obviously intelligent. I’m just annoyed that Frankie is leaving and that no one will tell me why we need someone else to stay here.”
“Wait,” I say, “did you call Caesar his … boyfriend?”
Susannah frowns. “What, you didn’t know?”
“No, I know,” I say. “I just—how did you know?”
She snorts. “Please. It’s obvious. They’re adorable.”
“I need coffee,” Caesar says, looking about as adorable as a hammerhead.
“Cabinet above the microwave,” I say. Caesar glowers, then turns away and starts rummaging in the kitchen.
Susannah looks at me, grinning. “Adorable.”
“Go watch Tom Hanks,” I say, pushing her toward the couch. As soon as she’s back in front of the TV, I turn to Frankie. “Is this really necessary?” I say in a low voice.
Frankie lowers his voice to match mine. “He’s spending the night,” he says. “I’d stay, too, but … I have some work to finish for your uncle.” He sees the look on my face and rushes on. “Look, this Donny guy is dangerous. You call the cops, they might send a patrol car out, and that’s after they interrogate you six ways to Sunday about Donny, how you know him, where were you this morning, all that.”
“I know,” I say, waving my hand like I’m dispelling smoke. “We went over it. It’s fine. Tomorrow morning I’ll go to work for my video chat with Gardner.” Even though I’m persona non grata at Archer right now, it’s spring break, so no one should be around to object.
Frankie says, “Caesar could help you set it up here—”
“In front of my sister?” I say, practically whispering. “No, thanks. She doesn’t need to be any more involved in this than she already is.”
Frankie nods and claps me on the shoulder. “Good luck. And call Mr. Shaw.”
“I will,” I say, and Frankie is gone. I shut the door, then lock it.
“Finally,” Susannah says from the couch. “Come on, we were just getting to the good part.”
Caesar materializes in the kitchen doorway—one second he wasn’t there, and the next he is. “Tell me you have something other than a drip coffeemaker,” he says.
“What do you want, an espresso machine?”
“A good French press would do. But if I have to I’ll make do with this twenty-dollar piece of plastic and glass from Taiwan.” He turns to go back into the kitchen, then stops. “I can’t find the filters.”
The machine has its own mesh filter—I hate the paper ones—so I go into the kitchen to show him. He’s standing at the far end of the kitchen, the pantry all but blocking him from the den. “The filter—” I begin.
“I know about the filter,” he says, his voice a low rumble. “Wanted to give you something.” He holds out something in his hand. It takes me a second to realize he’s holding a pistol.
I shake my head. “No thanks.”
“Pretty sure this Donny character isn’t interested in playing Chutes and Ladders,” Caesar says. “This is just a little insurance.”
“I’m not taking a gun,” I say.
Caesar raises an eyebrow. “Not a Second Amendment supporter?” he says.
“A gun ended up killing my parents,” I say. “Nearly killed me and my sister. So, no. I don’t want a gun.”
Caesar shrugs and pockets the pistol. “Your funeral,” he says. “Now please tell me you at least have filtered water.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I close my bedroom door and call Johnny Shaw, who answers on the second ring. The old lawyer reassures me that I am not being arrested, that the police simply want to hear my side of the story with Bridges. “Of course they want the DNA, which they’re not getting,” Shaw says. “Get there early, at noon, and you and I can talk and go over your story. It will be fine.” I hang up marginally less anxious about the meeting.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully as Caesar brews a pot of coffee and wanders around the house, followed occasionally by Wilson, while Susannah and I fall asleep on the couch watching Nothing in Common. I wake up with a start around two AM to see Caesar standing in the corner, looking out the window into the front yard. He notices me and nods, then sips from one of my mugs. I glance over at Susannah and see her pale face, her eyes closed. She looks less like she’s sleeping and more like she’s enduring a nap—her eyes are rolling under the closed lids, and her arms twitch. I pull my fleece throw over her and stand up, yawning, then wave to Caesar and wander back to my bedroom, where I fall into a troubled sleep punctuated by chases and bright flashlights shining across dark fields.
I WAKE UP to find Susannah standing at the foot of my bed.
“Jesus,” I say, sitting up.
“Not even close,” she says.
A gray light seeps through my blinds. It’s morning, then. I rub my eyes. “What’s up?”
“I’m bored. Caesar’s taking a nap on the couch. Poor man’s exhausted. I kept him up all night.”
“Naughty.”
She rolls her eyes. “We were talking Star Trek and other geek lore, you moron.”
“Any problems?”
She shrugs. “He likes The Last Jedi, but that’s it.” When I look at her, she sighs. “No, Ethan. No bogeyman tried to get me.”
I get out of bed and head for the shower. “You take Wilson out yet?” I call over my shoulder.
“Pooped and peed and fed and now he’s a happy little man. You have anything to eat?”
“Whatever you can
