Chapter 3
The next forty-five minutes were the most efficiently chaotic of her life.
Gigi arrived through the back door fourteen seconds after Nia called her, which meant she’d already been on her way, which meant she had already felt what she called the heavy spirit and had been moving toward her granddaughter before she was asked to. She came in wearing her housecoat and carrying the Bible and the pink taser and looked at Jyn with the sharp-eyed assessment of a woman who had survived enough to recognize the difference between dangerous and untrustworthy.
“You are the neighbor,” Gigi said.
“I am,” Jyn said.
Gigi looked at him for a long moment. Then she looked at Thor, who had not moved from his spot by the table but whose tail thumped once when Gigi’s eyes landed on him.
“The dog kept the baby safe,” Gigi said.
“Yes.”
Gigi made a sound that was not quite approval and not quite forgiveness but contained elements of both. She turned to Nia. “Pack Leo’s things first. The medications and the Mr. Bun Bun and the yellow blanket—”
“The Chong people have the yellow blanket,” Nia said. “Thor moved it.”
Gigi’s eyes went to Thor. Her expression did something complicated. “Smart animal,” she said finally, with the tone of a woman who was revising a previously held position.
Marcus arrived through the front door two minutes later in full security guard regalia, having apparently called in to his dispatcher and told them he was taking emergency family leave, which he was technically entitled to and had technically never used despite seven years of quietly waiting for an occasion worthy of it. He walked in, looked at Jyn, looked at the ring box on the table, and said, “Please tell me this is not what it looks like because it looks completely insane.”
“It is completely insane,” Nia agreed.
“But you’re doing it.”
She looked at the ring box. “I’m considering it.”
“Nia.” Marcus put both hands on the table. “I ran the plates. Shell company. Which means he’s the kind of person who has enemies serious enough to justify shell companies. Which means—”
“Which means the thing in the bushes tonight was one of those enemies,” Nia said quietly.
Marcus went still. “The hand reaching for Leo.”
“Thor stopped it. But they’ll try again.” She looked at her brother. “They know where Gigi lives, Marcus. They have a picture of your building.”
The silence was different after that.
Marcus picked up the velvet box. Looked at the ring. Set it back down. Looked at Jyn with the particular expression of an older brother calculating threats, and then said: “Does your jet have a cargo hold? Because the television was a gift from our mother and I am not leaving it.”
