Page 158 of A Quick Buck

“Barely. But yes.” Alistair gritted his teeth. “I want answers. Rightnow.”

“Mace gave two of them new volunteers a shift to watch Medina,” Junior piped up. “He claimed he had to take some syrupy wet dump—”

“Medina, not me,” Mace quickly clarified.

“Whatever. Medina has to go take a wet dump, so they let him gos to the bathroom. He slips off, makes a rush up here.”

“And where were you?” Alistair asked icily.

“I, I had to gos get the fire extinguisher! The fire—”

“I told you to watch the doorno matter what,” Alistair seethed.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Star!” Junior protested meekly. “All I saw was fuckin’ fire, and I can’t protect nothin’ if this whole damn place burns up!”

“There were more than enough people who could have handled that. You had orders—”

“I’m sorry!” Junior shouted. “I fucked up! I fuckin’ fucked up real fuckin’ bad! I’m so, so very sorry. I…” He wheezed, and he quickly reached for his inhaler.

Crybaby placed a comforting hand on Junior’s shoulder.

“Tell me more about the fire,” Alistair said sternly. He was clearly not done berating Junior, but he was granting him leniency for now.

“It was a small bomb,” Erasmus replied. “Crude, probably homemade. Spread an accelerant all throughout the foyer and made it to the curtains.”

“How thefuckdid we miss that?”

“It was inside a vase,” Mace chimed in. “It was very securely wrapped in plastic. I never smelled a thing.”

Crybaby rolled her eyes. “I personally checked that stupid vase the day after the party. There was no bomb. So someone had to have stuck it in there between then and now.”

“I’m confident Medina is responsible,” Erasmus said. “The bomb was not big enough to cause any real damage. It was meant to be a distraction, so he could get away…” His bright eyes fell on Noah.

“And kill me.” Noah swallowed thickly.

Alistair held Noah closer.

“He had help,” Erasmus went on. “There’s no way he snuck in a bomb without us knowing.”

“How did he detonate it?” Alistair asked.

“Could be a cell phone app. Maybe a wireless device, something small. We’ll check him.”

“Can we please do that checking thing when I’m not in here?” Noah mumbled.

“Of course. Come on, sweet boy.” Alistair kissed his hair. “Do you want to go downstairs?”

“I don’t wanna be in here,” Noah whispered. Closing his eyes didn’t make Medina’s body vanish from his mind, and he grimaced. “I don’t… I don’t wanna be in this house. I wanna go. Can we go, please?”

“Come on then.” Alistair petted his hair. “I’m taking you home.”

“Mr. Star?” Crybaby blinked.

“I’m taking Noah home. Leave the volunteers here with Mace and Junior to watch the house. You and Erasmus will drive us.”

Junior hung his head shamefully.

Crybaby gave him a sympathetic look, but she said to Alistair, “Right away, sir.”