Page 87 of Bitter Queen (Advantage Play 4)

“Okay.” Grasping at straws, I try another question. “What was outside? Do you remember anything?”

“There was a fence around the parking lot. You know, the ones made out of chains or whatever.”

“A chain-link fence,” Gigi answers for him. “Okay. That’s good. What else?”

“I dunno? There was this homeless guy that always slept next to this dumpster.”

I jerk back. “A homeless guy?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he look like?”

“I dunno? Homeless? I only got close to him once, and I was blindfolded so I couldn’t see. But he kept cursing at Sei, telling him to leave me alone. Sei threatened to kill him if he didn’t shut up, though. He kind of talked funny. But every time I’d look out the window, he was always next to the dumpster.”

My breathing is erratic as I start to piece all the information together before realizing the truth. “I think I know where Sei’s been hiding.”

The sound of my bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor muffles out Gigi’s voice, but I don’t stop and ask her to repeat herself.

There’s no time for that.

“King!” I yell. “King!” The hallway feels never-ending as I race toward the security room where the guys are still gathered.

King grabs me and pulls me into his chest. “What is it?”

“I think I know where she is.”

“Where?”

“My old apartment.”

Confused, he tilts his head to the side. “What?”

“I think Sei’s been hiding in my old apartment,” I repeat. The pitch of my voice rises higher and higher as the truth practically blinds me.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s the perfect place to hide. He knows it’s abandoned. He knows we would never look for him there. And he knows that it’s in a shitty enough part of town that he can get away with dragging kids to and from the place without anyone batting an eye. Except for Eddie.”

“Eddie?”

“The homeless guy. He always looked out for me. He was my friend. Will said there was a homeless guy outside of the apartment complex who would talk shit to Sei every time he saw him. That has to be Eddie, which means they have to be hiding there.”

His expression remains indifferent, but I can see the wheels turning inside Kingston’s head before he turns to Lou. “Tell Diece to get his ass back here.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

Then Kingston presses a kiss to my forehead. “Good work, Wild Card.”

“Are you gonna save her?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna save her.”

“Good.”

33

Q