Page 25 of Gator
“My job, Gator. I was doing my job.”
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I know, I’m sorry. Tell us what you saw.”
I explained what happened to both of them, and Kat nodded along.
“That’s a good lead, Julius. Hopefully that will help us identify him.”
“Do you think that’ll help you find the boy they took?” Julius asked.
“I don’t know, but I’ll send what I have to both Carmine and to Chance Kelly.”
“Chance Kelly? That’s the FBI agent you mentioned, right? Are they investigating this? Cause Officer Russo is the only person I’ve talked to.”
“They aren’t officially investigating it, but because of the stuff that happened here with Mika’s ex, he wanted to be kept updated on this just to be safe.”
“Okay.” He turned to me. “So what now? I was staying at my sister’s place, but I have a teenage niece living there. I can’t put them in danger.”
“I agree. You can stay here. Our security is top-notch.”
He looked around. “Here?”
“Well, not on this floor.” I laughed. “The ninth floor is made up of apartments where most of the Three Bears employees live. We also have a couple of empty ones that are available to use in situations like this.”
I wanted to suggest he stay with me, but he had enough to deal with right now without me taking advantage of the situation.
I saw a flash of disappointment before he took a breath and slumped down in his seat, looking exhausted. “I guess that would be okay.”
I reached over and lifted his chin, making him look at me. “Baby boy, there will be plenty of time for us to finish what we started the other night, but if they found you, I have to prioritize your safety. That has to be my focus right now, okay?”
Chapter eight
Julius
When I made the decision to pull into the Three Bears building, I hadn’t planned on staying here, but I did think it was my best option. At work, I was surrounded by people all day so that should be safe enough. But there was no way I was taking this mess, whatever it was, to Miranda and Lainey, and staying at home alone wasn’t a good idea.
“I’ll need to go by my place and grab some things if I’m going to stay here.”
“No problem, I’ll run you over there,” Gator said. “Let’s stop by and get the keys for your apartment.”
I followed him across the room, and he stopped and spoke with a young guy who wore a light blue sweater vest, a blue plaid bowtie, and a white dress shirt. He looked way overdressed to be working here, but I had to say I was loving his vibe.
“Hey, Caden, this is Julius. He’s going to be staying in one of the apartments for a little while. Which one should I give him?”
Caden tilted his head to one side and studied me for a second. “Let’s put him in nine-seventeen. I think the furniture in there’s a little nicer.”
Gator nodded. “Works for me.” He turned to me. “Caden will get you the key card. I want to update Wolfe real quick. Just wait for me right here.”
Caden stood, and I couldn’t help but notice he’d paired the sweater vest with a pair of pink chinos and some beige boat shoes. I’d always loved fashion, and Caden was rocking this outfit. The vintage geek look had never been my thing, but on him, I was loving it.
He went over to a cabinet on the far wall and pulled it open. “Kat preprogrammed cards for each apartment. You’ll need to use it on the elevator, as well. It won’t go to the tenth floor. That one is off-limits.” He turned around and held out an envelope with917written on the front.
“Thanks.” I took it from him.
Gator had gone into the office following Wolfe and closed the door behind him. I’d met Wolfe a couple of times at the club. He’d always struck me as a serious, intense man. He was sexyas fuck. Men who were powerful andthatin control all the time usually were, but he didn’t interest me at all.
“So, you work for Wolfe?” I asked.
Caden shrugged. “All three of them actually. But mostly for Wolfe because he doesn’t take assignments. He handles all the in-house stuff.”