Page 37 of Identify

“Two.”

“Are you close with them?”

“Yes.”

“I love that. I’m an only child. Do you have any other siblings?”

“Nope, just the three of us.”

“Are you the oldest?”

“I’m the youngest.”

“Hmm, you seem like you’d be the oldest.”

“Based on what, exactly?”

“How you act, your maturity level.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Okay, you don’t have to get snippy.”

“I wasn’t . . .” I start to defend myself but realize I don’t want to have this argument with her. It’s stupid and pointless. “What were you going to stay earlier?”

“When?”

“When you stopped to bite your nails. You were saying something about my case?”

“I said nothing about your case.Yousaid you had a trafficking case.”

“You said ‘too.’”

“Well, yeah, isn’t that what Mack is working on?”

“How would you know that?”

“You guys are partners, duh.”

Once again, something is not jiving with Quinn and what she’s telling me. But I let it go and wait until we reach Mack and Daria. Mack said he’d explain everything once we meet in person and that it would all make sense. I’m hoping that is the case. I make the turn from the back road to the dirt road that acts as a long driveway to the safe house.

Trees conceal the house, almost entirely. Which is a coincidence, not all our safe houses are so well hidden. One is in the middle of suburbia, one in an apartment complex, and another in the middle of downtown. The benefit of tree concealment being the concealment part. The downfall being the trees interfere with most wireless or cellular communication devices.

I pull around to the back side of the house and park near Mack’s standard issue SUV. The surrounding air is still as I step out of the car. Eerily so. I wait for Quinn to join me and guide her into the house, following behind with my hand at the small of her back.

“Ohmigod!” Quinn stops short in the doorway, then spins around to face me. “You don’t want to go in there.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

19

Mack

I haven’t hit Tremblay—much—bythe time Reed and Quinn arrive. She stops in the doorway before entering the house and turns back to say something to Reed. He pushes her to the side and storms in, trying to look everywhere at once.

“What the hell have you done, Mack?”

He’s upset, and I get that. I even try to see the situation from his point of view, but really, I just want to tell him to fuck off.