Page 32 of Switch

“Fuck you, you fucking infant.”

What a piece of shit.I clench my fists.“If you find out who it is, I want to help take him down.”

The moon is high and about three-quarters full, and the light catches Brennan’s smile when it widens.If career criminal doesn’t work out for him, he could do toothpaste commercials.

“You got murder in your blood, Peej?”

What.The.Fuck?

No way.I’m not dumb enough to take that bait.“If you keep calling me that, I definitely will.”

My phone sets off a series of alerts in the cup holder.Text notifications from Fallon flash in rapid succession, but I do my best to ignore them.

“You need to answer that?”

Yes.“It’s not important,” I say a little too fast.

Brennan finally holsters his gun.My relief only lasts as long as it takes him to grab my phone.“Huh.Fallon’s definitely not a common name.Oddly, it’s the same name as a guy I set you up on a date with last month.Strange.”

“Super weird.”I try to change the subject.“What were you doing at the bar tonight?Looking for this guy who’s moving in on your territory?Getting your dick sucked?”

“I prefer to keep my hobbies to myself.Point is, you can stop following me around because we’re on the same fucking side.I’ve been working on solving this thing, same as you.Now take me back to where you picked me up, Jeeves.I’ve got business to conclude.”

I put the car in drive.“If you were me, where would you look that I haven’t already?”

“The morgue.”

Brennan’s answer isn’t anything new, but it doesn’t stop the burn in my throat.“Every week, I check hospitals, I check the morgue, I check the homeless Mission.My gut tells me he’s alive.I keep thinking I see him around town.”

“Frequency illusion.You’ve got a thing on your mind, so your brain makes you see it all the time.The shitty truth is, everyone I told you about tonight is probably dead, including your friend.”

“Then I’ll leave it alone once his body is found.”I shake my head.“People don’t just vanish.”

Brennan makes a clicking sound.“Except sometimes they do.”

My phone pings again as we pull up in front of the bar.This time I can’t keep myself from looking down, and when I do, I nearly punch something.

Fallon: Never mind, I shouldn’t have asked.

Fallon: It’s a weird thing to ask a friend

Fallon: You’re probably busy.

Fallon: Or on a date or something.

Fallon: You know, I think I’ll try to get some sleep.

Fuck.He thinks I’m ignoring him.This is bad.This is worse than Brennan putting his fucking piece in my face.If I was armed with more than a knife I’d kill this fucker and shove him out the door for making Fallon worry like this.

I’d better not be too late to fix this.Not like I can exactly call and explain that my pimp hijacked me and took me on some kind of weird ride around town.

“Word of advice,” Brennan says as he opens the car door.“Probably best if you don’t get in too deep with this guy.”

My hand slides into my pocket.“I know you’re not fucking threatening him, Brennan.You may have a gun, but I can still fuck you up before I go down.”

“No threats.I’ve seen escorts fall in love with clients before.Usually doesn’t end the way you want it to.”

“I’m not in—” The slamming door cuts me off.