“Is there anything else before we move out?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he answered. “They give you any indication they got a weapon trained on you in a way we can’t see, like under the table, you run your hand through your hair startin’ at the top and going back. Yeah?”
I nodded, not liking that part, but knowing, seeing as they blew up my apartment, they could come in carrying and have no problem switching from negotiation to threats—and other much less fun possibilities—to get what they wanted.
Lee got a lot less intense and moved a few inches away from me.
But he did this saying, “Dad wants a family meeting tonight.”
At that, I shook my head. “Ren and I have a date.”
His chin jerked back. “You had a date two days ago.”
“That didn’t happen seeing as we got sidetracked,” I shared and this time, Lee shook his head.
“Go no further,” he ordered.
I wasn’t going to so I complied.
“We get this done, Willie and Brian get whoever we take down to the station, they’re interrogated, processed, Hank gets briefed, he’s free, the family sits down,” Lee decreed.
“I just said I couldn’t do it tonight because Ren and I have a date,” I reminded him of something he couldn’t have forgotten in the three seconds since I said it.
He got close again. “Ally, it’s not gonna surprise you that Dad—and Mom, I’ll add—are upset and worried. They need a sit down with you and you need to show them the respect of givin’ them that time and listening.”
He was right about that so I had no choice but to nod again but queried, “Can I ask why this meeting is being called through you and Hank?”
“Because by upset and worried I meant hurt and pissed.”
Oh man.
That was not good.
I loved my mom and dad. They were the shit.
Malcolm and Kitty Sue Nightingale weren’t perfect human beings or parents.
But they came really, really close.
Part of me was being nonchalant about all that was happening with me and how it would affect my parents because, as crazy as I was, they not only always loved me but expected, when it got down to the important shit, I’d do the right thing. And save for some lying and underage drinking and a few other things (okay, maybe not a few but nothing that was important), I did.
So I knew two things. The first was that whatever decision I made, if it wasn’t stupid, they’d back it (eventually). The second was that they knew they raised a woman who would not be stupid.
But hearing what Lee said sucked. And it pained me. Because I didn’t want to hurt or piss off my parents. And I’d done both.
So I needed to attend this meeting and see to sorting that out.
I drew in breath.
Then I let it out and nodded once again, mentally planning to send a text to Ren that was a lot less fun than the earlier ones to explain the change in plans for our evening.
Now, however, I had a job to do.
Therefore I asked Lee, “We ready?”
He stepped to the side for me to precede him, answering, “Let’s roll.”
I followed Lee out of the books and to the front.
Lee went to Indy.
I went to the door.
But as I did, I had eyes on my BFF.
She also had eyes on me and she mouthed, Be safe.
I mouthed back, Always.
Then I walked out the door.
* * * * *
I’d chosen locations wrongly.
This was because Lincoln’s had two rows of stationary tables down its front room, at the end there was a bar, an entrance at the front, a door to the smoking area at the back. That meant that there was no way to sit without your back to a door.
I picked facing to the front but turning my back to the wall so I had eyes either way.
