What I’d learned in the time since I’d come to stay with Felicity was that she really did want to have a family with Venom. After she realized that I had committed myself to calling him my dad, as opposed to the man who was supposed to be my dad, she was happy to play along as the loving step-mom and I was fine to let her. She really would make a wonderful mother, just like Venom was a wonderful dad. I wanted more than anything to absolve Venom and Felicity of the fate Connor had set out for him so that maybe one day they could have a kid of their own.
“Oh my god, I just imagined trying to convince a little boy that being a brooding, super tough guy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But Deon does it,” she said in a nasally voice. “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
“I’m not brooding,” I growled.
“No… I was talking about a different Deon,” she responded and then quickly returned to her chair. “Anyway, you’re going to keep it a secret, and I’m going to send you with one of my cars to see him. So long as you mention Garrett as soon as you get there, you should be okay.”
I was overcome with relief. Not only was I finally going to get to leave the house and make an active effort to find and stop Connor, but I was going to see people other than Felicity and drive around like a normal person. Part of me wanted to stop at a fast food place or something to mark the occasion. It didn’t even occur to me how much my current life had in common with when I was locked up. Yes, I had access to much better food, and a roommate like Felicity was significantly better than some of the guys I was behind bars with, but the restrictiveness and not being able to go anywhere I wanted was the same.
Connor Loche had made my entire life a prison.
Felicity furrowed her brow when I hadn’t said anything in a while. “Is that okay? I’m sorry. I guess I just assumed—”
“I’m thrilled,” I replied. “I know that I don’t have the best ‘thrilled’ face, but I’m excited. I actually get to do something and not just be a sitting duck, plus I will actually get to see the outside world. What is this guy going to be able to do to help?”
“Like I said, his name is Nico, and he’s kind of that guy who can dig up just about anyone on the East Coast. His resources stretch far and wide, and though he’s not a ‘boots on the ground’ kind of guy, he’s good at finding people. The biggest issue is that he doesn’t typically accept payment in the form of money. He just doesn’t need it, so Garrett had to negotiate a different payment with him. What that was, I don’t know, I don’t ask. You shouldn’t either,” Felicity explained.
“Trust me, I learned not to ask questions when I was locked up,” I said.
She nodded. “Right. Nico’s good people, and he has a lot of respect for Garrett. Just tell him what you know about Connor and the last time you saw him. Any helpful information you can think of, share it with him, and hopefully he’ll be able to track him down. I’ve seen him work before, he’s good.”
Felicity and I finished our breakfast, then for the first time ever, she led me into the garage. It was a long, four-car garage, and three of the four spots had cars in them. One spot had a big, army green Hummer in it that appeared to have collected a good amount of dust, and I assumed that was probably Venom’s car. The other two were smaller and sleeker, one sports car, and another more typical family car, though it was clearly the brand new model. Felicity grabbed two sets of keys off the wall and handed one to me, surprisingly, the one with the luxury car key on the ring. After dropping it in my hand, she opened the door to the luxe car and programmed an address into the GPS, then she leaned back out and poked a finger into my chest.
“Okay, Nico’s address has been programmed in, just follow it, and then if you activate the GPS when you get back in, there’s a shortcut for home. Deon, I swear to god if you crash my baby, you won’t have to worry about Connor, because I’ll kill you,” Felicity said.
I snickered. “I thought you were sticking me in the soccer mom car for sure.”
“I figured you could use some fun,” she replied with a wink. “This key is for the house if you get home before me.” She pointed out one of the plain silver keys and then she walked over to the other car and started to get in.
I climbed into the luxury car and a few seconds later, the garage door started to open, likely from a button pressed by Felicity from inside her car. It did feel nice to be inside such a beautiful car and left to my own devices. Felicity backed out first, then I followed suit and the garage door started to close. Even though it was a hot day and the AC might have been better, I opted to roll the windows down and enjoy the fresh air. The address I was driving to was about thirty minutes outside of town, an old storage container turned house near the coast. To protect Felicity’s car, I parked a couple blocks away and walked to the house. I felt a little too vulnerable walking up with no weapon to protect myself, but Felicity was confident Nico wouldn’t hurt me, so I had to take the risk.
I knocked on the door, and in no time at all, I heard the click of several guns. Two men walked around from either side of the house with rifles pointed at my head, and then the front door opened and a woman shoved her hand out with a pistol in it, setting the barrel damn near on my nose.
“Whoa.” I held my hands up.
“Who the fuck are you?” the woman growled.
Beyond her, I could see a few additional people inside, one in particular was watching me from the shadows at the far back of the container. “I’m Deon. Venom sent me here to talk to Nico.”
The woman kept her gun pointed out at me, but looked back over her shoulder. “Is that what you were told.”
“Nah,” the man said from the back.
“I know that his wife, Felicity, was supposed to come. She had a client so she sent me instead. I’ve been staying with her while Venom has been trying to help me find Connor Loche,” I explained. Both Nico and the woman were staring at me like they weren’t entirely sure I was telling the truth, so I decided to take a calculated risk. Felicity said I should mention ‘Garrett’ as soon as I got there. I assumed she just meant what I knew him by, but maybe she was being specific. “Trust me. Garrett sent me here.”
Nico jumped up immediately and ran over to the woman, shoving her arm down to remove the gun from my face. He reached out and waved his hands at the other guys to wave them down. “Jesus Christ, kid. Say that shit from the beginning. Do you have any idea how much Venom would kick my ass if he knew I had guns pointed at his kid?” He was a short, muscular man, with faded hair and a clean-cut goatee.
“Sorry,” I said. “I won’t mention it if you don’t.”
“Cool. Come on in. Can I get you a beer or something?” Nico asked.
The woman scoffed. “You can’t get him a beer. He’s not 21.”
“Relax, KT. His own father’s hunting him down and trying to kill him, for god’s sake. The man can have a beer,” Nico said.
“I appreciate it, but I’m okay,” I replied.
Nico motioned to a chair. “Well, come sit. I’ve got a busy schedule today, but I’d like to get boots on the ground for you as soon as possible.”