Pyro

Chapter 17

I couldn't get ahead of myself.

For now, Proditio was out of reach.

For now.

At the moment, I had Belrook, the man who physically murdered Rebecca. I would take my sweet time with him, then, with Wais and everyone else, find Proditio and snuff out her life. All of them had their own reasons to go after her, too. I had no doubt that they'd aid me in my search of her.

A lanky frame consolidated in front of me. Kaz was awkwardly close: the tips of our noses almost brushed, the intake of air through his nose was audible to the point of uncomfortable proximity, but his green-tinged hazel eyes scanned me: they locked squarely on my face.

I was confused.

And creeped out.

"Kaz?" I asked.

He ignored me. "Listen up rich boy, what I just showed you, that stays between us. You don't say shit, got it?"

I frowned. "Isn't everyone else watching too?"

He snorted and stepped back, lax. "Hell no. Right now I'm showing them videos of cats riding Roombas." He chortled. "Zoe's hella pissed. Only one who's enjoying it is Wais." Kaz shook his head disdainfully. "Figures. That bumbling idiot."

"Cat videos..." I trailed off. Strange. I didn't take Kaz as a "cat video" person.

"Henry." The sudden gravity to his voice startled me, but I nodded, signaling I was listening. "What I've just shown you is something I bet Zoe and Parker wouldn't want you to have seen or know about. Especially Parker; guy doesn't like talkin' or thinkin' about the stuff that went down."

That was understandable- losing a wife and kid was unimaginable. "That doesn't explain yourself, though. I mean... there were some pretty vulnerable emotions in that movie. Things I wouldn't want to show someone else."

Kaz stormed up so close I could catch a whiff of his hair (peaches?) and, although slightly shorter, he barked into my ear, "I showed you this to shut you the hell up. Not for some pity party, got it, pretty boy?"

His coarse voice scratched my ears; his flare in attitude meant he was serious, but I held a sneaking suspicion he didn't show me that "movie" to shut me up. If he wanted to shut me up he could've duct taped my mouth- duct tape solves all problems, after all. He didn't have to play an entire movie that delved into his sensitive, to say the least, past.

Still, I agreed to not mention the topic of the movie. This was Kaz's first attempt at extending an olive branch, and I wasn't keen on squandering that opportunity.

He thanked me-thanked me!-and the black background dissolved back into the dank warehouse in Newark.

I blinked, adjusting my vision back to the bleary, monotone colors of the warehouse, when Zoe seethed, "I'll kill you Kaz! What the hell were those videos? I didn't ask to see a cat in a shark costume riding a fricken' Roomba!"

In a dreamlike voice, Wais said, "It was adorable."

My sight cemented our surroundings back into place, and I could tell Zoe was on the verge of stripping off her high heels and trading them in for boots to kick Kaz's face in. Parker, who stood speechless next to me, rubbed his eyes, and looked down at us. Unsure of what to say, he opted for silence.

Silence was probably the best answer.

Before a scathing argument or physical pummeling-mainly Zoe beating the crap out of Kaz-could take place, Wais attempted to convince her to settle down. When that didn't work, he ordered Parker to restrain her, and she caved in, grumbling. "Waste of my goddamn time," she muttered, furiously wrapping a strand of her hair around her finger.