The Fall of East: Book 3 in the Hear No Evil Trilogy, Malone, Nana [inspiring books for teens txt] 📗

Amelia laughed. "Yeah. You owe me one for sure.”

I grabbed my bag and got out of there quickly. As I was leaving, I saw Denning coming down the hallway. He paused as if he was going to speak to me, but then I swerved and made a hard left to take the back stairs down. We were not having any conversations today.

I figured, if I could avoid having a word with my ex as I eased back into work, that was for the best. I knew Denning was going to try and act quickly. Try and have everyone forget the narrative of how he'd fucked up by literally sleeping with one of our most wanted. But he wasn't going to use me to do that. Not today.

I jogged on the stairs and let myself out of the side of the building. Then I checked the directions Amelia had given me again. Damn, the address was all the way across town.

Like you have somewhere better to be.

I didn't. So, if this was what was going to happen to get my mind off my father, at least for now, I was going to take it.

When the driver dropped me off in front of an unassuming townhouse, my phone started to ring.

"Where are you?"

I laughed. "East, sweetheart, you know it's weird when you stalk me, right?"

I could almost see the frown on his face. "I'm not stalking you. I just want to know where you are."

I laughed. "Right. And you'll find out where I am, by what means?"

He sighed. "Okay, by stalking you. But admittedly, you were nearly kidnapped not long ago."

I sighed. "Okay, fair point. I’m near Kilburn Park, but you know that already."

"Okay, better question… What are you doing in Kilburn Park?"

"Oh, right. I am chasing down our missing art pieces. It turns out, Not Hazel has been hiding more of her stolen and forged goods here. She said we'd find them ‘illuminating.’"

He sighed. "I don't like her sending you on wild goose chases. Tell me you have backup?"

I sighed, because I knew what he was going to say. "Okay, I don’t exactly have backup, but honestly, East, I have to be able to move around freely."

He mumbled. "All right, I'm sending a driver for you."

"No, I can do this, okay? I just… I can't go back to the flat. I can't just sit there at work and do nothing. You have to be at work. So does Livy. So does Telly. So does anyone you'd call to come and babysit. Even Emma. She's busy on some new gig."

He sighed. "All right. I hear you. But just be careful, okay?"

"I'm always careful."

"What?" I could hear his exasperation.

"Okay, fine. I'm not always careful, but everything always works out. I promise you."

"You know, when you promise something, I want to be able to believe it."

"You can believe it. I won't get into any trouble. Not today. I’m coming back to you. I could certainly use a hug."

"Okay. But still, I'm keeping an eye on you."

I turned around. There was a bank on the far corner with a CCTV camera mounted outside, and I waved at it.

East chuckled. "How did you know it was there and not the office building across the street?”

"The office building across the street actually looks like flats. So it's going to be a little bit trickier to get a camera on it. "

"Hmm, aren't you a smart one?"

"I certainly hope so. That's why they pay me the big bucks."

He laughed. "Okay, I will let you do your job in peace, but please for the love of God, Ny…"

"I know, I know. Be careful."

"Hey, I only have one of you, okay? I haven't got all the samples I need for my Nyla cloning project yet."

I snorted a laugh. "You know, I have an idea what you'd be doing with those clones, and I have to tell you that it's unacceptable. It’s pervy."

He chuckled. "Don't even judge me. I like my special Nyla time. Wouldn't it be great if there were more of you?"

I snorted. "Oh my God, what am I going to do with you?"

"Uh, I don't know. Love me forever?"

"Yeah, that's a good start." I let myself into the building.

Not Hazel had been oh so generous in providing us information on where she stored the key. Which, of course, was not anywhere near the actual location. So I had to do a retrieval mission first.

For someone so smart, why did she use up all her time and energy being bad?

I tried to remind myself that what she did was her only option.

Just as I'd always seen joining Interpol, following in my father's, or whoever the hell he was, footsteps. That wasn’t really fair. I knew he was my father. He'd raised me. So, like it or not, he fathered me. And for the most part, he'd done a damn crappy job of it.

Poor man, he'd tried to figure out what the hell pads were and made sure that they appeared in the house once a month. He'd done all those things fathers do. But I needed to figure out how to reconcile the fact that he'd lied to me my whole life.

Inside the warehouse I’d entered, there were crates, and crates, and more crates.

To get an idea of where to even start, I headed to the massive modern desk in the corner. The light hit it just right, highlighting the sculptures around it.

So much beauty in one room, and I knew I’d find more inside the crates. There was paperwork on sales, impending pickups, and a ledger full of account numbers.

She'd planned to come back. She had never meant for any of this to be the end. She'd never planned to be caught. All in all, she had thought she was untouchable. That she would never have to pay for anything she'd done.

That kind of confidence was startling. She'd waltzed into Denning's life, well-aware of the risk she took every day, where at