Page 109 of Intrepid

“Who’s this?” Dax’s voice sounded like an old muscle car rumbling through the phone.

“Hi … um. This is Sera. Uh. Bea’s roommate. You might not—”

“Sera, yeah … mermaid-hair Sera?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Look, I have something you might be looking for.”

“Where ‘you now?”

“Um … The Lodge?”

“Get off at Warren. There’s a coffee shop there at the corner of Cass. You know it?”

“Yeah. I know it.”

“Good. I’ll meet you there.”

“See you in about five minutes.”

I turned off onto Warren, as he’d instructed, and found the small coffee shop nestled on the corner beside an old dilapidated apartment building. I pulled up to the curb, near where I could see Dax inside, watching me from the booth.

The bell of the door jingled as I entered, startling my muscles, and I forced my eyes closed. Calm down, Sera. I made my way toward Dax, glancing around for any familiar faces, feeling like a damned criminal.

Dax’s big body took up most of the booth, and it occurred to me, as I approached, that it was a good thing he’d offered to meet in public. Tattoos covered his arms, beneath which tight cords of muscles told me the guy had power behind those guns, to do some damage if he wanted.

His broody brow kicked up with the half smile that cracked his frown, and he gestured me to sit.

“Where’s Ty?” he asked, looking past me toward the door.

“Just me.” I shoved my hand into my pocket and retrieved the chip, along with the folded paper that held the recovery phrase.

“I’m going to have to make this meeting quick. Don’t mean to be rude, but the moment he finds out these are missing, he can wipe out the whole damn thing if he’s got a backup ledger.”

“He’s in New York until Tuesday. You have a little time.”

“Thank you for doing this. I know it must be quite a risk for you. If you need a place to lie low, I can arrange that, until things blow over.”

Blow over. As in, murder Karl Kutscher and wait to see if they got caught.

Glancing around the coffee shop showed patrons conversing and sipping their coffees, completely oblivious to our discussion. I leaned in and lowered my voice. “He can’t go after my father.”

Dax frowned, his eyes quickly diverting to the side, where the waitress sidled up to the table, and he waved his hand toward me, offering to let me order first.

“Coffee. Black. To go.” I hated drinking coffee at night, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be sleeping much, anyway.

“Same.” Dax gave her a nod and a wink, sending the waitress off toward the kitchen, and he leaned back toward me. “He tell you everything?”

I nodded and sat back in my chair, the pangs of disgust churning in my stomach all over again. “I’m not saying this for his benefit, but for Ty’s. Karl Kutscher, as you know, has connections. The kind that can eliminate a person’s existence as easily as blowing out a candle. Gone. I won’t let that happen to Ty.” I’d seen the effects firsthand, how easily my father could modify documents in such a way that Ty could find himself under investigation for ISIS terrorist attacks if he wasn’t careful.

With a huff, Dax sat back, stretching his arms across the back of the booth. Jesus, the guy’s wingspan was as wide as I was tall. Another smile cracked his lips, and he shook his head. “Slick motherfucker got to you, didn’t he?”

The waitress set the coffees down in front of us, and slid something in front of Dax—a white piece of paper he glanced down to and back. Only then did I take a minute to look at her young face, black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and slim frame with deep cleavage. She fought to hide a smile as she turned away from our table.

“You must get that a lot.” I sat forward, clearing my throat, and blew the steam away.

Pushing the paper off to the side, Dax lifted his cup, as if to drink it, but set it back down again. “Look, he’s on a mission, Sera. Ain’t nothing I can do. Everyone gets what’s comin’ to them.”

“I’m not arguing that. All I’m asking is, after you retrieve whatever it is you need on that ledger, I want you to send a message to my father. I want him to know something bigger is coming after him. More powerful. I don’t know who’s behind your operation, but it put a known criminal in hiding.”