Vee balled her fists and clenched her teeth. She raised her voice as she spoke, “You really don’t get it, do you? You’re not thinking about Mr. Clarke at all. You were just thinking about yourself. You’ve probably just always thought about yourself. What about Nick? What about the rest of the club? What about Mr. Clarke’s feelings?”
“Shut up, bitch,” Kayne said, getting equally riled up.
“Time we took over,” Detective Hollowclap said, putting his notebook back in his pocket. “Girl’s got some fire, though. I like it.”
Jim chuckled and clasped Landon on the shoulder before leaving the room after Detective Hollowclap.
As they left, Landon smirked and turned his attention back to the people in the room. He had noticed as much before, but Kayne’s strings were tight and knotted. They weren’t too unlike Lyndzi’s strings, which were also taut, but unlike Lyndzi’s strings, they were ugly. Kayne used people and viewed them more like objects to meet his own ends. Vee was right on the money.
And then there were Vee’s strings. If he wasn’t mistaken, a number of them appeared a little thicker than before, perhaps a little brighter. Her string connecting to Kayne was perhaps the thickest of them all, despite being tainted with black. That was the source of her fire. Detective Hollowclap wouldn’t have known that, for Vee, that fire would have been very new. Given some time, that fire might expand to fuel her other relationships in positive ways. At least, that’s what Landon hoped. Until then, Landon would support her in any way he knew how.
◆◆◆
Landon leaned back in his chair, watching people go about their evening business from the comfort of his second-floor office. The events of the last several days were draining, but for some reason, Landon felt invigorated as he was more than ready to return to the relatively mundane goings-about of a private investigator. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Roughly 6 p.m. He also noticed a handful of missed texts he hadn’t heard since he forgot to take his phone off silent. They were all from Lyndzi, chewing him out for not telling her about the case. He rolled his eyes. He’d deal with that later.
In his peripheral vision, Landon saw the entryway open, and Sylvie shuffled through the door. She was followed by Vee, who had a brimming smile on her face. Landon stood up and walked out of his office with no attempt to mask his surprise. “Sylvie!”
Sylvie looked down, obviously avoiding eye-contact.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Clawson,” she said, “but in the end...I really want to keep working for you.”
Words didn’t find their way out of Landon’s mouth, so Vee filled in. “Detective Bimmel lied to Sylvie’s parents. They have no idea what happened.”
A hint of rage welled up in Landon’s chest, and he closed his eyes to keep it down. “Damnit, Jim.”
Sylvie grasped the strap of her purse. “Please, Mr. Clawson. I know working with you can be dangerous. I knew that when I decided to work for you in the first place. It’s just...this is what I want to do. I promise I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Landon glared at her, but eventually sighed. “Do what you like,” he said, then waved his arm as he turned to hole up in his office. He didn’t have to turn around to see the smile on Sylvie’s face.
“Yessir! I will! I’ll work twice as hard as before!”
Landon returned to his desk and swung his legs on top. As he faced the door, he noticed Vee slip in his office. Landon might’ve been a little exasperated, but he was happy to see her.
“And what brings you ‘round today?”
“Sick of me already?” Vee said.
Landon made a show of shrugging. “I just assumed you’d be haunting me forever.”
Vee laughed. “A few reasons. I stopped by Sylvie’s place before this to return her clothes, and when I found out Detective Bimmel lied to her parents, I thought it might be best to bring her with me.”
“So you’re the one I’m supposed to blame for this?” Landon said.
“Hey, blame Detective Bimmel before you go blaming me!”
Landon rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. What’s the other reason?”
Vee grinned and pulled a device out of her pocket. “I got a new phone! I wanted to make sure to put you in my contacts. Y’know, in case I run into trouble again.”
Landon chuckled through his nose. He pulled out his phone in return. “You got it. Anything else?”
Vee shuffled a little as Landon put her number in his contacts, and her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Um...well, yeah.”
Landon folded his arms awaiting a response after he returned her phone.
“I wanted to thank you properly for everything you’ve done these past few days. What do you say we go get something nice to eat this weekend? My treat.”
Landon chuckled. “Save your money, Vee. You just got a new phone.”
Vee deflated a bit. “Is that a ‘no’?”
“No. It means I’ll be treating you.”
The smile returned to Vee’s face, and to Landon, it seemed brighter than ever. “Great!” She said, “I’ll talk to you later, then. I have to go!”
She waved as she turned around, and Landon returned the gesture. As she left the office, a strange motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Something floated out of his chest and connected to Vee’s.
It was a small red string.
The Red String of Fate Page 17