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I MESSAGED CASS THROUGH my game. “Call me.” Seconds later, my phone buzzed.
I hopped up off the couch and slipped into the little office/guest room, closing the door behind me. There was a noisy clatter in the background on Cass’s end, but nothing I could place.
“Where are you?” she asked, before I could even say hello. “What’s going on?”
“I’m still at Ben’s place, but I think I’ve got a plan.”
“Ben’s the guy who was eavesdropping earlier?”
“Yeah, but I’m in the side room now. With the door closed.”
“Yeah,” Ben said, helping. “I can barely hear anything through the walls.”
“I heard all of that,” Cass seethed.
“It doesn’t matter. I have a plan.”
“Tell me,” she said. But before I could start, she added, “And don’t say anything about computer games!”
That only derailed me for a moment. I took a breath and got going.
“We need to get the cops to the apartment. To rescue Trina.”
She snorted. “Like — they would.”
“Cass—”
“I don’t trust cops! The cartel has D. A.s and judges watching out for them.”
“The cartel? You mean Hauser?”
She scoffed. “Hauser’s place is one of many. He’s nobody.”
“Then would the D. A.s and judges protect him? Or would the cartel cut him loose?”
“They’ll go a long way to keep attention off of them.”
“Well, that’s kinda my plan. Bring in a lot of cops. Maybe a news crew. Make a big mess, so nobody can ignore it.”
“That’s a — plan.”
“I’m trying to save your sister. I can’t take out this gang. If you could, you would’ve.”
“I’m working on my angles.”
“Take this one. We can clean up everything. Hear me out.”
She didn’t answer right away. There was clanging in the background that could’ve been a busy restaurant, a construction site, or maybe a gym. I couldn’t tell.
“What’s your plan?” she asked at last.
“It’s pretty simple,” I said. “We still need to find what room Trina is in. It won’t be the same one. That window is busted out.”
“It still has to be one of the rooms in that hallway. There’s nowhere else they can keep prisoners on the site, and I’m sure they haven’t moved her yet.”
“That’s good intel,” I said. “That’s crucial to the plan. We learned last time that if there’s any disturbance, all of Hauser’s guys will come swarming toward it.”
“So don’t make a big disturbance this time.”
“Wrong! We do make a big disturbance. You do, specifically. You let Derrick catch you searching my apartment for the gun.”
“I what?!”
I had always known she wouldn’t like that part. I hurried to clarify. “I’ve been thinking about everything—everything—and we can get it all cleared up. You’ll take the gun to the apartment and cause enough ruckus to get noticed. Then when the goons abandon their post, I’ll be able to sneak in and find Trina. The minute we know where she is, we call 911 and bring the cavalry charging in.”
“Why your apartment? Why all the business with the gun?”
“Same reason you picked my apartment, I think. It’s as far from the admin offices as you can get, and close to a safe escape.”
“Why bring the gun?”
“You said it’s evidence against Derrick that he wants to frame you with. Let’s flip that around. We can wipe your prints off it, then you surrender it to him when he confronts you.”
“How do you know it’ll be him?”
I hesitated. She said no computer game talk, but I didn’t think she wanted to hear about dragons, either.
I thought fast.
“He was guarding my apartment before, so he knows the significance of that spot. He was first on the scene when I rescued Trina—”
“You didn’t,” Cass cut in.
I went right on, “—and he’s the one implicated by the gun. I’ll bet he sprints to confront you.”
“Good points,” she said.
“Even if it’s not him, give the gun to Hauser or one of his guys. It’s a murder weapon. Get it back into their possession before the cops show up, and you’re clear.”
“On that charge.”
“It’s the best I can do, Cass. I’m probably getting arrested too—” She snorted, unimpressed. I shrugged. “Are you willing to risk yourself to save your sister? It’s your fault she’s in this mess.”
She hissed at that like an angry rattler, but she didn’t have an answer. I let her sit with it.
After a while, she said, “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to model it out.”
She wasn’t really listening to me. She went on, musing. “It could work. Pin the dead banker on Derrick so it sticks. Pin Trina on Hauser. Cartel cuts them loose. No one comes for me.”
“Or Trina,” I said. “Or my parents. Or me. As long as we can get it all done at once, so they’re caught red-handed...” I trailed off, overwhelmed by all the things that could go wrong.
But Cass whistled softly and said, “Maybe I underestimated you, Dave. Maybe you’re not a —ing loser.”
“Save your judgment until tonight.”
“Tonight?! You want to do this now?!”
“I’m waiting to hear back from a journalism major Ben knows, but yeah. We have to move before they move Trina, right? And... now that I’ve got a plan, I’m suddenly sick of waiting. It’s time to act.”
“Maybe I underestimated you for real,” she said. Then, decided, “All right. I’m in. I’ll meet you at your apartment and raise a little hell. Sixish?”
“Maybe seven. We’re checking Village Police response times and the sunset schedule. I’ll let you know by game chat.”
“I’ll be close by,” she said. “Just let me know.” It sounded like a signoff, but she hung on the line a moment longer, then said, “Hey...thanks.”
“For what?”
“For trying to save my sister. For trying to clear my name. That’s a nice touch, there.”
“I’ve been trapped in situations I didn’t want to be in,” I said. “Some were of my making. Some weren’t. Either way... I always needed a friend.”
“You’re a good friend, Dave. I wish I’d had more like you.”
That was her signoff. The line went dead. And I had real work to do.