Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Thirty

This is the 2nd chapter of a triple update. Please make sure to read Chapter 29 first. Enjoy!

Harry followed her without question. He, too, had seen the young girl hiding in the shadows near the edge of the alleyway. The informant's younger sister, the spider. Honestly, he was surprised to see her so soon, if at all. The girl was risking a lot by being the messenger.

His eyes swept across the street, making sure no one was paying them any attention. With one last searching look behind them, he followed Ivy into the shadows.

"About time you showed up." The girl said with an annoyed huff.

The girl definitely had some moxie. It was rare that anyone spoke to Harry like that.

Ivy didn't crack a smile, "You've been waiting around? Has anyone seen you?"

The teenager rolled her eyes, "I know how to do my job, Malone." Her eyes glanced to him, "Or should I say Styles?"

Ivy ignored her, "Things are different now. You could get killed for coming here."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved off the concern, "I could've been killed before this whole thing."

"Tawny-"

"Let's get down to business." She interrupted, sticking her hand in her pocket.

Out of habit, Harry tensed, reaching for the gun at his waistband, hidden by his wool coat.

Tawny caught the movement, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at him, and snorted, "Seriously? I'm not gonna shoot your wifey, man."

Ivy looked back at him, giving him a stern look that put him in his place. "Sorry." He grumbled out.

Tawny smirked, and leaned in to stage whisper, "I think you got your mans whipped."

Harry didn't react to the playful jab, but he did notice the look of amusement on Ivy's face.

The girl pulled out a folded up note out of her pocket and handed it to Ivy. "Here. CeCe risked a lot to get this, but she trusts the big guy."

"The big guy?" Ivy questioned.

"You know, the tall, black man that scowls a lot?" She raised her arm up high to indicate tall.

"Griffin."

"Sure. She trusts him enough to give you guys a chance." Ivy took the note. "But this is it, okay? I'm not putting my sister at risk more than she has to. She didn't choose any of this. There's instructions on where to leave a response and when, so you don't have to contact us anymore."

"Good." Ivy nodded, handing Harry the note to store in his coat. "Thank you, Tawny. And please tell CeCe thank you as well. We won't abuse your trust."

Tawny stared at her hard. "I know you won't. Not because I like you somewhat, but because Shadow won't take your bullshit. And she won't be easy to kill. They've already tried."

After Tawny slipped back into the shadows, and he and Ivy were safely in their hotel suite, they read the note.

I'll give you one chance. Saturday, January 30th at 8pm. The old carnival grounds. Mirror house. No guards or I'll leave before you even see me. Sign the agreement below and drop this off at First National Bank if you agree to the terms. East. Stone. Northwest. -S.

†††

They both needed some time to think, so Ivy stayed in the suite working on a campaign Malone Whiskey was starting next month while Harry went down to the gym. For most of the hour, she stared at the blinking cursor line on the document, only writing a few sentences of the press release towards the end. She could barely focus, her mind still trying to sort through and categorize her feelings.