The Crimson Chariot

11 | These Treacherous Lies

"Come with me, rookie."

***

"Wait, wait, wait, you want to use me as bait?" Ray asks once Aiden tells him the plan, his hands raised in the air in defense.

"We don't have anyone else to turn to," Aiden explains. "The Covingtons already know who Amara and I are."

"Okay, so you want me to pretend to be a buyer and plant cameras in their house without them knowing?"

Aiden and I purse our lips and nod.

Ray blows out air through his mouth, sighs, massages his temples, and mutters under his breath. "Alright pros and cons. Pros — I get to be the hero and go against the bad guys. Cons — They find out, I lose my job and worst case scenario, be put in jail and be forced to wear those unclean, unkempt, hideous orange dungarees for a good chunk of my life."

With that, he turns to us and inhales deeply. Aiden and I hold our breaths, knowing very well this plan of his is nothing but a lost cause.

"I'm in."

Our eyes widen as we register his reply. We share a look that speaks of confusion, shock, and above all, denial.

"Wait what?" Aiden asks. "You sure about this?"

Ray shrugs his shoulders. "I might end up in jail for this but I don't mind if it's fun."

"But it won't be convincing if you go alone. You need a partner," I add.

Ray nods in agreement and then looks over toward the elevator. Savannah is there waiting to go back down to the lab and Ray yells out to her. "Hey Sav, come here, I have a question!"

Savannah rolls her eyes and walks over. "Yes Ray?" she asks, and he leans in to discuss the super illegal task that she is in no way willing to be a part of.

"The Covingtons are planning to sell their house and move to Texas," he says.

"That's...suspicious," Savannah comments with a frown on her face.

"Right? And that's why we came up with a plan to, let's just say, keep an eye on them. But I need a partner for that, so..."

Savannah waits a while for him to finish but when he doesn't, she turns to look at each of the three of us in disbelief. When none of us say a thing, she speaks up.

"You want my help with spying on a suspect?"

"Kind...of?" Ray scrunches his face and all he receives from Savannah in return is the most disgusted expression she has ever produced in my presence.

"Absolutely not, nope, not happening, and lastly no. I prefer dead humans over living ones for a reason, and that's because they don't put their noses in someone's goddamn business," she replies, shaking her head and hands before turning and rushing to catch the elevator.

Once she's out of sight, Ray turns to us in his swivel chair. "Well, that was a flop. Any other ideas?" Ray asks. This time, an idea springs up in my mind.

"Let me call Sadie. Maybe she'll do it." I say as I pull out my phone and dial her number.

"Wait, Sadie?" asks Ray, and I mouth 'my roommate' to him as she picks up my call.

"Hello?" Sadie answers. She almost sounds irritated like she's busy.

"Hi, sorry to bother you, but we could use some help with the case," I say, then proceed to explain to her what we are doing.

"Amara, as much as I love me some vigilante shit, I really can't. I'm really busy at the bookstore. A stack of Colleen Hoover dropped by yesterday and the crowd here is insane. Ask Javier, see if he can help?" she says, and I nod.