“Do you think he was trying to find out what you guys are?” Kera asked.

“We don’t know what he wanted. But if anybody can find out, it’s Paula.”

“Why?”

“She still has Russian mob connections in Chicago.”

“Yeah,” Annalisa said. “She’s only here because the Colombians killed her while she was on vacation in L.A.”

Kera really didn’t know why she continued to ask questions when the answers continued to freak her the fuck out.

“So what are you guys up to?” Leigh asked.

“Taking Kera out for lunch and to pick up her stuff from her old place.”

“Ahhh. The final good-bye to her first life. That’s always telling.”

“Stop trying to read me,” Kera told Annalisa. “It’s irritating.”

“You guys wanna come? We can get it done quicker with more hands.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Annalisa dug into the front pocket of her white jeans. “I have SUV keys.”

“Perfect.”

“Let’s check to make sure that the back is cleaned out before we go.” Annalisa walked toward an extremely large, black SUV. She remotely opened the back door and as it lifted, Kera frowned at the sight of a woman sitting back there. Reading a book.

“Hey, Jace,” Annalisa said. “What are you doing?”

In reply, the woman lifted the big book she was reading. Tolstoy.

Good Lord.

“Oh. Okay. Well, this is Kera Watson. The new girl. Kera, this is Jacinda Berisha. We call her Jace. She’s on our strike team, so you two will be working together.”

“All right,” Kera said, although she had no idea why none of these women were questioning why a woman was sitting in the back of an SUV when there was a house with many rooms she could be using instead.

“Jace, we’re taking Kera to her old place to get her stuff. Okay?”

Jace nodded and Annalisa closed the back door.

“So, you guys ready?”

“Wait.” Kera looked at the three women. “We’re not going to discuss that you have a woman sitting in the back of an SUV, not going anywhere . . . in this heat?”

“What’s there to discuss?” Erin asked.

“The fact that she was in there?”

“Jace is a loner, so you’ll find her in all sorts of weird places throughout the house.”

Leigh nodded. “Cabinets, closets, under the couch . . .”

“And none of you find that odd?”

Erin shrugged. “As compared to what?”

She did have a point. But still . . .

“If she likes to be alone, why doesn’t she get her own place?”

“Because renting a place would require her totalk to people. She’s not big on talking. I think she’s said, like, three sentences to me and she’s been in for about two years.”

“O . . . kay.”

“Don’t worry. She’s fine. Let’s go.”

Deciding not to belabor this weirdness, Kera headed to the front passenger door. “I also need a new phone.”

“What happened to the last one?”

“The guy who killed me destroyed it.”

The Crows laughed and Leigh said, “Oh good. You do have a sense of humor.”

Except that Kera hadn’t been kidding.

“Brodie!” someone called out and Kera turned to see three women dressed in remarkably tight sweats jog over.

“Hey, Brodie,” one of them greeted the dog, crouching down to pet her. “Want to come running with us? Would you like that, pretty girl?”

Brodie responded by licking this new person’s face.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” The woman stood and took the leash out of Kera’s hand.

“Uh . . . excuse me?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of her.”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“I’m your sister-Crow. That’s all you need to know.”

Kera watched the three women jog off with her dog.

“Okay?” Erin prompted. “You ready to go?”

“A stranger just ran off with my dog.”

“She’s not a stranger. She’s your friendly, neighborhood insurance agent.”

Kera paused. “Is that where I know her from?”

“Yeah. She’s on all those TV commercials for car and home insurance. She wears an eye patch and has that bird on her shoulder. And incredibly large breasts.”

“She represents the lady pirate logo the company uses,” Annalisa explained, remotely opening the SUV doors so everyone could get in before handing the keys over to Erin. “Because that’s what you want when it comes to your insurance. Pirates.”

“Hot lady pirate,” Erin tossed in. “Because the lady pirate has to be hot if she’s going to sell you insurance.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was nearly two by the time they arrived at Kera’s apartment. They’d stopped at an electronics store to get Kera a new cell phone and then had lunch.

Kera had managed to get Vig’s cell phone number and she’d texted him her new one . . . in case he wanted to call her. Or whatever.

You know . . . no pressure.

So far, he’d sent one text.

Where you at?

Kera texted back that they were going to her apartment to get her stuff and she hadn’t heard anything since.