“And I don’t get him,” I kept bitching. “I mean, none of this makes sense, the latest of which is you guys can’t find him. But I’ve been thinking on it all day, and I cannot buy the leap from him being pissed at Boone for sharing justifiably how he felt about what this guy did to Ryn, to him bothering you and me. If he’s mad at Boone and Ryn, not that I want him to take that out on Boone and Ryn, still, why wouldn’t he take it out on Boone and Ryn? How do I factor into all of this? And you?”

Axl said nothing, but the air in the car had shifted.

It felt tingly.

“Axl?” I called.

“Shit,” he whispered.

“What?” I asked.

“So caught up in what he was doin’ to you, didn’t see it,” he said.

“What?” I repeated.

“It’s a setup.”

“Pardon?”

“You were right, my dad was baiting me.”

I was perplexed.

How did we get from talking about Kovack to something about a setup to him mentioning his dad?

“Okay,” I said slowly.

“He doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about him. He has no problem being an asshole. But he knows I do. It’s a game. He wants me on my back foot. He wants to manipulate me into being an asshole. And if I take the bait, he wins. And I end up not only feeling like an asshole but feeling like a chump because I got played.”

“Yes,” I agreed, still confused.

Axl didn’t enlighten me.

He was digging in his side-leg cargo pocket for his phone.

He handed it to me and said, “Code seven, three, three, nine, two, eight. Call Boone.”

I couldn’t be ecstatic that not only did I have the key to his house, he had mine, we had drawers (as yet to be filled, still), but he also just gave me the code to his phone.

The vibe of his voice made me engage his cell and do as he said.

It was connected to his Jeep, thus rang in the car, but it only did this once before Boone answered, “All cool, brother?”

“It’s a setup,” Axl repeated.

“Sorry?” Boone asked.

“They got eyes on us. They know about this guy. And I’m not sure it’s this guy doing it. They’re leading us to this guy. Makes no fucking sense he’s stalking Hattie, tagging me in on that, maybe trying to tweak me, thinkin’ I’d have an issue with the bent of his threats to me, instead of targeting Ryn ’cause he’s got a history with her, or you, because you got up in his shit. Hattie should have nothing to do with this. Me either.”

“Fuck,” Boone said.

In other words, whatever Axl was talking about, Boone agreed.

But Axl wasn’t done laying it out.

“This guy can see her at work, follow her home. But getting her cell number and email takes resources. Hacking a computer takes resources. Becoming a ghost takes resources. Resources this guy does not have.”