“Because it’s highly possible this place isn’t safe anymore, and I really, really need nothing to happen to you both so that when this is all over, you can yell at me and tell me I told you so.”

Whatever else Perry was about to say is cut off when Lars shoots to his feet. “We’re not safe?”

“It’s a long story, but I think I was followed, so I took a bus downtown, then an Uber to the U District—and boy, did that wipe out some funds, I swear—and from there, I went to Gas Works Park, then took a bike, then another bus, ended up in some dingy area with a lot of naked people around, ordered a taxi, and⁠—”

“Perry,” I manage to say without laughing. “You went to a lot of effort, and we’re all appreciative, but do we need to be worried right now?”

“No.” He glances at his sister. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Lars looks like his head is about to boil.

But a maybe I can work with. “First things first: Margot and Elle, you need to leave.”

“This is my brother’s place,” Elle points out. “You can’t make us leave.”

“I’m not making you, but considering the three of us are in some shit, and I highly doubt you want your girlfriend in the same shit, you should probably get moving before the shit finds you too.”

She eyes Margot. “Right. Okay. But Perry’s coming with us.”

“No, I’m not.” He hurries to stand next to me. “As much as I’d love that, Luther kind of wants me dead, and you two being around only gives them two more heads to aim at.”

“Morbid,” she mutters.

“But true.” I search Perry’s face for any sign that he’s worried about the confirmation he’s on the line along with me or that he’s betrayed by it being Luther. But there’s nothing there, just his eyes begging his sister to leave. “You really should go.”

Margot shakes her head. “This is all proof that I can’t leave him alone. Ever.”

The longer we stand here, the more Perry deflates. Sure, I can grudgingly accept that she makes a good point, but he’s spent the morning trying to find a name for me before taking an expensive and long trip back in case he was followed. He’s trying. At this point, there isn’t anything else we can do.

“He’s not alone,” I remind her. “He has us. And at this point, you’re more of a liability than a help, so you need to go.”

“A liability?”