"No, we have to get back into town." He hisses into the phone, "We've been out since the sixth. We have got to get back. It's urgent."

I flop down on the hotel bed behind him, clad in the signature black hoodie. After all these years, and it's still right in the center of my comfort zone. I feel safer in black than anything else.

"I know it's late. We need a ride." He growls, low and guttural. He whips around to face me and covers the speaker on the phone. "Aria, do you have another twenty dollars? We're going to have to take a cab." I nod and he removes his hand and says to the person on the other line, "Thanks for your help." His voice dripping acid.

I lift myself from the bed and begin gathering my things into the duffel bag I'd brought, as he angrily does the same. "Thank god we're finally getting back." I say.

He sighs heavily in response. "Yeah, well, it's a miracle we figured anything out with Hardy on the other end." I walk over to him and rest my hand on his shoulder. I'm the only one who can ever placate him these days.

"Well, we're getting back, right?" I mumble the words onto his shoulder, and he turns to rest his chin on my head. "Hey," I say, pulling away, "Hardy doesn't suspect anything, does he?"

"Of course not." He turns and scorns at me.

"Okay. Just asking." Our car has chosen this night to break down, which is just my luck. We were thinking of driving back last night, but something else came up, and while we were on our ways to go and do said thing, we blew out the suspension on a massive pothole, which drove me into a fit of kicking and cursing at the car until Ezra finally picked me up and held me until I calmed down. We can't drive it anywhere tonight

3.

"Well, I'll call the cab." He nods to himself and punches in the cab company number.

I pull my laptop from beneath the bed and punch in our password, triggering the presentation of another password request, which I supply. The high security system on my - computer seems superfluous to Ezra, but I can't sleep at night unless I know that it's impossible for anyone to get in.