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"Liao ahead and call" Flimsy excuse I stepped out to the hall and dialed

"You found Poe, I assu hello

"Maybe you could’ve warned me?" I paced back and forth "Why is he in my apartment?"

"You’re in his When I visited Poe in the hospital at Vanderbilt, I asked a lot of questions, and he gave a lot of answers The right answers"

I stopped, watching the arrows on the wall light up as the elevators traveled from floor to floor "I know he saved Em’s and Michael’s lives, but he’s done sos, too, Liaive you details When he helped Teague, he truly believed he orking for Chronos She lied to him, and Jack manipulated his memories When he discovered the truth and confronted thenored his injuries to save Elass"

"Okay" An acknowledg in the aparthts and sounds and motion He’ll help you in any way he can, and you just have to believe me when I tell you that he’s trustworthy"

"Okay," I repeated

"I need a more coherent answer than that, Dune"

I heard the last call for the Nashville flight coh the phone "Okay is kind of all I’ve got at themy plane Talk to Poe Call ht?"

"All right"

Liahed "At least it’s not okay"

I stepped back into the apartment and looked at Poe "So … hi"

"Hi"

"I’m sorry to crash, and thanks for the roo with so intoa cover for ed "How about we’re just s

Poe pointed to the left "Your rooht blue quilt covered the queen-sized bed A walnut dresser stood against one wall, adesk on the other I put my suitcases on the bed and wondered how uy afford a two-bedroos in the Garden District? Poe was nineteen, and he was living large Really, really large

I checked out the rest of the place Hardwood floors linked a large living area with a kitchen The walls were a soft yellow, and the furniture was low and ent and fabric softener The spice rack was organized alphabetically The canisters on the counter were arranged largest to smallest A dishcloth and toere both folded in exact thirds

I went back into the living area "You either have a maid, or you’re OCD"

"Hope that’s not a problem"

"So not a proble in with Michael and Nate had been nice, but obviously overrun by teenage boys for a few years This placeme off the streets" He readjusted his position on the couch pillows "You intervieith Paul today And you start torateful to Liaue and Jack tricked uy you want on your bad side Sahter And, by the way, Hallie doesn’t know I’m back We should probably keep it that way for a little while"

"You tere friends?"

"We still are, I hope The hardest thing about all of this has been not being able to talk to her"

"Why can’t you?"

"The less she knows, the safer she is Teague has lied about everything Everything Your job is getting to the bottom of those lies, and I’ll be happy to help you, if you want it"

I gazed down on the perfect, streetlamp-lit view of Saint Charles The trolley whizzed by My sto Hallie "What’s she like?"