(Casey’s POV)
__________
We were both staring at Ethan in shock. Jace didn’t look like he was going to recover from the surprise anyti soon, that left having to handle it.
"Uhm..." I said as I cleared my throat. "Ethan, I don’t know your relationship with Jace and how much you both exactly share, but you don’t get to tell who and when to kiss."
"Oh..." Ethan’s brow raised as he suddenly understood, and then disgust filled them. "Eww... what the fuck?! Why on earth would I wanna watch you guys kiss and make out? Who the hell do you think I am?"
"Well, that’s what you said you wanted."
He slapped his head in frustration, "You both are just horny motherfuckers, which is why you took my words literally. It was only taphorical, I wasn’t asking you to fuck in front of ! I’ve got better things to do, you know? Like, figuring out who Maven is? In case you lovebirds have forgotten."
"Just shut up, Ethan," Jace said. "Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. No more bickering, right Casey?"
I glanced at him, and then I slowly nodded, "You won’t be getting any issues from ."
"Good, that’s all I wanted. A verbal truce. Not..." After getting my scalding look, Ethan’s voice trailed off. He cleared his throat once and then said, "While you were gone, Jace told everything about Maven. Casey, did you get the number from Kira? The one he used to text her?"
"Shit... I didn’t." I took out my phone, "I’ll ask her to send it to now."
"That’s good, but then, if this guy is as good as Jace says he is, then that number Kira sends might not get us anywhere."
"You think it will be a burner?" Jace asked.
Ethan nodded, "that will only take us back to square one, which is why we’re not putting all our eggs into one basket."
"I didn’t co here without a plan, Ethan." Jace told him, "Once we’re done here, we’re going to the Royale Hotel. We’re going to speak to Joan, and make her provide the staff that allowed the stalkers in with fake IDs. That would definitely lead us closer to Maven."
"Good idea, but what if that doesn’t work? We’d need another plan in case that fails. Where is the footage Joan sent you?" Ethan looked at .
"It’s on my phone," I pulled up the video and handed it to him, when he saw how long it was, his eyes widened in shock.
He shook his head, "I can’t watch this entire thing right now, there’s not enough ti. But I can skim through it though, still, that would take considerable ti."
"Sure, knock yourself out." I replied, "Jace and I have both watched it."
Ethan got comfortable on the couch and began to skim through the footage. Jace was busy on his phone and, without anything I had to stare at either of them. I wasn’t going to do that.
"Jace..." I muttered. He glanced over at , thankfully, his nacing gaze was gone. "Can I talk to you?"
Ethan’s eyes shot up from the video he was watching.
"Relax..." I told him, "We’ll be fine. But, where’s the kitchen?"
"Jace knows," he replied and returned to what he was watching.
With a sigh, Jace got up and led the way, I followed him out of the living room. We walked down a short passage and at the end, we found ourselves in the kitchen. It was clean and pristine. Jace made his way over to the coffee maker and began to work it at once. Watching him work, opening cupboards, and closing them showed how comfortable he was there. It reminded of last night when he was in my kitchen as well. How had things gotten so bad so soon between us?
"Jace..." I said after a while, "We can’t keep fighting. It’s not helping matters at all."
He nodded, "you’re right."
He turned around, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, he sipped it and then closed his eyes to allow the taste to swirl through him. I felt a lurch in my throat as I was struck with just how handso he was. He was drop-dead handso, sothing that I was still yet to get used to. Just about everything about him still caught off guard.
"So, we’re cool, right?" I said. "No more hostilities between us."
He nodded again, "Yeah, we’re cool. No more hostilities between us."
While he agreed with what I was saying, it looked more like he was just echoing my words. I didn’t know what to read into it. I didn’t know how to read this version of Jace that I was seeing. This was the first ti I was with him that we were on such terms. I had never seen him this way before and I had no idea how to deal with it.
I was about to say sothing, but Ethan’s voice rang out from the living room, "You guys need to co here. I think I’ve found sothing."
We exchanged looks then we hurried over to the living room. I couldn’t imagine what it was that he found. Jace and I had watched the footage for its entire duration and didn’t find anything useful.
We crowded around him in the living room, and I saw that he paused the footage at the part where Maven, the stalker, had followed Kira out of the hotel and was making a phone call. It was monts before the actual call and when Maven was dialing the number.
"Uhm... what exactly are we looking at?" I muttered.
"Our third basket," Ethan said with a smile.
He took a screenshot of the scene, and then he began to zoom into the picture, bringing Maven’s phone into larger focus. As the image enlarged, it got foggier and more difficult to make out. However, it was clear what was right before us.
"Holy shit!" Jace gasped in shock, "Ethan, you’re a fucking genius!"
"I know, right?" he nodded with a goofy grin.
"Wow..." I couldn’t help but smile. "This is really good."
It was good indeed because, on Maven’s phone, we could make out a phone number.
We were finally a step closer to finding Maven.
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