The morning after the boat excursion, Eli decided to pace about his room for as long as he needed to sort out his situation. Two hours later, his feet hurt, the rug sported a nice circle of wear, and he was no closer to figuring anything out.

So he let out a breath and fell back on the advice he should have followed and never did: what would Lily say about it?

“Hi, Lily,” he mumbled to himself, “remember how you hated that one girlfriend I had? The one with the bedazzled crop tops? Okay, good news, this guy doesn’t wear those. Bad news, he wears blood-soaked button-downs.” He stopped, then resumed pacing. “Lily, good news. I have a crush. Bad news—he’s a wanted man in at least three countries.” He grinned. “Ha, get it? Wanted man?” He stopped again and set his hands on his hips. “Yeah, she’s just gonna kick me again.”

Already feeling the ache in his shins, his eyes dropped to the bug-out bag next to the dresser.

#

“Grim!” Eli threw open their office door, bag slung over his shoulder. “Time for me to go to Santa Barbara!”

Grim stopped typing at their desk, which as usual, contained nothing but a laptop, a few pens, and a carved statue of a bear wearing a cowboy hat. They regarded Eli for a moment over angular blue-screen glasses. “What?”

“Yup, I’m ready.” Eli gave a sharp nod. “Just gimme a random name, book me a flight, and I’ll be out of your hair today.”

Grim just stared at him, until he felt the need to fill the empty air with words. Any words. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll crash with Dawn, train as a bartender. Maybe open a food truck. Make an experimental film, I don’t know.” Grim didn’t move. Eli began to sweat. “Incidentally, if we could leave before Ambrose realizes I’m gone, that would be ideal. You know, like an Irish goodbye. I mean, I’m not Irish, but—wait, is he Irish? Anyway, I’m sure he won’t mind—“

Grim finally opened their mouth. “Did Banneker give you one of his drinks?”

“No!” Eli held up his free hand. “No, I’m fine. Totally fine. Just ready for Santa Barbara.” His grin faltered, and he rubbed his sweaty palm on his jeans. “You know what, never mind on the flight, I’m just gonna hitch-hike. Bigger adventure that way.”

But Grim had already moved to close the office door behind Eli. For a moment, he felt like a kid stuck in the principal’s office, and he briefly considered jumping out of the window.

“You should probably just talk to him,” Grim said, leaning against the door.

Just like the kid in the principal’s office, Eli stuck his chin out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Grim passed a hand over their face. “Valenz, how on earth did you become a detective? You’re a horrible liar.”

“Yeah, yeah, that was in my last performance review.” Eli tightened his grip on his bag. “Listen, I just—I need to go. It’s best for everyone if I go and start my new life.”

Grim gave a grunt. “You starting a new life, or running away from Beake?” A grin slowly spread across their face.

Eli dropped the bag.

“How did you know?” He cursed as their grin spread wider. “Does everyone know?”

“Did you think you were being subtle?”

Eli rubbed his forehead, then froze. “Wait, does he know? Has he said anything? Come on, you’re the intelligence person here, you gotta know—“

Grim made a face. “Talk to him yourself, Valenz.”

“Fucking knew you were gonna say that.”

Footsteps echoed down the second-floor stairs by the office. Shaking their head, Grim nudged aside the bug-out bag with their foot and set a hand on the doorknob. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a stubborn scientist to intercept. He’s not allowed in the lab today.”

Eli frowned. “Why?”

Grim waited for the footsteps to near the base of the stairs, then opened the door with a glint in their eye. “It’s his birthday.”