must have been Austin’s brother, then turned to the strong silent type who had ridden up the elevator with us. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be killing somebody in an hour?”
“Romano said he was gonna watch a movie, and he didn’t want anybody to disturb him for the next few hours. He was pretty much begging to die early.”
“OK. As long as nobody finds him ahead of schedule.”
“They won’t.”
My brow furrowed. “Romano… Acardi?”
Austin’s brother told the killer to sit tight in case he needed him for anything else and then turned to me. “That’s right. Romano Acardi had an unfortunate run in with a bullet, it seems.”
“Who the fuck do you people work for?” I asked.
“Me. I’m Jace Barlow.” He pulled up a chair and sat opposite me, looking at my face carefully. “I know you’re having the worst day of your life, Ryan. Do you know why this is all happening yet? Did the Acardis tell you?”
“No.”
Jace looked up at his brother, then back to me and sighed. “Today… the Acardis found out that your girlfriend is… a cop.”
My ears rang as if in the aftermath of some kind of silent explosion and it felt like somebody was shoving an icicle through my chest. I shook my head and curled up a little as my stomach cramped again.
“No. No. No, no, no. That’s… that’s not possible.”
“It’s possible, and it’s true. The Acardis tried to find out some background about her, starting from just after Christmas as far as we can tell. They got real suspicious when all their leads ran into dead ends, and they just heard today from one of their sources inside the police department that she’s an undercover cop. They decided to go scorched-earth on you. The cops that picked you up worked for the Acardi Family. They weren’t taking you to the police station, they were taking you to your lab, where I understand they’re installing some shackles.”
I buried my face in my hands, then slid my palms to the side of my head as if trying to hold my skull together. The idea of Sarina as a cop after all this time threatened to blow it apart. The fucking love of my life? I groaned.
“They sent some soldiers to kill your mom. I’m so sorry we didn’t get there in time to stop them. They’ve sent others to kill Sarina, and anybody who knew who she was.”
I sat bolt upright as if struck by lightning. “You gotta stop them!”
Jace raised an eyebrow. “Why? Let them do your dirty work for you.”
“No! I... I’ve got to hear it from her with my own ears. Please…”
Jace stared at me for a frustratingly long time while I tried not to scream my request again as if he hadn’t heard. Finally, he turned to the strong-silent-type.
“Alright, Eric. Since you’ve got some free time, go get her, bring her back if it’s not too late. Cumberland Dorm, room… four-fifteen, right?” He looked to me.
“Yes.”
Jace turned back to Eric. “Go. Right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Eric didn’t walk, he ran to the elevator and disappeared a moment later. I hung my head for a moment, then lifted it again, only to let it flop backwards. I stared at the ceiling. Fuck this day.
“It never rains but it pours, huh Ryan?” Jace said.
I managed to bring my focus back to him. “What does that mean?”
“It means everything always fuckin’ happens at once. We’ve been infiltrating this city for months now and all this shit happens today, when we were going to take the Acardis down anyway. That’s why we were stretched so thin. I didn’t have anybody close enough to the hospital to stop it.”
“What are you, like, a shitty fairy godmother failing to look out for me or something?”
“I think you’re already dealing with enough that I’m not going to get all puffed up with my own self-importance at the way you’re talking to me.,” Jace said. “No, I’m not your fairy godmother. I was thinking about being your employer, though.”
“Not interested,” I said.
“Hear me out. You’re the whole reason I’m here. I was looking for you. I found out you were the F King a few weeks ago. Even the cops don’t know that. Your girlfriend hasn’t reported it if she knew it.”
“She didn’t.”
I felt like my body suddenly weighed a thousand times more at the mention of her name. I struggled to readjust myself in my seat.
“Austin, you got the keys for these cuffs?” Jace asked.
“Yeah.”
“Get them