passed, my stomach in knots as we waited for a car I didn’t recognize to slowly appear. I knew well before the man cloaked in a dark suit stepped from the car that the show had begun. He scanned the street, his face a cold mask, and his blond hair streaked with gray blowing in the breeze as he ensured himself he was undetected and alone.
“That’s Fox,” Antonov announced.
I didn’t respond as I watched the man round the side of the house, his gun already out. Leaving the door unlocked would have been too obvious, and I imagined a man like Fox would have been sharp enough to be suspicious. Instead, we’d left the tiniest crack in a window. Small enough that it could be waved off as simple carelessness. Barely a minute passed before I heard the sound of another car approaching. I turned my focus from the house, expecting to see another unfamiliar car.
My heart stopped at the army-green SUV, slowly making its way toward the house.
What the hell was he doing here? Spring break had ended two days ago. I watched, feeling helpless as my best friend parked his G-Wagon behind Fox’s car. Ever was none the wiser of the danger he was about to enter. It wasn’t until he was out of his ride and halfway up the drive that my feet remembered how to move. I made it to the door before I felt myself being grabbed.
“What the hell are you doing?” I roared at Jeremy. I didn’t care if anyone heard us or not. The plan was as good as blown as far as I was concerned.
“If you go down there, it’s over.”
“If I don’t go down there, my friend dies.”
“I’m okay with that,” he easily replied. I could have broken every bone in his body when Jeremy shrugged.
“I’m not.” Putting all my considerable strength into freeing my arm, I rammed my elbow into his face, missing his nose by a hair and hitting his cheek. It was enough to dislodge his hold, though, and I was out the bedroom door.
What if I was already too late? What if Ever was already dead?
I hadn’t heard any gunshots, but that didn’t mean anything. I reached the bottom of the stairs and was almost to the front door when a blow to the back of my skull sent me crashing to my knees. I tried to fight the ringing in my head and the darkness closing in, but a moment later, I was out.
I awoke sometime later, surprised to find that I hadn’t been tied up. Groaning, I held my head, knowing this headache wouldn’t be clearing anytime soon. I blinked to clear my vision and found Antonov standing by the window, peering out with his brows bunched. It took me a few seconds to remember why he’d knocked me out.
“If my friend is dead, you’re next,” I told him, meaning every word and to hell with my soul.
Shrugging, Jeremy continued to watch Wren and Lou’s house. “He’s not dead.”
“And how the hell do you know that?”
“No gunshots.”
“That doesn’t mean shit. Fox could have slit his fucking throat.”
Jeremy looked at me, incredulity in his black gaze. “Then why bother bringing a gun?”
“Are you sure you would have heard it? He could have a silencer,” I argued though I didn’t remember seeing one.
“Maybe.” He returned his head toward the window once again. “We don’t know if the kid is alive, but I do know you wouldn’t be if you had gone over there. If Franklin isn’t dead, then Fox must know by now that Crow is coming, which means he needs Ever alive. What he doesn’t need is you.”
“Suddenly, you care?”
Jeremy barked a laugh that made me bristle. “Fuck no. I care about the plan. If you try to deviate again, I’ll remove your head from your shoulders and mail it to your girlfriend and son. We clear?”
“Fuck you.” I got to my feet before joining him at the window. “So, what now? I’m not leaving him in there. I don’t care about your goddamn threats.”
Jeremy nodded toward the street. “Look.”
Another car approached for the third time that night, and I knew before he ever emerged that it was Crow this time. A huge part of me was relieved, but a small part wasn’t. I knew what it meant for Wren and Ever.
Wren wasn’t quite cold enough to lead his father into an ambush, no matter how he felt about the man as a father. He’d left