to it. He scuttled in front of Max like he was leading the way.
And here Max was, in a strange land, similar but foreign at the same time.
He took a step, and then another, and then he was walking out of the bush, carefully stepping over branches and the uneven ground. It all felt mechanical. He moved without a stir in his chest. He was just a void traveling in the direction of town. From an aerial view, there the boy was, alone, dirty, wading under a dark, rainy sky through fields of tall grass.
The raven flew at some point, circling him, never leaving his side.
When he needed it, there it was, and the most bewildering part of it all was he hadn’t known until then how much he needed the raven all along.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thames
“What the fuck is this about?” Reid demanded, stopping just before he got to the bar.
Everyone was on guard. The two men turned halfway in Reid’s direction, Holden grabbed at the knife he’d settled on the counter, and Reid immediately put a hand in the back of his jeans, no doubt gripping a firearm.
It suddenly occurred to Thames as he watched the scene unfold, this night was not going to end calmly.
“Calm down,” Jem said again at no one in particular. “Let’s bring it down –”
“You both have something to do with this?” Reid cut in, glaring at Jem and Thames. “Seriously? Both of you are fucking with my business, burning my shit down –”
“Neither of us have burned anything down,” Jem interrupted heatedly. “Fuckin’ calm it, Reid! We are in the dark, man.”
Reid swung his gaze at the rest of the men, looking confused. “I get called here on a threat that if I don’t, there’ll be problems. I’m here now, so anyone want to fucking talk?”
“Where’s your father?” Number One asked.
Reid’s eyes narrowed. “What does my father have to do with this?”
“He’s the one safekeeping your contacts. He wouldn’t leave you, the town’s manwhore, in charge of it, now would he?”
Reid’s face slowly grew red with anger. Thames caught the tremble in his cousin’s fingers.
“Reid,” he calmly said in warning, “keep it together, cousin.”
Reid’s jaw tensed as he fought to control himself. “You don’t get it, Conor, I was promised there would be no trouble. That my operation would be left untouched.”
“Circumstances change,” Number One said coolly.
Reid let out a sardonic laugh. “I’m sorry, who the fuck are you exactly? I don’t know you. I don’t take orders from a man in a shitty suit –”
“Watch yourself,” Holden barked. “You’re speaking to Number One.”
One of the men advanced slowly in Reid’s direction. Reid caught it immediately and pulled his gun out of his pants. He didn’t aim it, but he held it casually against his leg, staring straight at the man. The man immediately stopped, and a moment of tense silence followed.
Thames glanced at Holden, sitting forward now with the blade still tight in his hand. He calculated how quickly he could disarm the fucker without the others interfering. It might get ugly, and Thames didn’t know who else was carrying a firearm.
This was messy.
“Reid,” he said quietly, “let the men talk.”
Reid was twitchy, though. He looked around the room, calculating.
“I got men, you know,” he then said, looking back at Number One. “They’ll be here shortly.”
“No, they won’t,” Number One replied. “If you knew what you were getting into, you wouldn’t have showed without them. You came because you thought this place would be packed with witnesses, and because you don’t trust anyone at the moment. Isn’t that right?”
Reid licked his dry lips, thinking. “Have you been paying some of my men off?”
“Maybe.”
The suited man stood up now, oozing confidence as he left Thames’ side and walked about the room. “This can be easy and no one has to get hurt.”
“You want our contacts,” Reid reiterated. “Does that mean you’ll leave my shop alone?”
“Sure,” the man said, a deceptive smile spreading on his face. “We’ll leave your shop alone.”
“I don’t have them on me.”
“Tell me where your father is.”
Reid breathed harder, looking tense. “I can’t do that, but I can get the contacts from him.”
“Why can’t you tell us where he is?”
Reid didn’t answer. He surveyed the room again, meeting Thames’ eye. A look of sadness flitted briefly through his face as he answered, “Because he’s hiding.”
The suited man came to a stop in front of Reid, staring at him curiously. “Hiding from what?”
Reid’s eyes still hadn’t left Thames. Thames felt a strange