I studied the area where Noah had appeared yesterday. No trace. No sound. The courtyard at the cemetery’s entrance was too calm.
Too fucking calm.
I circled toward the narrow alleyway between the two service buildings. As I rounded the corner, I slowed. The alley was narrow, preventing the morning sun from piercing it. It extended only thirty feet, emptying into a field of bushes and low trees.
Drawing my weapon, I moved forward, keeping my steps as quiet as possible. Halfway down the alley, barely visible in the dim light, was a dark smear on the right wall at roughly chin height.
A hint of red.
Blood. Fresh blood, at that.
Not good.
But was it Noah’s?
I continued forward, staying close to the left wall, watching the pale pavers that lined the alley. A blood trail dotted it, sporadic but clear. Either someone was injured and moving, or they were dragging something that was bleeding.
If Enzo or any of the Fenix members who were against Noah discovered he’d planned a meeting with us, they might have snatched him. Which meant?—
A footstep sounded behind me.
I spun, raising my Glock to?—
Scarlett’s hands flew up in front of her, her eyes wide. “Just me.”
“Tabarnak,” I hissed, lowering my gun. “I told you to stay in the car.”
“You were taking too long,” she whispered, moving closer. She pointed to the nearest bloodstains on the pavers. “You think that’s Noah’s?”
“I forgot my DNA kit in my other pants,” I said, causing her to roll her eyes.
I gestured for her to stay behind me. “We need to pull back. This meet’s a bust.”
She shook her head. “If that’s Noah’s blood, he could be in trouble.”
“Or it’s bait,” I countered.
“He wouldn’t set this up. Not this way.”
“You don’t know that.” I glanced over my shoulder, checking for movement. Finding none, I turned back to her. “He’s changed since he worked with us. You have to stop assuming everything based on his old patterns.”
“I know how to read people, Rav.”
“Except him.” I should have kept that inside, but she needed to hear it. “You’ve had a blind spot for him since he showed up in Venice. Câlisse, Scar, but he’s your kryptonite. My job is to keep you safe, and if you insist on going after him, I’ll have to…”
What? I’d always followed her lead. Always trusted her. But she was getting careless, like coming to the same secret meeting two days in a row with the most manipulative prick I’d ever met.
“Have to what?” She cocked her eyebrow.
I pointed over her shoulder, in the direction we’d come from. “You’re too exposed here. Get back to the car.”
Rather than turn around like someone who’d listen to her head of security, Scarlett simply kept the eyebrow up. That meant,‘I’m not going anywhere, and you know it.’
Of course, I knew it.
“Do you listen to Malcolm any better than you listen to me?”
Her irritating eyebrow fell into its normal position, and her head jerked back slightly.
