XADEN
It’s late at night when I pull out my burner and dial Keller.
“This isn’t the kind of intel you deliver on the phone, Bailey,” Keller says testily. “You’re supposed to be focused on the task, not ring me because a baker threw a hissy fit.”
“I am focused,” I say. “But JJ and Ronnie are more restless than before.”
“Is it the baker you’re worried about — or your ex?” Keller’s voice is flat, clinical. Like a scalpel. I expected him to know about Cole. I didn’t expect that kind of detachment. Or the way he lingered onex. “Big Sam wants Mike. JJ and Ronnie have a place to crash. As long as no one’s bleeding, keep calm and do your job,” he adds.
“With respect, JJ’s volatile at the best of times, and Ronnie gets twitchy if he goes too long without using his knife. They’ve both made it clear they enjoy harassing Cole Hudson,” I point out.
Kellerexhales, irritated. “Hudson again. You keep circling back to him. Tell me, Bailey, is he a liability, or are you?”
I stay quiet.Finally, Keller barks: “What are you suggesting?”
“Permission to reveal my cover to a civilian if it comes to that.”
“If you break cover, you end the op. You end your career. You end everything.”
“I’m not asking to tell him everything. Just enough, if the situation calls for it. I want that call to be mine.”
A pause. Then: “You’re letting him cloud your judgment. Don’t think I don’t see it. One more misstep, Bailey, and I have to pull you out.”
“Sir—” But Keller’s already hung up. Cursing, I toss the burner onto the workbench and stare at the cracked cement floor.
I don’t care what Keller says.
JJ and Ronnie won’t touch Cole. Not when I’m still breathing.
COLE
Baywood Beans has never looked so intense. Dorothy and Delilah Bloom have transformed the place into something between a game show set and a high-stakes poker tournament — for Sudoku. The prize is a coupon for a free beverage, and judging by the determined looks on competitors’ faces, that is one coveted piece of paper.
The tables have been rearranged into a tournament bracket, each one labeled with the competitors’ names in elaborate calligraphy. (Ann-Sabrina contributed, she was on a course.) The centerpiece of each table: a pristine Sudoku grid, sharpened pencils, and a small kitchen timer.
Earl’s eying the pencils and wringing his hands. “Those pencils look awfully sharp, y’know, and we have delinquents brawling the streets,” he says, worry lines on his shiny forehead. “One might ask ifit’s wise to keep shivvies out in the open like this?”
Mrs. Kirkland tells him to sit down and be still.
Then Dorothy, wearing a referee shirt over a glittery skirt, announces the rules like she’s introducing the Hunger Games. “No calculators. No phone apps. And absolutely no talking during play unless it’s to psych out your opponent.”
Delilah stands beside her in a similar outfit, holding up a brass bell and smiling wickedly. “When you finish your grid, ring the bell. Loudly. Triumphantly.”
The competitors are a bit unevenly paired, which makes me think tonight is more about entertainment than fairness.
Michael Manning is against Becky Fairweather, both so competitive things could turn volatile fast.
Earl is paired with Mrs. Kirkland, an unfair match if there ever was one, especially because Earl is terrified of her. (Understandably. She once sent me into a cold sweat just by saying, “Show your work.”)
Ann-Sabrina plays against Steve, and they’re already arguing about whether Fae mathematics is real.
Harold Bramble sits opposite Henry Ashford. Harold looks like he was tricked into this, whereas Henry looks calm like always, pencil balanced neatly beside his paper.
At the corner table, Eliot Thorne has somehow paired himself with Mr. Benson. Eliot insists on offering a running commentary: “Did you know Sudoku was not invented in Japan?”
Mr. Benson beams. “Fascinating. Did you know Dusty Springfield once filled in half a crossword in pen without a single mistake? My cat Dusty tried the same thing but chewed the pencil instead.”
“Fun fact,” Eliot goes on, “if you write the number nine upside down, it’s technically a six, which means Sudoku is a reversible puzzle. In a way, we’re all living in reversible puzzles.”
