BOONE
Several more horrifyingdominoes fall into place.
“You’ve killed over a dozen people in the last month alone.”
“True…”
I stare at Hopper’s increasingly confused face, at a loss for words. Maverick looks just as lost as I feel, which is a small comfort.
“Aren’t you happy that I’m killing bad guys?” Hopper asks, like a kid who’s proud of the fact that he just washed his dad’s brand-new Ferrari with a Brillo pad.
“Hopper, I’m a cop. A detective.” I rake my hands through my hair. “And I need you to shut up right now because everything you say can be used against you.”
Hoppertsks, shaking his head. “I’m not explaining this right. I can tell.” He checks outside, then steps back into the apartment. “I promise you’ll get a full explanation, but we need to move now.”
The sirens are still closing in as a car screams into the parking lot, rocking to a halt behind Hopper’s car.
Two operatives dressed in combat gear exit, armed with the same rifles as Silas and Hopper. They assess the parking lot as they make their way up the stairs. One of them is familiar.
“That’s Holmes, isn’t it?” I ask Maverick.
“Yes. And our cousin Honoré,” he says without an ounce of surprise.
Oh.
“So you knew about your family and didn’t tell me?”
Maverick looks distraught.
“Hey, now,” Hopper interrupts. “Don’t be mad at Maverick. He just found out.”
Sy greets the black-ops division of the Wildlings and points at the ash. “Tell me we’re not bagging this.”
Holmes nods. “Dex says re-ash, then rinse. It won’t test, and the calcium run-off is good for the plants, apparently.”
“Sweet business,” Hopper says. “You two help us with the carpet up here after?”
Holmes sends a thumbs-up. They make their way back down to the parking lot and make short work of the dozen or so piles of ash, then use a pump sprayer to dissolve the remains.
Fucking. Hell.
The sirens, now mere blocks away, cut out.
Hopper’s phone buzzes, and he pulls it up, quickly reading something off the screen.
“Ryder took care of the inbound officers,” he says, his eyes going back to the one body.
He kneels, unable to leave the guy’s collar alone.
The bottom drops out of my stomach. You can’t justtake careof inbound officers.
“This Ryder person didn’t have those officers killed, did he?”
Silas looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “No.Shejust told ’em it was a false alarm.Jeez.”
Yeah, ’cause I’m the crazy one.
“And what about witnesses? The bodies in my fucking apartment?” I ask, working hard to keep my voice steady as I tryto reason with a sociopath. “What about the person who called this in?”
