Boots sounded on the stairs.General appeared in the doorway.He took in the scene with one sweep of his gaze.“Done?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Do you feel better?”he asked.
I considered.“No.Not better.Just… lighter.The weight shifted.”
He nodded.“Bodies can be dealt with.Ghosts linger.You cut some of his loose today.That’s enough.”
We wrapped Roth in a tarp and carried him out between the two of us.No ceremony.Nothing to mark the man he had been.Just cleanup.
The club had a place for this.Not on the property.Somewhere quiet.Somewhere deep.Somewhere Diaz would never find no matter how hard he dug.
I didn’t go on that run.Atilla sent General and Knuckles instead.I stayed.My job now sat in the main building, probably holding a mug too tight while she pretended to listen to Casey.
I washed Roth’s blood off my hands in the sink by the garage.The water ran red, then pink, then clear.
When I looked up, Spade stood in the doorway, tablet tucked under his arm again.“He’s gone,” he said.
“Yeah,” I replied.
He nodded, eyes distant.“At least we got enough to make Diaz bleed.Maps will consume my life for the next couple days.The timetable gives us clear targets.Routes.Names.Safe houses soon to become death traps.I’ll present everything at Church after organizing.”Spade paused.“Jade asked for you,” he added.
Of course she had.
I dried my hands and walked inside.
* * *
I found her on the back porch, sitting on the top step, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around them.She wore jeans and one of my T-shirts, sleeves rolled, hem hitched up a bit when she moved.Her hair sat in a messy knot at the back of her head, a few strands blowing loose in the breeze.
She didn’t turn when I opened the door, but her shoulders relaxed.
“How’s the weather?”I asked.
“Blood-tinged,” she said quietly.
I eased down beside her.The wood felt rough under my jeans.The morning had warmed up, but the shade still held a chill.“You felt it?”I asked.
“Not with some psychic tether,” she said.“I saw everyone come up.You don’t need an overactive imagination to connect those dots.”
“You okay?”
She huffed.“Do you own any other questions?”
“They seem to cover the bases.”
She rested her chin on her knees, staring out at the yard.The fence line.The trees beyond.
“He chose the knife,” I said after a while.
She closed her eyes.“Fast.”
“Yeah,” I said.“Fast.”
Silence stretched between us.Roth hadn’t been a good guy.Even if he’d helped a bit at the end, it didn’t nearly make up for everything he’d done.
“Bad people don’t sit on back steps wondering if they’re bad people.They’re too busy polishing their own stories.”That tugged a faint smile from her.“The kids okay?”
