As the others moved into the living room, James lingered in the kitchen. He wanted to check the various tracking devices hooked to his phone. There was Kit, safely on the couch. There was Holden, unfortunately next to Kit.
James switched feeds to Terry—and froze.
Error: No Signal
25
Carelessness was dangerous. Caring was worse.
Darius slipped out early the next morning, feeling like a traitor. His secrets usually sat well-behaved in the back of his mind. They shouldn’t hammer his ribs, clamoring to escape.
The night’s sleep hadn’t helped. James stayed up too late glued to his surveillance resources, trying to find when and where Terry removed the tracking device. They hadn’t expected it to go unnoticed forever, but figuring out the exact circumstances was important.
Kit stayed up waiting for James, and Holden stayed up waiting for Kit. Darius stayed up ruminating over his own thoughts. Trying not to act as distant as he felt.
The others should all be sleeping in, unless James got restless. Darius was grateful to escape the house without a conversation. He needed space to think.
But vanishing without explanation would lead to questions, so Darius stopped at his car to text the household group chat.
Darius:I’m out to finish clearing the apartment. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.
Wincing, Darius got into his car. For fuck’s sake. They had a household group chat. How had he fucked up this bad? Carelessness was dangerous. Caring was worse.
All the way back to his apartment, Darius stayed alert. He noted every driver, passenger, and pedestrian, looking for a woman with blond hair and spiraling geometric tattoos.
But if she was actually nearby, Darius would never see her coming.
He had recognized the fifth person in the scrapbook photos. Her face out of context was sharp as a razor.
Felicity Carrow. His mentor. The woman who taught him everything he knew about killing for coin.
Darius had always known she had other projects. Training an eighteen-year-old assassin was just a side hobby. She always held him at arm’s length.
Part of Darius had resented the distance. He wanted to prove himself—a born overachiever, craving a good grade in assassination.
Part of him was grateful for it. Eventually, when he’d earned enough, when he’d met enough challenges, Darius always knew he would want out. Bailing got harder the higher you climbed.
Apparently, Felicity’s main gig was Rat King.
There was no doubt in Darius’s mind. Felicity wasn’t a follower. If she was involved, she was at the top. Her partnership with Nazario made sense—a killer collaborating with a businessman. Cutting Evelyn Zhou out of the deal made sense, too. Two CEOs at the top were redundant. Felicity always hated redundancy.
“The Rat Kings are good at cleaning up actual evidence,” James had said. That was definitely true for Felicity. Sketchyvibes were the only way to pick her out of a crowd. James had lucked out having Holden the psycho savant on the case.
Maybe it wasn’t luck. Maybe it would be better not to solve this crime.
Darius’s stomach twisted as he neared his apartment. The timeline cut deep. When Darius met Felicity, James’s family was already dead. One of James’s targets had lurked behind Darius’s shoulder the whole time they’d been friends.
Did Felicity carry out the execution personally? Or did she use her puppets? Trained killers like Darius, who paid for their education with favors.
Darius parked on the street, then checked his phone. There were replies from Kit in the group chat fifteen minutes ago.
Kit:no good morning kiss???
Kit:i’m fine tho, james is blowing me right noqwwe
Followed by a new reply from James just two minutes ago.
James:Kit says he’s glad you’re gone :) because Holden and I are evil bastards :) and he knows you wouldn’t help him anyway :)
