Our breaths flee in plumes of white as we pull on our masks in case there are cameras.
Locker 35 sits in a half-empty corridor. Shadows loom tall on the walls. The air reeks of cold metal and oil. We approach with guns drawn, cameras neutralized by Aleksei’s jammer.
“I’m on your six,” Sebastian says.
I punch in the code from the email and yank open the locker. An ordinary paper box sits inside.
Too ordinary.
Carefully, I scan it with another of Aleksei’s gadgets. No explosives, no red flags.
I tear off the lid.
Inside lies a single scrap of paper:
One step too late again, Kian. Better luck next time. This gift I’ll keep. Tell your wife happy birthday. If you want answers, meet me on parking level five, Structure B, Chicago Memorial. Ten p.m. tonight. No entourage. No funny business.
Fury tears through me. I crumple the note and slam my fist into the locker.
The package. The evidence. Our only leverage against The Association and the reason Lana is a bargaining chip instead of a loose end—it’s gone. Stolen right under our noses.
The phantom from the Benefaction.
“Fuck!”
My phone buzzes. The name flashing across the screen makes my blood freeze.
Henevercalls.
“Ren, what’s going on?”
Gunshots ring through the receiver. A woman shrieks.
Lana.
My heart stops. I’m already sprinting toward the exit.
“What the hell’s happening? Lana, is she okay?”
“Fuck. Decoy worked. Another SUV,” he rasps, his voice rough with disuse. “I just lost them. Be careful.”
He hangs up.
My mind runs through the long list of suspects, my blood freezing in my veins.
Anyone could be after her. Ren’s kept her safe both times. But what if our luck runs out?
Without the package, nothing’s tying their hands anymore. Nothing’s stopping The Association from hurting her.
What if I can’t protect her?
Chapter 49: REALITY CHECK
“Here. Drink this. Calmsthe nerves.” Scarlett shoves a cup into my face as we huddle inside my bedroom after I almost got killed.
Again.
The gunfire still rings through my skull, the stench of charred tires burning my nose.
