Ghost: I vote you tell him.
Me: Gee thanks. On it.
Instead of texting, I dial the boss.
“Yeah,” he says. “What’s going on? Didn’t expect to hear from anyone so soon.”
“The house blew up. Five guys went in and the fucking house blew up. The driver tore off. No idea if he knew it was happening or just got lucky.”
“Fuck. Seriously? Sounds like a hit.”
“Absolutely. I’m sure Whisper or Wraith got intel on the car plates, but other than that, I don’t know what we have.”
“There better not have been any kids in there,” Shadow growls.
“It didn’t look like it. It was quiet before the men got there. No partying or anything.”
“Hmm. On a Saturday night? Sounds fishy.”
“We thought so too. We’re on our way back.”
Shadow blows out an audible breath. “What’s got me fucked up is that you guys could’ve been caught up in that too. Am I being played?”
“Fuck. I didn’t consider that. Did your contact know we’d be there?”
“No, but they know how we work. I don’t fucking know. I gotta make some calls.”
“Give ’em hell, boss.”
“I will. No worries here at least. Cashmere is fine. He’s playing cards with Bellamy.”
That image lights me up. So domestic. He asked for the night off at my insistence. I knew we were doing this stakeout so I wouldn’t have eyes on him. Jimmy was agreeable enough because of the extra shift he’s doing next week for the private group.
“Thanks, man. See you soon.”
I report to the group chat that Shadow knows the situation.
Ghost: Is he pissed?
Me: What do you think?
We continue the drive, but when we get to the freeway ramp, there’s a small pileup at the end, blocking our path.
Carnage slams his hand on the steering wheel. “Dammit.”
“Go around them.”
He swerves to ride the shoulder, but a man jumps out in front, waving his arms in distress.
“Fuck that,” Carnage mumbles, trying to dodge the guy, but we’re effectively blocked in unless we run the guy over.
I roll my window down. “Get out of the fucking way, man.”
The guy plasters himself over the hood of Carnage’s car, rambling in a foreign language.
“What’s he speaking?”
Carnage shakes his head. “Don’t know. Russian maybe?”
