KANE
THE BEGINNINGS OF A COMMOTION GREETEDKANE AS HE MADEhis way back downstairs. It was coming from outside—a series of muffled yells followed by a curse growled in a voice that he recognized as Fletcher’s.
Panic speared through him, white-hot and urgent. It shattered the complicated haze of emotion his conversation with Zaria had unearthed. He lunged for the door, not bothering to don his coat or shoes. Cool wind buffeted his face as he swung his head from one side to the other, eyes slitted against the night, desperately seeking some sign of his friend.
A figure appeared around the side of the building, dragging a second, smaller one along behind it. Kane would have known Fletcher’s outline anywhere. Relief and worry tangled in his chest as he sprinted toward the duo—Fletcher was upright, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t injured—and the latter dissipated as his friend shot him awry grin. There was a bruise high on his cheek, bisected by the old scar there, but otherwise he appeared unharmed.
“Caught one of our Peeping Toms. You’re not gonna believe this.”
Kane frowned, and only then did his attention slide to the man Fletcher had hold of. Broad shoulders, light brown skin, and a handsome face in spite of the clearly broken nose and bloodied lip. Recognition shot through him, but he couldn’t make the pieces fit together. “Anil?”
Anil Sahni gave an apprehensive twist of his mouth. Another of Ward’s men, he had always been someone Kane had rather liked, if only because he could be counted on to say very little. True to form, the man uttered not a word as Kane’s gaze flicked back to Fletcher. “What is this?”
Fletcher’s hair was sweaty, his cheek already beginning to swell, but he looked pleased with himself. “Caught him a couple of streets over, still wearing that stupid mask. We had a bit of a skirmish. Nothing serious. I told him he could answer to you.”
“You’re sure he was the one outside the window?”
“Positive. He wasn’t alone either, but the other guy got away.”
Kane tracked a semicircle around Anil and Fletcher, head spinning. As far as he knew, Anil’s loyalty was exclusively to Ward. He might have thought the man’s spying unrelated to the attempts on Zaria’s life, except that he’dseenAnil there, he realized with a jolt of certainty.
“You were in the church,” Kane said, adopting the voice he used when he wanted someone to fear him. “You were the one I shot. I’m guessing that’s why you didn’t put up much of a fight tonight.”
Understanding lit Fletcher’s face, but he said nothing. Neither did Anil. Kane sighed, toeing the ground with his shoeless foot. “Who’re you working for, Sahni?”
Anil tried to twist away from Fletcher, pain contorting his features. A moment later he wilted, going still. His dark eyes were guarded when they met Kane’s. “You already know the answer to that.”
“I sure as hell don’t. You’re supposed to be Ward’s man. Are you working for a buyer who goes by the name Vaughan, or is it someone else entirely?”
“Am I supposed to know what the fuck that means?” Anil said. “IamWard’s man. His alone.”
“Then what the hell are you playing at, trying to kill Zaria Mendoza?”
There was a beat during which Anil only stared at Kane, his brows lifted as if waiting for him to understand. And then abruptly, Kane did. His mouth went bone-dry.
“Ward is the one who wants her dead.”
Anil mimed a round of applause. “I don’t know what you’re doing with her, Durante, but he doesn’t like it.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Kane ground out. Ward wanted the necklace. Zaria was helping Kane to steal the necklace. Sure, Ward had instructed him to tell no one but Fletcher about the assignment, but the kingpin had to see why Zaria was an asset. She certainly wasn’t a threat.
Anil shrugged, the motion made awkward due to Fletcher’s grip on his left arm. “I just do what I’m told.”
“Which was what, exactly?”
“Get rid of the Mendoza girl and not say a word to you. Problem is, you keep getting in the way.”
Fletcher tightened his grip on Anil, not seeming to notice the man’s wince. “There’s no reason for Ward to want Zaria dead.”
Kane didn’t doubt he and Fletcher were shuffling through thesame questions in their minds.Noneof this made sense. Why hadn’t Ward said anything? How many others knew about it? Kane was sure it was what the rest of the men always dreamed of—that someday Ward’s favorite boy, the one they both loathed and feared, would fall out of favor with the kingpin.
“Who else is in on this?” he demanded of Anil.
“Abe was spearheading it, but you killed him. Charlie Horowitz. Joey Egelton.”
Kane couldn’t conceal his surprise. Abe Walker was a nasty piece of work. Now that he looked back on it, the man he’d shothadsounded like Abe. It had been dark, the man’s face mostly covered, but Kane ought to have recognized his voice. A pity he’d killed Abe without getting to enjoy it. Charlie, though, was a strange choice for the job. The guy was unerringly clever but not one for violence. And Joey Egelton was all of thirteen. “You truly have no idea why Ward gave you this assignment?”
Anil gave a rapid shake of his head. “You think I’m dumb enough to question him? He’s annoyed with me as it is. That woman in the church wasn’t supposed to be the one to die.”
