Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“I told you, I have eyes on him and my guys are in position to move in as we speak.”
“He’s in the same damn city as Nix,” I say. “That’s not coincidence. Move the fuck in.”
“There are a couple of ways to play this.” Grim casts a careful glance to the screen where Wallace waits, watches, and listens. If I know Grim, he’s about to tell me some off-the-record-illegal shit.
“Can we trust you, Murrow?” I ask.
“Of course,” Wallace says, his voice tense. “Do whatever you have to. Just protect Lenny. I don’t care if you break every law in the book. She’s my best friend. I just want her safe.”
It would typically irritate me to hear him call her his best friend, but I can’t muster my usual possessiveness. I’m glad she has people in her life as loyal as Wallace—who care about her. Maybe he’s not half bad.
“Tell us,” I say, shifting my attention from Wallace onscreen to Grim by my side.
“We haven’t alerted the authorities,” Grim says.
“Don’t.” My voice is clipped. Curt. “Keene doesn’t get a trial or handcuffs or a jury of his peers. They’ll screw it up. He assassinated my brother, and he tried to kill my girl. No one I love is safe until we end this for good. I want to see his dead body.”
Wallace sucks in a sharp breath. “Maxim, I—”
“If you think that asshole gets to see another day after what he’s done to my family and what he’s tried to do to Lennix,” I say with complete calm, “then hang up the damn phone right now, Murrow. Forget what you’ve heard and don’t ever ask me about this.”
A tight pool of silence follows my words.
“Um, I was going to say,” Wallace tells me from his screen, “that I agree. We need confirmation of death.”
I nod, feeling a new respect for the man Lennix counts as one of her closest friends. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Except you also need plausible deniability,” Grim says. “If there’s ever any blowback from this, it can’t come back around to the president of the United States.”
“What makes you so sure I will be?”
Grim gives me the knowing look he’s been working on for a decade. “You win everything eventually. Why would the presidency be any different?”
“An election is a little more complicated than a company takeover.” I pause, knowing both men will disagree with what I have to say. “I need to see it happen.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Wallace says.
“Should I define ‘plausible deniability’ for you?” Grim scowls. “It’s too risky.”
“You think I don’t know that? But I have to see this all the way through. You’re sure about these eyes you got on him, Grim?”
“Of course. I’ve got a feed to the very spot where he’s hiding out. He moves, we see it.”
“If he moves,” I say, “kill him, but I’m still coming. I won’t do it, but I need to see it, if I can.” I clear my throat because the hot emotion there won’t allow me to speak otherwise. “I owe my brother that.”
Both men fall silent, and for a moment I think they’ll disagree, but Grim nods, his narrowed eyes promising me the vengeance I crave but can’t execute myself.
“Wallace, we need to go,” Grim says, sighing and running a hand over the back of his neck. “I guess we have a flight to catch.”
* * *
The man in the belly of the abandoned building doesn’t strike you as a psychopath at first glance. He has a hot plate going, the aroma of bacon rising and filling the small space. He doesn’t even flinch when a mouse scampers over his bare foot. His purple hair grows in a chaos of curls, but the roots are golden blond.
He seems simply eccentric until you notice the bomb in the corner. There are no flashing red lights or beeping sounds yet. No, he’ll set those up when he goes to the Oklahoma State Capitol building up the street later today, according to Chauncey.
“Where’s your mask?” I ask.
Gregory Keene whirls away from his bacon to face me. Immediately, a welcoming smile blossoms on his handsome face with its square jaw and blue eyes. “Maxim, you scared me.”
“Sorry about that.” I wave the gun I have trained on him in the direction of a stack of boxes a few feet away. “Have a seat.”
“I actually have a very full day planned.” Gregory nods toward the bomb in the corner. “As you can see.”
“This won’t take long. I promise.”
“I’ve been meaning to call you,” he says, settling on the boxes. “I’ve seen you on the campaign trail, and you might actually have a shot at winning this thing.”
“Thank you for your expert assessment.”
“I particularly like your take on health care. Innovative.”
“Well, we both know how broken the system is. I really am sorry about what happened to your mother,” I tell him. “No one should be abandoned and given up on that way.”