a's

violence, the red mark of my handprint stan

st clenching as he pulled

nd, a heavy hand clamped

from the shadows of the doorway. His grip on

e growled, his voice a low, th

muring among themselves. Their eyes darted from Julian's

diers muttered, his voice pitched just loud enough for Julian to hear. "It i

s grip, glaring at me, his chest ri

cut through the tension. I

t the screen, the murderous fury on his face vanished. H

call and turne

ce echoed from the tiny speaker, s

to handle the decrypted file like you taught me, but it's a

is voice a soothing caress. "I'm on my way. I

back into his pocket. He turned to l

a," he warned, refusing to meet my eyes.

He did not look back at the steel bier hold

at the skin broke, allowing warm blood to well in the creases. The sharp,

d out of the mortuary an hour later, the attendant had

SUV, pulled out my backup phon

ted the photo

ture of a greasy burger and a che

this dive bar just to calm my nerves. He says cheap food tastes bette

in the back of my throat. I leaned over

scotch, and detested anything unpolished. Now, he was lowering his standards,

nd. The last thread of illusion I held

nd dialed the head of

assive laundering fronts and the illicit funding pipelin

vision," I ordered. My voice was steady, as if it belonged to someone else. "Suspend

Boss," the manager

ation system. My eyes were fixed on the sterile white walls until the attendant finally handed a heavy ma

no. I surrounded the cold, white stone with her plush toys-the little stuffed rabbit with

her bedroom, where the air still sm

ng my face into her pink sheets. The phantom sensation of h

ng grief dragged me down

ess, the one with the ridiculous amount of tulle, and she

ssed you!" s

arms. I held her tightly, weeping into he

hands gripped my clothes with terrifying strength, an

creamed in agonizing despair, the

ming, my lungs

standing over m