Page 43 of Queen of Spades

I don’t know where he intends to take us, but I need to stop by my apartment to warn Lyra. Possibly grab some of my clothes and other stuff.

I squeeze Grady’s hand, silently asking for him to support me.

Leaning forward, I spew all of that at Kane. “...she has no idea who I really am, but she’s at risk just because we lived together.”

“Did you catch that?” Kane asks, but it’s clear he’s not talking to me. He pauses, listening to someone’s reply.

“Is that my brother?” I ask, really unsure if I want it to be Ranger or not.

“No,” he says, looking back at me for a second. His face twists into a grimace, and he focuses back on the road. “This is one of those situations where the messenger ends up shot. I’m putting you on the car speakerphone. Go ahead, Merrick. Repeat that for the ones in the back.”

“Jesus Christ,” the guy replies. “Listen, I’ve been trying to figure out how Andretti found you after all this time. At first, I assumed Kane was followed or our communications were compromised, but I’m good. So is Kane. I couldn’t see him being tracked without realizing it. The more I dug, the clearer it became that they knew about you before Kane was even in Vegas. When was the last time you saw your roommate?”

“What?” I gasp, holding on to Grady’s hand for dear life.

“Lyra,” Grady growls, cursing under his breath.

“I don’t think I saw her today,” I admit. “Maybe yesterday or the day before? It’s been a rough night. Everything is kind of blending together.”

“She was in their apartment two nights ago, maybe three,” Grady says. “Yeah, I think it was three nights ago. I only remember because I saw her the next morning, asleep on the couch, when I left.”

“I’m not sure how they found you at this point,” Merrick says through the car speakers. “But I do believe they gained additional information from your roommate. There was a five thousand dollar deposit made to her bank account on Monday afternoon, and another twelve thousand dollars went in on Friday. That’s unusual. It stood out to me immediately. Then there’s the fact that she left your apartment this morning just after ten a.m. and hasn’t been back since. I highly recommend no further contact. Also, toss both your phones.”

“Shit.” Grady shakes his head, digging in his pocket. “Sorry, Anni Girl. He’s right.” He holds out his hand.

“My phone is in my car back at your house,” I admit. “So is my purse. I have literally nothing.”

Holy shit.

The feeling of déjà vu almost takes my breath away.

“I’ll handle getting you both new papers,” the guy says. “I need to know any places that have your current picture on file, besides the DMV. I’m talking if you’ve got a library card and they asked for a photo, I need that information. It’s the only way I can be sure every piece of your current identity is scrubbed.”

“Mine is just my ID and my club security badge,” I say.

“My actual photo is only on file with the club. Even my ID was the real Grady Wells,” Grady says.

I frown.

I’m going to miss calling him Grady. I get that it isn’t his real name, but I think he’ll always be Grady to me.

“Any preferences on names?” Merrick asks.

“Can I keep Grady?” my alpha asks, chuckling. “I feel like people underestimate a Grady, where that never happened with Raiden. How about you, baby? You want to stick with something Ann-based? Or you want to go back to the real you?”

“I’m pretty sure Sparrow is still wanted in connection with Marco Andretti’s death.” The level of detachment I feel about that is unreal.

“Yeah, I’ve cleaned you out of as many records as I can get access to, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend you ever go back to Boston. There’s a benefit to everything being digital nowadays, but I haven’t figured out how to wipe people’s minds yet.” The tech guy laughs at his own joke. “Sparrow is unusual, but you’d probably be fine in another state. Your old DMV photo was wiped last year. I waited until the case went cold and swapped you out for another Penn State freshman?—”

All this information is frying my brain. “Why don’t you choose? I have no preference.”

“Got it,” he replies. “All right, I think we’re clear on the ambush going unnoticed, which is kind of a miracle considering, but not a single 911 call has been placed in reference to that address.”

Grady laughs. “I told you I picked my neighbors well.”

“I won’t dispute that,” Merrick replies. “I could have locationally blocked the system, but that’s kind of a one-time-only pass. Once I use that trick, it’s gone forever, and I’m saving it for a situation that really calls for it.”

My eyes widen.

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