Page 76 of The Reaper

Watching El Jefe from my sideview mirror, he became smaller and smaller until he was gone. Till we meet again.

We drove in silence as fields of green flashed by. I dialed Zero’s number and pressed the speaker while it rang.

“El Jefe stayed, didn’t he?” Zero asked.

“Yes.” My heart felt like it was being shredded into pieces. “Are they behind us?”

“No one is following you. Every phone has become stationary on my screen.”

“El Jefe?” I held my breath.

“His phone hasn’t moved either,” she said. “I’m sorry, man.”

“How are my grandparents?”

“They’re in great hands. They’ll be okay.”

“Thank you, Zero. I’ll call you later.”

Heath reached for my hand and placed it on his lap. “I’m sorry about El Jefe,” he said. “He loved you very much, and there is no better way to show you but to risk his own life to save yours.”

“He saved us all,” Tobias said from the back. I glanced to check on his leg. A black leather belt was now wrapped around his thigh, acting as a tourniquet.

“How’re you doing?” I asked.

“I’ll live,” Tobias answered.

“Where is that list, Heath?” Andrew asked from the back.

“My pocket.” His attention never left the road.

My curiosity piqued. “What list?”

“The list of innocent people who fell victim under The Firm.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “You’ve had it this whole time?”

“I didn’t know it until today,” Heath said, glancing in the rear-view mirror to look at Andrew.

“I sent it to Heath because it was safer with him than me,” Andrew said. “The Firm sent assassins to take me out after they found out I had a copy of the list.”

“We’d been trying to get that list for months,” Tobias added.

“Why do you need it?” Andrew asked.

“We are going to expose The Firm,” I said. I shifted in my seat to face Andrew. “That’s why your brother was sent to kill me. Because The Firm found out about my plan.”

“Holy shit.” Andrew whistled. “How?”

“Marilyn Ellis.”

“The badass reporter?” Heath asked. He pulled a USB drive out of his pocket and handed it to me.

“Yes,” Tobias said.

“This changes everything.” I stared at the USB. Finally, the break we desperately needed.

“It has all of the names,” Andrew said. “Including Senator Evans.”

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