Page 104 of Agony

“How did Ryan escape from Blue?”

“That part is unclear and Ryan never was a talker. What I do recall was that he was talking to some guy named Crow, so maybe that’s who did this.” Fisher ran a hand down his face.

“Maybe,” Justice murmured.

When the living room floorboard creaked, Justice shut off his penlight and put a finger to his lips.

He lifted his silencer in his cupped hands and brought it to eye level and stepped out into the hallway with Fisher at his six.

Whoever had entered was hella quiet.

Maybe another assassin?

Damn it.

“Justice?”

“Shit,” he breathed when Steel called his name. “It’s Steel,” he told Fisher and lowered his gun.

His friend stepped into the hallway.

“Next time, text me,” Justice growled.

“Oops.” Steel reached him and Fisher. “I’m Steel.”

“Fisher.”

With the pleasantries over, Justice gestured to the bedroom, and Steel stopped at the doorway, giving a heavy sigh. The man shook his head and then crouched down next to the chalk outline.

“How’d you find out about this?” Justice asked.

“Dave called Real,” Steel said, standing and checking the contents on the dresser.

“So, this was a hit,” Fisher said, his voice tight as he walked back into the room.

“Hell if I know,” Steel said. “But Real did say there’s some outliers roaming around.”

Fisher squinted at Steel. “What kind of outliers are you talking about? The ones that did this?”

“Apparently.”

“What aren’t you telling us?” Justice narrowed his lids to slits, trying to decipher his friend’s expression.

“This was probably done by one of Solomon’s boys.” Steel pointed at the chalk marks.

“No fucking way,” Fisher snapped.

“Yes fucking way,” Steel murmured.

“The boys trained by Solomon fucking Mercy? No,” Justice added and placed a hand on Fisher’s arm before he could clock Steel.

“Same signature,” Steel pointed out. The man moved over to crouch next to the chalk mark. “I read the police report. One bullet center of the forehead, point blank. This was a hit.”

It figured Steel would have those kinds of connections; the man was former CIA after the military.

“But why blame those boys? Genesis uses the same signature, center of the forehead,” Justice pointed out.

Steel snorted. “From the police report, it was a nine-millimeter. We don’t use those, but some of Solomon’s boys do.”

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