Page 120 of Dash

“Ah, ah, ah,” he clucked. “Move and your brain explodes.”

“Shaw?” Had I heard him wrong? “What the hell, bro?”

“You and I aren’t bros, bro.”

“Let’s talk this out. Shall we?” Looking mighty pleased with himself, Arthur eased his hand away from Thena’s mouth, leaving behind an imprint of his paw on her delicate skin.

It only added to my fury. Despite Shaw’s Beretta, my hands tightened around my gun.

“I tried to tell you,” Thena heaved, her eyes liquid.

“It’s okay,” I said in an effort to keep her calm.

“It’s not okay.” A tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek.

“Shut up.” Arthur rapped her in the head.

My finger twitched over the trigger. “If you do that again—”

“You’re in no position to make threats,” Arthur said, and the asshole wasn’t wrong. “If you shoot, I shoot, and she dies. There’s no way she survives.”

“Neither will you.” Shaw dug his Beretta into my skin. “So put your fucking hands in the air and give me your fucking gun.”

“Easy, Shaw,” I rumbled. “You’re as jumpy as a bunnywith the hiccups.”

“Fuck this.” Shaw looked over my shoulder at Arthur. “Let me kill him now.”

“We follow the plan.” Arthur returned his attention to me and shoved his weapon in Thena’s ear, making her gasp. “Will you risk her life to keep your weapon for a few more seconds?”

I wouldn’t, and the fucker knew it all too well.

Moving slowly, I raised my hands in the air, but I kept a hold on my Glock and my finger on the trigger.

“Shaw?” I mumbled. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Earning my keep.”

“You’re batting for the wrong team.”

“I doubt it.”

“You know I’m gonna kill you for this,” I offered evenly. “Right?”

“You can try.” He shifted on his feet.

“You can’t blame the guy for wanting to play in the big leagues,” Arthur volunteered in a didactic tone that drove me batshit insane. “He had some gambling debts coming due and got a better offer. Now, drop your gun or say goodbye to Thena.”

She clamped down on her lip and shook her head, silently saying no. Tears bulged in her eyes. I couldn’t believe this clusterfuck. Thena was at the mercy of our foes, but only because one of my own had turned against me. We’d been betrayed. Betrayed!

By one of Nix’s best operators.

We’d known about Shaw’s gambling debts. They came up when Mina did his background check. He’d told us he’d gotten into trouble when he got depressed after Nix died. He promised to pay them off with his earnings from the work he did for Tracker Team. I’d wanted to help Nix’s crew, so I’d employed him. Turned out he’d lied to us.

It sucked that Shaw had gone to the dark side. He’dknown a lot about my strategy, intel he’d no doubt shared with Arthur. Then there was the fact that Thena and I were still alive.

What the hell was that about?

Arthur needed shit from us. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I had to make the most of that.

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