Page 69 of Savage Rule

Me: 998 Safe. Did the building survive the fire?

“What did you do?” Gunn snatches it out of my hand.

“We have to know.”

“No, we do—” He stops when the phone buzzes again, and we both turn to the screen.

Gideon: Destroyed.

Gideon: This wasn’t you?

“Let me reply.” I attempt to take my cell back.

Gunn quickly evades my grasp and pulls it out of reach. “He’s going to trace the call.”

“If he could, he would have already found us.” I retort. “This phone isn’t traceable.”

“The alliance was able to figure out where you were because of that phone.”

“They found out because of a message they read on Maisie’s, not because they traced mine. Trust me, it’s invisible.” I try again, and this time he lets me grab it. “Thank you.”

“What are you going to do?” He peeks over my shoulder as I type out a message.

“I’m going to gamble with our lives. You don’t mind, do you?” I grin at him.

“This old thing? I wouldn’t miss it.” The sarcastic tone in his voice is laced with real humor that makes me laugh.

But I sober quickly and cup his cheek. “I think you were originally right. Running would be a mistake. Having both the Sinacores and Gideon on our asses would only be fun for a short while.”

“Yeah, it would get boring after a week.” He nudges me with his shoulder.

“Yeah,” I agree. I look down at my phone and hit thesendbutton.

Me: I need to come in.

Gideon’s reply is almost immediate.

Gideon: Hades.

“What does that mean?” Gunn asks.

“He’s just told me where he is.”

Hades is a warehouse on Flushing Bay, one with its own marina. It’s not abandoned, though that’s the appearance it gives with the broken windows and graffiti on the brick walls. There’s even a little alter with flowers and a picture of some random guy to give the impression that he died there.

All part of Gideon’s plan to give people the creeps so they don’t loiter.

It’s not abandoned, but it is empty. A shell of a place to be used as needed— for deliveries coming through La Guardia, a trade, or in my case, a meeting point.

Long before Gideon took ownership, Stephen Black used it to illegally ferry his contraband. The authorities seized it after The Ferryman’s death, and it wasn’t until recently that Gideon purchased it at auction. Like buying back a family heirloom, I suppose.

Gunn takes in the place and nods, as if he can believe Gideon would live here. “It goes to him.”

I slap his arm. “It’s not his house.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Yes, you were. I could see it in that smug smile. There he is.” I point to an area beneath a tree. “Pull up farther.”

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