Page 58 of A Bloom in Winter

“One . . . two . . .” He nodded at the brother and they both plugged their ears. “Three—”

A sharp, cracking sound echoed all around the cars, and then came theslam!of the steel panel slapping onto the polished concrete floor.

They jogged forward in unison, and Tohr entered the stairwell that was revealed first. It was nothing special, only a short stack of steps that were super deep, and when he bottomed out at their base, he hit the light on his phone because he didn’t know where the switch was.

Talk about your letdowns. Just a ten-by-ten space that was lead-lined concrete, low-ceilinged, and empty.

“I can smell the gunpowder, though,” he said as Qhuinn joined him.

There had definitely been an arsenal stored here recently.

“Look at this wall.” Tohr ran his hand over some scratches in the paint that were chest level. “This was crates on crates.”

Qhuinn nodded. “I definitely think we found his day job.”

“Arms dealer.”

“No wonder the hit was professional. Buyers and sellers of that shit have connections in all kinds of bang-bang places.”

Tohr did the math out loud. “No office. No work associates. No one in the house except for a maid, a cook who never used the kitchen, and a chauffeur who’s polishing bumpers in here instead of taking his boss anywhere.” He looked at the set of concrete steps. “But why did he let the maid see that U-Haul backed up outside on the lawn?”

Qhuinn’s mismatched stare narrowed. “She was lucky Broadius didn’t know what she caught him doing.”

Thinking back to the sweet older female, Tohr nodded. “Yup. And as for the murderer’s motive? Broadius must have tried to muscle the wrong person.”

As they went back for the steps, Tohr imagined the space filled with the kinds of wooden crates V kept in their own armory at the Wheel, the long ones stamped with black paint, their origins from all different countries depending on what kind of weapon had been purchased in bulk. And it was the same with the bullets, although those tended to come in heavy cardboard lots.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he said in a low tone.

Qhuinn, who took the lead on the ascent, glanced over his shoulder. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you.”

“I mean . . .” He met the brother’s stare. “I got a reaaaally bad feeling about this.”

CHAPTER TWENTY–ONE

Well, weren’t they a great twosome, Mahrci thought a mere fifteen minutes later.

As Hemmy pulled their cart of groceries up to the self-checkout lane, she was impressed. They’d managed to fill the thing with an almost military approach to the store, splitting up to cover lanes, with quick agreement on choices—

She glanced at her watch again. “Surely this has to be some kind of record?”

He started swiping barcodes over the scanner like he was being timed. “Efficiency is everything. And we make a great team.”

“I was just thinking that.”

His eyes shifted to her quick, and then he grabbed a bag of Tater Tots. “If there’s ever a supermarket shop race, we are entering.”

The words were casual, but falsely so. Underneath them, the same tension that had made her blabber too much about absolutely nothing on the way here was simmering. And God, she wanted to tell him everything, she really did. But the more time she spent with him, the more she wanted only good things for him. Safe things . . .

Not the kind of stuff she was bringing with her.

“I wish I’d met you a year ago,” she whispered.

As he froze in mid-scan of the hamburger they were going to use to make the sauce, she hadn’t intended for him to hear what she’d said.

Hemmy straightened. “Why’s that.”

Taking a deep breath, she glanced over the other checkout lanes, all of which were empty. The slots were separated by candy displays, stacks of magazines no one read anymore, and soda refrigerators that were Coke branded. So normal. So regular.

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