Page 63 of Fallout

She bit her lip.

“The text come through yet?” Violet shifted in her seat to face Destiny, who had buckled in behind Peter.

She looked at her phone. “Sorry.”

Violet reached back and patted her knee. “It’s all good. We deal with stress in our own way, and you have a baby to think about. I guess I was always meant to be a doctor because when I get anxious, I bark orders at people.”

Destiny smiled at her nearly sister-in-law because Clare had mentioned encouraging Violet to go back to medical school. “I still think I freeze. So maybe I need someone to tell me what to do.” They shared a smile.

Violet said, “You’ve got so much heart. You’re the one that will make sure no one is alone or slips through the cracks. I might have everyone organized, but you care deeply. It got crushed, so it probably feels like caring would be too hard right now. But your soft heart will recover, and Vanguard will have someone to take care of people while the rest of us triage or kick doors in.”

Destiny asked, “Have you thought about being a therapist?”

Violet laughed. “I’d be a better drill sergeant than a therapist, but I know what you mean. They’re still doing those tribunals that I set up at the teen center to resolve problems.”

“You might be a better big sister than me.”

Violet said, “Or the girls need both of us, and it’s balanced.”

“Almost like God knew what He was doing when He brought you to Blake.” Destiny squeezed Violet’s hand. Then she looked at her phone. “Okay, we need to extract the file and put it on a flash drive. Simon will have to confirm we can do that with no damage to our system. Then we’re supposed to do a handoff in the park.”

She called Simon. As soon as he picked up, Destiny said, “Tell me about the house.”

“You aren’t gonna like it, but I’ve got work orders in the company files for reinforced windows, plus high security entrances and exits…”

Destiny frowned. “Why would that be on an electronic record?”

“Because people like to get paid,” Peter said. “And money leaves a paper trail.”

Simon said, “So if they’re inside the house, it’s a fortress.”

“And they can’t get out?” Violet asked. “Is that it?”

“I’ve already alerted the fire department, bomb squad, and rescue squad. If they’re inside, we need to get them out.”

Destiny asked, “And the file? Can we get it on a flash drive?”

“Just tell me when and where.”

Peter said, “I’ll be the one doing the handoff.”

They hadn’t even had that discussion, but it made sense. The caller hadn’t given instructions onwhoshould make the drop.

“I’ll go with you,” Simon said.

Why couldn’t she be any other person than who she was. Then she would have answers. Or a way to fix this. Were Blake, Jasper, and Samantha all right? Would the fire department or the cops be able to get them free? If it cost them the file, what did they care? “We have no way to figure out what that file is, right?”

“Not without April.”

Destiny wasn’t sure the young woman was alive, though she couldn’t be certain enough to be sure either way. Hopefully, she was wrong to assume the worst. “So, we don’t know what it is or why he wants it.”

Peter added, “Or if we’re dealing with the kingpin or even if the caller was April’s father, the contract killer.”

“Neither of those men sound good.” Violet glanced at her.

Destiny said, “The kingpin owns the house. But if the contract killer is connected to him, then maybe they’re working together. Or the kingpin let him use the house to get what he wanted from us.”

By luring police officers into a trap.

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