Page 81 of Loco

I gave him a nod. “Good. Now start making some calls, we need pet carriers. Round up the two dogs and Dog before this place gets any crazier.”

Reid’s eyes scanned the room, unsure. “Dog’s a cat, right? I love animals, but I don’t even see?—”

He was cut off by another one of those bizarre barks, and Reid’s head jerked up, eyes landing on the shelf. When he spotted the cat crouched up there—its ears flattened, mouth slightly open—he blinked, startled.

“What thefuckis that?” he whispered. “Seriously, is it evenpossiblefor cats and dogs to reproduce?”

I clapped him on the shoulder and gave him the kind of look that said I wasn’t joking. “Doesn’t matter, you’re babysitting Roque’s pets now.”

He turned to me, eyebrows raised like I’d just handed him a live grenade. “Or what?”

“Or Roque will kick your ass.”

Reid didn’t argue. Smart man.

Chapter 26

Roque

The road blurred beneath me, miles flying past as the early light of dawn spilled over the horizon in hazy streaks of gold and pink. Under any other circumstances, I might’ve noticed its beauty, but right now, all I could see was red.

My hands gripped the wheel tight, knuckles white, the pressure enough to make the leather creak beneath my palms. Every part of me was wound tight with rage, the kind that threatened to tear through my bones and muscles if I gave it an inch. I wanted to scream, I wanted to pull over and beat the hell out of something, but none of that would bring Sayla and the kids back.

Instead, I buried the screaming beast and kept my eyes on the road as I ran through everything I knew.

Titian—we’d never seen his face clearly, but he’d been behind every dirty thread woven through Palmerstown. All of the drugs, threats, coercion, and murder, with the order for Kaden Roper’s execution, came from him. And now, so had the abduction of Sayla and the kids, that much I was sure of.

I should’ve gone after him sooner, we all should have. But he’d been a ghost—no digital trail, confirmed name, or public identity.

My phone buzzed against the dash, the screen lighting up with a name I hadn’t expected to see, especially not at this hour—Ned Dahl.

I answered without slowing down. “Dahl.”

“Morning,” Ned said, voice calm but alert, like someone who hadn’t slept much either. “Sorry to call so early, but I think I recognize the guy in that grainy video clip Hurst sent me.”

My jaw tightened. “Go on.”

“I met with the mayor of Palmerstown yesterday,” he continued. “He brought a bodyguard—tall, broad, tight jaw, thick scar near his left ear. Matches the guy in your footage.”

That caught my attention. “You’re sure?”

“Not a hundred percent, but close enough to follow up on. He moved like ex-military, quiet and cold.”

I was already reaching for my comms. “Thanks, sir. I’ll take it from here.”

I ended the call and immediately hit Judd’s number. He answered on the second ring.

“Talk to me,” he said, voice as rough and ready as mine.

“I think we’ve got him. The guy from the footage might be working as security for Palmerstown’s mayor. Ned just saw him yesterday.”

Judd let out a breath through his teeth. “That makes sense. I’ve been going through what we found at Topper’s, and it links back to the mayor’s office—shell companies, payments hidden in infrastructure budgets. All of it quietly approved.”

“Titian’s got protection,” I mused.

“Or heisthe protection.” There was a beat of silence, and then Judd added, “We need to meet, there’s more. I’ll bring everything with me.”

“Where?”

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