Page 54 of My Knight

“And Stretch?” Leo asked next, eyes narrowing.

The name alone had the whole room stiffening.

“It’s been a couple weeks since any of us saw him,” Dice answered, his voice sharp, guarded.

Leo nodded. “And you’re sure he’s gone rogue and not dead?”

It was a fair question. One we all hated.

Yarder’s jaw clenched. “We can’t say for sure that he’s alive, but we know he was getting close to Boone and Gibbs. They told us to call him off. That’s the last contact we had.”

Leo and Brynn exchanged another look—quiet, fast, telling.

Dice leaned forward, and his shoulders were tense. “Are you going to be able to help us or not?”

“Dice,” Yarder barked. “Shut the hell up.”

Leo held up a hand, calm and casual. “It’s okay. Brynn and I are all over the board right now. The new info I got this morning threw us for a loop.”

“What kind of loop?” Compass asked. “Maybe we can help figure it out.”

Brynn sighed and sat forward again. “We’ve had eyes on Boone and Gibbs for the past week. We knew who they were before you called us, but we didn’t know what they were really doing or who they had with them.”

“Okay,” Yarder nodded slowly.

Leo picked up where she left off. “Our intel’s been boring, honestly. Same people, same routine. Their circle’s tight, doesn’t change.”

“At least it hadn’t changed,” Brynn interrupted and folded her arms across her chest.

“What was the change?” Aero asked from down the table.

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. A few quick swipes, and he passed it to Yarder.

The second Yarder looked at the screen, his whole body went stiff.

“Stretch,” he growled.

Every single head at the table snapped toward Yarder.

He turned the screen so Compass could see. Compass gave a slow nod. “That’s the numb nuts himself.”

Dice’s knuckles went white as he gripped the edge of the table. “Can someone clue the rest of us in on what the hell is going on?”

Leo tucked his phone back into his pocket. “My intel is telling me that Stretch has flipped.”

I blinked. “Flipped?” I echoed. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“He’s working with Boone and Gibbs,” Brynn said flatly.

The room imploded.

“What the fuck?” Dice shot to his feet. “There’s no fucking way.”

Yarder didn’t argue. He just shook his head and looked more pissed than surprised. “The picture says differently. He’s standing next to Boone.”

Dice was shaking his head like he could undo the words. “Then he’s fooling him. That’s the only explanation. He wanted them dead as much as we all do.”

“I hear you, man,” Compass said gently. “But…”

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