Page 55 of Edge of Control

Ah, shit. He must have smelled my breath. “Things haven’t been too hot on my end, either. But I can’t compare or complain. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will. So will I.” He put a handon my shoulder and smiled. He had a few sun splotches coloring his tan face. His salt-and-pepper hair was thinning near the front. An expensive Hermès bracelet shone on his wrist, covering a few more bruises.

“Come over sometime this week. Let’s have some wine and cheese.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, Billie.”

He squeezed my shoulder. Or at least attempted to. His strength was clearly waning.

I said goodbye to him and got back inside my apartment. Luke had retreated to his cat cave next to the couch, where he had a spectacular view of the sun rising over Central Park.

My phone buzzed across the coffee table. It was my burner phone. Must have been the fourth person I was targeting. The fourth on my list. I was getting closer and closer to the top. To the person responsible. With every person I encountered, I was able to drain out a few more drops of crucial information. I knew the name of the ring, I knew some of the top players, I knew who they targeted and why.

I just needed to know who the head of the snake was. Then, I could chop it in two.

I unlocked the phone. Read the message.

“I know what you’re doing, Nevermore. I’m onto you. If you think you’re smarter than me, then you’re very mistaken. It’s too late to stop. Now good luck surviving.”

Well… shit. That wasn’t good.

Another text buzzed into my actual phone.

JACE: Want to hang tonight? Just chill?

THEO: Yeah I need some air. Let’s go somewhere high.

Chapter 21

Jace Holloway

It was supposedto be a quiet night. I’d planned on reviewing a stack of case files, maybe ordering that greasy takeout that always made me feel half-dead the next morning. Instead, I found myself on Theo’s doorstep, my pulse banging in my ears.

I don’t know exactly why, but I had the urge to text him, and I had really hoped he answered.

Which he did.

He responded to me with a simple request: I need air. Let’s go somewhere high.

Normally, I’d fire back a question—why, what’s going on?—but a gut feeling told me he needed this more than he was willing to say. He wasn’t one to spell out all the details, but I felt like something was going on with him. Something that gave him those sleepless, haunted eyes.

So here I was, outside his apartment door, telling myself not to overthink it. When he answered, I saw that flicker of relief on his face, the same flicker I felt in my chest. He didn’t smile widely—Theo rarely did—but the corners of his mouth lifted just enough. A silent thank-you.

It was a smile I was really growing to like.

“You ready?” I asked, trying to keep it casual.

“Yeah,” he said, grabbing a dark hoodie off the couch. “Let’s head up.”

I followed him down the hallway to the elevator. It was a much smoother ride than the elevator back at my place. We rode it in near silence as we reached the top level, then took a creaky metal staircase that led to the rooftop. A big red sign warned us about authorized personnel only.

I wasn’t supposed to ignore signs like that. But tonight, I guess we both felt like bending the rules.

As soon as we pushed the door open, the city’s nighttime breeze rushed around us. It smelled like recent rain, exhaust fumes, and something similar to freedom. Fresh and open. Much less stinky than the trash covered streets down below. The rooftop was dim except for a single floodlight by the door. We could hear the heartbeat of the city below—sirens, engines, random shouts. The sky was a deep navy, the last traces of dusk gone. Stars flickered overhead, but the city lights drowned out most of them.

Theo exhaled. “This’ll do,” he murmured, crossing to the edge. A tall concrete ledge provided a barrier, but it barely reached mid-torso on him. I hovered behind, wanting to be close in case his mind was somewhere else and he accidentally tipped forward. Paranoid? Maybe. But then again paranoia was something that was pretty important in my profession.

“Everything ok?” I asked gently.

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