Page 27 of The Fire We Crave

“So, we just walk?” I ask. “That’s the strategy?”

Wraith nods. “It’s the only one we got. But be alert. The intel says this is a hotbed of Bratva.”

Doesn’t look it. Looks like any regular old neighborhood on the outskirts of Denver. My first station house is only two blocks away. “How do we know that?”

“Vex’s old lady, Calista, designed this software,” Atom says. “You put in a picture of a person you want to find, and it sifts through every available piece of digital media and plots the metadata on a map, so you know a pattern for where they were and when. It looks for anyone who is in the photograph, not the subject. The data showed that this neighborhood has been visited by at least eleven of Zakharov’s crew, including Lev, in the last two weeks.”

I keep my eyes peeled, surveying the neighborhood. “Clever.”

Grudge nods. “Yeah. I kinda like the way we’ve got some additional skills growing within the larger club. Even if they are women. The New Jersey chapter has Catalina as a honey trap and assassin. And Vex’s old lady is wicked tech smart. We need to think out of the box more about who to hire. We need a doctor or a surgeon. A permanent addition to the club.”

The conversation continues as we mill around the neighborhood. We take photographs of vehicles and homes they’ve seen in images Calista provided. I feel a little out of the loop and make a point to try to engage and get caught up on club business more.

The sun feels good on my face, but for the first day since summer began, it’s nottoohot. And that’s the first sign that fire season is nearly over.

There isn’t an active fire burning anywhere in the Mountain States.

And if the temperature starts to drop, and perhaps a little more rain drifts in, there won’t be another this year.

Which reminds me, I still haven’t quit. I’m technically on medical leave, but eventually, someone is going to ask when I’m returning to regular duty.

The truth is, I’m at a crossroads. I don’t know what I want to do next. Almost dying will do that for you.

We reach a T-junction. “You wanna take left with me?” Wraith asks.

I nod. “Can do. How about we…?”

There is a reflection in the window of the property across the street. Two men are walking a distance behind us, watching us intently. And when we stopped, I think they did too.

One of them reaches for a phone, and while I can’t make out the weapon, I can see the holster.

“Don’t turn around. We’re being trailed. You can see the men in the reflection of that bakery across the street.”

The store makes me think of Quinn, being alone and assaulted in her place of business late at night. How scared she must have been. And I feel like kicking the shit out of these men, just for causing her that kind of distress.

Grudge glances left and right, as if preparing to cross the street. “Looks less busy if we take the left. Let’s see if we can get them to follow us.”

We turn as one, without looking back.

“There’s a corner store ahead,” Wraith says. “Smoke and I will go stand in front of it, as if the two of you have gone inside.” He glances at Atom and Grudge. “Duck in the alley. Wait for them to come by, and then step out behind them, yeah?”

I like the plan, and there’s a rising vibration in my bones that we’re about to see trouble. And I don’t even care about my burns.

I need this.

I need the release.

I need the stimulation.

I grab Wraith’s elbow. “Let’s go before they turn the corner and see what we’re doing.”

We move quickly, and we’re just catching our breath as the two men turn. We positioned ourselves so we can both see down the street. Wraith leans back against the shop front, one foot up on the wall.

I stand facing the shop door and light a cigarette.

The nicotine hit is just what I need. The rush before…

When a cheetah hunts, sometimes it will just sit for a few minutes, watching its prey, learning how it moves, before it pounces. Wraith and I practice the same kind of patience.

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