Page 119 of Reaper Flame

“You need to listen to every word I say very carefully,” I said, talking slowly. “This is the best chance you’ll ever get to bring Hiram down. The man took away your family, the women you loved, hetrickedyou all along. You can help us make this right. Do you understand?”

He nodded, wiping his dripping nose with the back of his dirty sleeve.

“I’m going to ask you nicely one more time,” I said softly. “Tell us what you think you know.”

“It’s too dark for me to be certain,” Giles said. “There is a place out of town. I went there once with Bryce before the wedding day. He thought it’d be somewhere we could base a new operation when we started working with Hiram. He said it’d make a good production factory. It used to be a school or country club, something like that...”

“Do you know where it is?” Zander asked.

“I-I-I-I-I think so.”

Zander held out his cell. He already had a GPS loaded. “Put it in.”

Giles squinted, moving around the map with shaking fingers.

“I can’t be sure,” he said, zooming in. There was nothing labeled on the map. It was a wooded area off the highway, but the map guessed it was an hour away. “It’s around here somewhere.”

“This is your lucky day, Giles,” I said, snatching the phone from him and standing up to get away from the smell. “If you’re right about this, we may not have to kill you.”

“Is that lucky?” he replied, slumping back and sinking into a pit of despair.

Most people would pity someone in this state, but we had to remember this was Giles Briarly. The man who had shot an ex-cop, albeit a crooked one, in front of us as a Christmas gift. He was no fucking angel.

Zander looked at Giles with cold indifference. “Don’t burn the place down when we’re gone.”

As soon as we left the bunker, Zander started barking orders.

“We need to move now,” he instructed. We couldn’t sit around twiddling our thumbs. If Giles was correct, we had an advantage. “West, you know what to do.”

West nodded. “I’ll get the car.”

With him behind the wheel, we could slash the estimated arrival time in half.

Vixen waited for us in the club and jumped up. She saw the purposefulness in our faces and movements, jumping to conclusions as West exited hastily. “Giles knows where she is?”

“He’s not sure,” I said carefully, not wanting to get her hopes up, “but it’s a lead.”

“I don’t give a fuck what you say, Zander,” Vixen said. “I’m not sitting this out. If there’s a chance Mieko is with him, I’m coming with you.”

Rocky opened his mouth to argue.

“Don’t you fucking dare say some bullshit about protecting me,” Vixen snapped, turning on him. She jabbed her finger into his chest to emphasize each word. “Or the only person who’s gonna need protection is you. If it was Candy in danger, would you be happy to sit on the sidelines?”

“We don’t have time to argue,” Zander said. “Outside. Now.”

Vixen grinned in victory, already racing out of the door with Rocky in tow. He rubbed the sore spot on his chest and grumbled, “You know that’s going to bruise, right?”

As I followed, Zander grabbed my hand to pull me back.

“Before we leave,” he said, “there’s one more thing I have to give you.”

He pulled a knife out of his suit jacket and held it out for me. I knew its slim profile instantly. The ruby adorned beauty that the Sevens had once gifted me. My secret weapon.

“You kept it.” I breathed, turning it over in my hands. It felt comfortable in my grasp, and I traced my finger over the new ‘Seven’ engraving down its hilt. “Why give it to me now?”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking up at him, misty-eyed. “It’s perfect.”

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