Page 140 of Lord Have Mercy Part Four: Big Son

A lifetime ago. Alex had been a completely different person then.

It felt like that, anyway. But he’d been the same person, if a little more repressed. It was why he’d had every reason not to: those blood ties. The bloodtaint. He’d spent his entire adult life fearing that Remy’s blood would drive him to violence, andhe hadn’t merely succumbed, but had submitted willingly. It had always been inevitable.

He was too shattered with exhaustion to feel any sort of way about that. Or to hold his tongue, when he usually did.

“Who was more like him? Remy, I mean. Me? Or Felix?”

Her smile softened further, somehow. “Neither of you.”

“What?”

“Remy was a good man in his own right. He was sweet. But he wasn’t half as brave or strong as either of you.”

“Okay.” He blinked, and nodded, and, when he tried to swallow, found there was a lump in his throat. “Okay, that’s…okay.”

She patted his cheek, stepped back, and peered around his shoulder. “Ah. I think I’ll go on in and check on everyone. Give you two a minute.”

“Us two who?”

She only grinned, and headed for the doors.

Alex turned around just as Duet stepped under cover and pushed back the hood of her FBI-emblazoned raincoat. Her wounded arm moved slowly and jerkily, but she quickly pushed her wince into a smile. She looked tired, but pleased, and, unlike the crew inside, freshly-showered, face clean and mascara tidy, hair pulled back in a low bun.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“How’s everyone inside?”

“Alive. Awake, last I checked. How’s the scene?”

“A fucking disaster,” she said with a sigh, but was still smiling. “It’ll take weeks to sort out who was there and what sorts of illegal ties they had.”

He nodded. “Sounds about right.”

“We took fifteen people into custody, and recovered four bodies from the water.” Her smile stayed in place, but her eyestook on a sharpness, head cocking to the side. “But, interestingly enough, although all the perps we arrested pointed fingers at Agents Boyle and Fallon, neither Boyle nor Fallon have been found yet.”

“Hm. That’s a head-scratcher.”

Her grin widened. “You’re a shit liar.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. His cheeks warmed. “I’m a profiler, not an undercover guy. Lying’s not really in my purview.”

“No.” Her smile slipped, expression going thoughtful. “For someone helping an outlaw, you’ve been pretty honest.”

His face got warmer. “About that. Um. I know I’ve already asked some big favors–”

“But you want one more?” she guessed, brows lifting.

“Just a little one.”

She looked put out for a moment, and then broke, smiling again, small and close-mouthed this time, eyes sparking with an amusement he didn’t quite understand. “Alex, I wouldn’t have gone this far if I wasn’t onboard. As far as I’m concerned, none of this ever happened.”

“Noneof it?”

“I’ve already called my supervisor and told her that, in the course of our investigation into the Grendel murders, my partner and I were able to recover the kidnapped Remy Lécuyer, but, unfortunately, Boyle and Fallon managed to escape. We’ll be returning the boy to his grateful family.”

“I…wow. Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

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