Page 195 of Ruin My Life
Damon doesn’t miss a beat. “Before we do any takedowns, we need a plan.”
His voice is firm, steady—the kind of calm that demands focus. Just like that, he steps back into his role as the man they all trust to lead them into hell.
Lee steps in with a quick rundown that’s similar to what he told Damon over the phone. He’s still monitoring the King’s Eye server for anomalies, but nothing new has turned up yet. He’s scanned what footage is available from nearby cameras, but as expected, the angles are crap. The neighbourhoods where the women were killed don’t have high-end surveillance.
That’s where I come in.
“R.O.S.E. should be able to help us pull images—maybe not of the attack itself, but definitely of what happened before and after,” I explain. “If we have an exact time and location, it’s simple. Scrub the footage, pull the data. But the less we know going in, the more footage I have to sort through.”
Damon strokes his chin in thought. “What are the odds we get a clear shot of this guy’s face?”
I shrug. “Depends on how smart he is. If he knows what he’s doing, he might’ve avoided the obvious cameras. But if we do get a clean image, I can track him down in no time. It’s just the getting there that’s going to require some patience.”
“No problem,” Damon says, turning to Lee. “You two will stay here and work on that. Lee can get you all the info he can find to feed into R.O.S.E. Once you’ve got something, you can let us know.”
Lee nods without hesitation.
Then Damon glances at Monroe, Chavez, and Connor.
“I’m going to need one of you to stay behind with them and keep watch,” he says. “The Songbirds may still be on the hunt after Xander. I’m not leaving Brie and Lee here without someone on the door.”
Monroe and Chavez exchange a look—both clearly expecting it’ll come down to one of them.
But then Connor surprises us all.
“I’ll stay,” he says.
Everyone—including me—turns to stare at him.
Just a minute ago, he was itching for action. Ready to burn the city down. And now he’s volunteering for the job that might come with the least of it.
There’s something about it that doesn’t sit right with me. But I’m not exactly in a position to question him—not when I’m the reason any of this is happening in the first place.
Connor’s jaw tightens as the silence stretches.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he mutters, rolling his eyes. “I know when it’s my turn to rotate in.”
I catch Damon’s brow twitch slightly, but he nods. “Okay. Connor stays. Monroe and Chavez, you’re with me tomorrow morning.”
“Where are we going?” Chavez asks.
Damon lets out a breath that sounds a little too weighted to be casual. His gaze flicks from Chavez to me, then back again.
“I’m going to meet with Matthias O’Doyle.”
Monroe stiffens. “Are you out of your mind? The man wants you dead.”
“He’s wanted me dead for a long time,” Damon replies calmly. “Fact is, if he’s hurting innocent people, it needs to be stopped. Whether that ends in a conversation or in gunfire—that’s up to him.”
My heart drops like a stone.
A shootout with the head of the entire Songbird network, just to fix something I started?
“You really think he’s going to just... let you waltz in?” I ask, trying to keep the edge of panic out of my voice. “Walking into the Pentagon would be less of a suicide mission.”
Damon shakes his head. “Matthias may be ruthless, but he’s also calculated. If I give him reason to believe this is just a conversation—just information—he’ll let me in.”
“The question is,” Monroe says, arms crossed, “will he let you leave?”
