Page 75 of Faron
That made me pause.
If Caleb was just one cog in the machine, and that girl saw something bigger…
Then this wasn’t about revenge anymore.
This was aboutexposure.
“I need to find her,” I said. “I don’t care how long it takes.”
Tag nodded, his smirk fading. “You got it. I’ll scrub facial recognition databases. Hospital records. Runaways. Trafficking reports from that year.”
I blinked. “You think she was trafficked?”
“I think she washidingbarefoot in a warehouse full of blood money and secrets. Yeah, I think it’s possible.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “If she’s alive, she’s the only witness left.”
“And if she’s not…”
“Then I find out why.”
I pulled out the photo I took of the graffiti and set it on the desk between us.
“I saw what you did.”
Tag studied it. “That a threat?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s a survivor.”
He looked at me. “You sure you’re okay doing this?”
I hesitated. Then: “I thought I killed a man. Turns out, he lived. Now someone’s hunting me, and I might’ve left a girl to die. So no—I’m not okay. But Iamready.”
Tag leaned forward, voice low. “You want backup?”
“I want justice.”
He smiled grimly. “Then let’s burn the whole thing down.”
70
Blue
The kid on the table couldn’t have been older than twelve.
Gunshot wound, through-and-through, upper arm. Probably gang-related, judging by the way he refused to name names and kept flinching every time I touched him.
I didn’t flinch back.
“You’re lucky it missed the artery,” I said, snipping the thread and tying the last suture. “Next time, maybe don’t hang out with people who use bullets to solve arguments.”
His eyes narrowed. “Ain’t got a next time.”
I paused. Met his gaze. “Yeah, you do. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be here.”
He didn’t answer. Just looked away.
I handed him a Gatorade and watched him limp out with his cousin, both of them giving Faron a wide berth in the waiting room.
