Page 59 of The Boss
“Tomas.”
On the chair, Rocco groaned. Magnus tipped his head, waiting for a word. One word. Alaric didn’t give ityet.
“Say that again,” Leifsaid.
“Tomas set the bomb,” Alaric said. “Rocco hired him because Tomas was for sale and because he hated you enough to make it cheap. Rocco’s story hasn’t shifted in an hour.”
Leif breathed once. “Where is he?”
“Where is Tomas?” Alaric corrected. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
A beat. Alaric heard a door open on Leif’s end. Footfalls. Someone swearing low. Leif’s voice came back harder. “With Mariah. He took her from the tower. He said he was taking her back to her apartment. That’s all I know.”
Magnus’s gaze cut to Alaric. The big man had blood on his knuckles and calm in his eyes. Waiting.
“How long ago?” Alaric asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” Leif said. “Maybe twenty.”
Alaric’s mind mapped streets, lights, morning traffic, the way the streets choked at the wrong time of day. He saw the way Tomas would drive when he had a clock and a hostage, smooth and quiet and forgettable. He saw angles he didn’tlike.
“You tried her phone?” Alaricsaid.
“She killed it,” Leif said. “To think without me in her head. I’ll deal with that later.”
“Later,” Alaric said.
He let the word sit. He looked at Rocco. The man’s chest moved in small jerks. Fear did that when a body had run out of other options. Alaric held the phone away from his mouth. “Magnus,” he said. “Tomas.”
Magnus leaned in until Rocco could see the cold in his eyes. “Say it again.”
Rocco’s voice came thin. “Tomas took the money. Tomas put the charge. Inever had a man inside the penthouse. He did. He told me what route your security walked and when your sweep missed a cavity in the soffit. He sent photos. He knew how to move around Leif’s schedules. He had keys.”
Magnus straightened and nodded once. He didn’t look satisfied. He never did when a story finished the way he predicted. He just filed the confirmation and reached for the nexttask.
Alaric lifted the phone. “You heard that.”
“I heard it,” Leif said. “I’m on my way.”
“You’re not alone,” Alaric said. “I’ll take south. Magnus will take west. Titus, Zane, and Cade are inbound?”
“They will be,” Leif said. “I’m done asking. They’re closest to her apartment.”
“Good,” Alaric said.
There was a short sound on the line then, aharsh exhale that could’ve been a curse or a prayer. Alaric didn’t ask. He understood the shape of it. The Brand would be pulling like a hooked wire. When it pulled that hard, it meant one thing. Time had turned predatory.
“Leif,” Alaric said.
“What?”
“Are you steady?”
“I’m not the one bleeding,” Leif said. “Move.”
The line went dead. Alaric slid the phone into his pocket and turned to Magnus.
“Leif sent her with him,” Magnus said. No judgment in it. Just a fact that needed correction.
