Page 155 of Fractured Allegiance
I toss the phone on the table and drag a hand through my hair. I move to the bathroom, splash water on my face, then, I leave.
The plan is to hit the market two blocks west, but the market, I make one quick stop.
The apartment the Bureau set me up with still has my duffel. I retrieve it in less than four minutes. Black boots, some clean shirts, one towel, razor, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush – the last of my pistols left stashed here.
No one sees me come or go.
Then I head to the market.
I don’t buy much. Just the things that make it look like I live here:
A French press.
Ground coffee.
Two matte-black mugs.
A six-pack of water.
Eggs. Matches. A pack of gum.
A plain cotton blanket for the couch.
A new set of boxer briefs and one grey tee — for her, even if she never wears them.
It’s not furniture she’ll believe.
It’s the clutter.
The noise of a man pretending not to be alone.
At checkout, I realize I’m nesting like a goddamn boyfriend, which is funny, considering I’m also lying straight to her face.
Because I already found the man who watched her.
And I’m not going to tell her.
Not yet. The mystery isn’t solved—it’s just changed shape. Kellan was the knife. Someone else may have held the handle. And if I tell Lydia the truth now, it puts her closer to the blade.
She’s safer not knowing.
By the time I return, it’s close to ten. I open the window in the living room to change the atmosphere. Set the mugs by the sink. Place the blanket half-folded on the armrest. The lights stay off. This place should glow like it was always dim.
For backup, I reinforce the front door with a wedge bar from my trunk. Then I walk down to the curb and install two cameras of my own: one watching the alley behind the building, the other angled toward the stairwell exit.
Both are hardwired. No Wi-Fi. No signals that can be picked up.
Not Bureau.
Mine.
It takes a full hour.
Then I hit the shower, clean up, brush up and have a change of clothes.
I sit on the edge of the bed in the smaller room to take it all in when my phone buzzes again.
Drazen: Location - Solstice Club. Top floor. Use staff entrance. No delays.
