Page 76 of Killer Heart (The Chaos Crew 3)

Garrison tipped his head toward the crowd and snatched a champagne flute off a passing tray. “Let’s see if we can find out. Nudge us if you see the Hunter.”

I wasn’t sure I’d recognize him at a glance. Maybe if I heard him talking. I’d only seen him with his motorcycle helmet on.

I took a glass of my own and held it in front of me as I made my way into the festivities. I tapped the arm of one younger guy I passed and gave him my best innocent smile.

“Hey,” I said, pitching my voice over the bass of the music. “What’s the big celebration? My date didn’t tell me what’s up, and now he’s gone off somewhere.”

The guy chuckled. “Beats me! I’m just here for the babes and the booze.”

I forced a laugh and moved on. Maybe one of my fellow women would be more helpful.

I fixed my attention on a redhead who moved from one man to another as confidently as if she owned the place and eased over beside her. When she glanced over at me, I motioned to the room around us. “Crazy party, isn’t it? What are we celebrating anyway?”

She shrugged but grinned. “All I know is the boss is very happy about something. That’s good for all of us.” She flicked her hand toward the bar.

There were several men gathered there, but as soon as my gaze settled on them, I could tell which one had to be in charge. There was a guy with his back to me who stood a few inches taller than the others, the artificial light gleaming off his silver-and-blond hair. All the men around him were facing him, jostling like puppies eager to catch their master’s attention.

He pushed himself a little away from the bar, grasping the beer bottle the bartender had passed to him, and my heart skipped a beat.

Those broad shoulders, that posture, and that height—the way he moved… And the blond parts of his hair were the same color as the little girl in the photo, weren’t they?

I was abruptly sure that I was looking at the Hunter, fully revealed. He was “boss” over all these people, not just an investigator in a larger organization?

And he was hosting this celebration now, right after the family he’d been working against for years had fallen… Could he already know what we’d done? How? Or was it just a coincidence and there was some other special occasion?

I glanced over my shoulder toward the guys, who’d followed me from a discrete distance. At my look, they drew in closer around me.

“The older blond guy by the bar,” I said, tilting my head in his direction without looking right at him. “I swear that’s the Hunter. And someone just referred to him as the ‘boss’—that he set up this party.”

Garrison knit his brow, taking in the room again. “If he’s got all these people working under him, it makes even less sense that he couldn’t tackle the Maliks without getting you involved.”

“There’s only one person who can explain that,” I said. “Let’s see if he’ll talk to me properly for once. Or maybe we’ll overhear something useful.”

We moved through the crowd toward the Hunter, who’d turned so that I could make out his profile. He had a craggy face like it was sculpted out of rough granite, with a high forehead and a strong jaw. I etched it into my memory as I pushed my way closer.

Our intentions must have been obvious, because we were only five feet away when another man broke from the Hunter’s side and intercepted us. He held up his narrow hand, his close-set eyes flashing. “Now isn’t the time to petition the boss with your problems. You can wait until tomorrow, whatever it is.”

He spoke with an air of authority—he must have been a close associate of the Hunter’s. But he didn’t seem inclined to answer any questions himself.

I raised my chin, putting on my best appearance of assurance myself. “We’re not petitioning him. He specially invited us, and it’d be rude if we didn’t at least say hello.”

The man snorted. “I know everyone he’d have ‘specially’ invited, and I have no idea who you are. Now scurry along and stop with the bullshit. This isn’t a game of Candyland.”

Behind me, Garrison sucked in a sharp breath. I might not have backed down if his obvious reaction hadn’t worried me. I stepped back from the man who’d interrupted us and turned to face the crew.

Garrison grabbed my wrist before I could say anything and dragged me several steps farther away. The other men followed, looking confused. “What’s going on?” Julius asked in a low voice.

“That Candyland line,” Garrison muttered, his expression tense. “You remember our contact for the household job? He went by the code name Viper? I talked to him a few times after because of their supposedly missing “property,” and I’d swear he used almost the exact same phrase a couple of times. It’s not the kind of thing you hear all the time, either.”

A chill condensed in my gut as a vague memory rose up of the voicemail message he’d played for us one time. I’d been too upset to commit the exact words to memory, but the “Candyland” part did send a tremor of recognition through me.

“The household job,” I repeated. “You think that guy is the same one who hired you to slaughter everyone in the household?”

Garrison inclined his head, his mouth flattening. I glanced back toward the man in question, who was now standing right by the Hunter’s side, his eyes narrowed as he fended off another possible petitioner.

What were the chances of that? The man who’d approached me about investigating my family was also the boss of the man who’d destroyed my captors’ home? And not just that. Like Garrison had said, ‘Viper’ and his people had wanted to get their hands on me too. We’d had every reason to believe they were behind the attacks on us back in the crew’s hometown.

Nausea coiled through my abdomen. This all felt way too wrong.

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