Page 58 of How Much for the Whole Night?

Who from? Who was higher than Mitchell? This had to be cartel level, right? What was I supposed to say to his statement about the points?Nothing. That was probably a good start.

I turned the drive over in my hands. “What’s this?” I asked.

“Change the subject much?”

“Forgive me if I don’t want to talk about the people I’ve killed,” I deadpanned.

We stared at each other, and there was a tension there, but then he relaxed and gestured at the thumb drive. “It’s a list of things I need, from your FBIfriends.” He grinned again, his eyes lighting up. “You’ll see.”

This conversation was weird, and I swear the way Aubrey Mitchell held onto his gun made me think that I was due a bullet between my eyes. It made me hyper cautious, on edge, and motivated to reach for my weapon if he even so much as twitched.

“Like I said, I’ll look at it, but the FBI will work the missing persons case on Danvers.”

He shrugged. “Maybe if they find the body they can stop looking,” He leaned in, his expression more threatening. “Then you concentrate on getting me what I fucking need.”

“You pay me to look out for you with the feds, and I’m telling you, now is the wrong time to—”

Mitchell stood so suddenly it startled me and my hand went to my weapon.

But he was holstering his Sig and crossing to the door. “Get the fuck out of here, Ethan—federal agent—Myers. Do what you need to do and do it right. Or I’ll fucking hunt you down.”

I waited until he’d left, the two armed men following, then went to the door, stepping through rubble until I hit a familiar street—we were back in Charleston—andfuck’s sake,we’d been so close to a cop precinct I could have shouted, and they’d have heard me. Mitchell was playing a dangerous game taking things this close to the law—so much for being the dead-eyed psychopath. He enjoyed taking things to the edge, and that was something I’d be adding to my profile. I reached the sidewalk and headed right—away from the cops—expecting a bullet from some random sniper, or Mitchell, every second I took. There was a Starbucks four blocks down, and I took a convoluted walk around some of the back alleys and through stores until I got to my destination.

I took my coffee and sat in the back corner, eyes on all exits, and only started a little when a server came over to clear the table.

“I have a message for you, sir.” I glanced up at the young kid as he cleared his throat and read from his pad. “Kayden says Starbucks is shit. And it’s probably best to head on home now.” He blinked at the message and then me. “Also there’s a ps.”

“Go on.”

“The silver Ford is two blocks down. South.”

I smiled at him. “Cool.”

“Does that mean anything to you?”

“It means Kayden is an ass—I love Starbucks as much as you do.”

“Ihaveto love it,” the kid deadpanned, and then went back to the counter.

So much for Sanctuary knowing where I was and not picking me up. I knew in my bones they couldn’t, but I wanted to get out of the city, I wanted to see Josh.

“Thank you,” I murmured, downed my cooling coffee, left a tip, and went to find the Ford. The doors were unlocked, the keys in the ignition, and I saw a glimpse of a tall figure striding away.

Now what?

Ignoring the request from Kayden to go home, where I assume a Sanctuary operative was ready to extract me, I headed west. I was going to Tennessee and to the Ellery safe house using the most convoluted route I could, and knowing I would stop somewhere away from the property. The radio was on a soft rock station full of adverts, and I was so damn tired it could have lulled me to sleep, but a name in a breaking news bulletin had me turning up the dial.

“… in a statement, the team for State Representative Rouxier has stated unequivocally that the suggestion he withheld the source of certain donations, is a fabrication to undermine his bid for the Senate. More to follow in our next bulletin.”

I pulled over at the next rest stop, my head spinning, and checked my news app—Rouxier had been arrested for a long list of things—fraud, tax evasion, but there was nothing on there about human trafficking. I had to hope that Sanctuary was all over that.

I should go back to the city, get to a laptop, and find out what was on this thumb drive, debrief...

But, fuck that shit.

I needed one day. I was done, and I needed to see Josh, Ben, and Oreo now.

Before anything else.

---