Gene lifted his gaze.
“The answers aren’t under the city.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
Goldie blinked.
“What does that mean?”she asked.
Gene leaned back in the chair.“It means Hollis built the lie beneath your feet, but he didn’t hide the truth there.”
Twister stepped closer.“Where did he hide it?”
Gene looked past us toward the front window.His face changed.
Not fear.
Not surprise.
Acceptance.
Like he had known this moment was coming since the second he opened the door.
“Gene,” Twister said.
Gene’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“You need to—”
CRACK!
The sound split the room.
For one impossible heartbeat, I thought somebody had slammed a two-by-four against the side of the house.
Then Gene’s head snapped backward and the back of the leather chair exploded with stuffing.
Blood sprayed across the wall behind him and his body folded sideways like every bone had suddenly disappeared.
“DOWN!”Twister roared.
I didn’t think, just moved.My shoulder slammed into Goldie just above her hips, wrapping both arms around her as I drove her toward the hardwood floor.
She let out a startled cry that disappeared beneath the sound of breaking glass.
Another round punched through the front window.
The glass burst inward.
Magnum was already moving and he dove behind the front door frame, drew his pistol, and fired twice toward the rooftops across the street.
“LEFT ROOF!”he barked.
Swift was gone.One second, he stood near the living room.Next, he was sprinting toward the back of the house.
“Hodge!”Twister shouted.
