Dad wasn’t protecting me from Hersh anymore.
He was protecting Hersh and me from someone else.
Because if these people had been watching us for years…
then my father realized something horrifying before he died:
The danger attached to Hersh never went away.
And then Wolf found the last photograph.
The room went silent instantly.
Because this one wasn’t old.
It had been taken three days before my father died.
The photo showed:
my father is standing beside his truck?—
talking to a man in a dark suit.
A man whose face was partially turned toward the camera.
But not enough to hide who he was.
Ava’s voice echoed in my head instantly:
“The senator has people everywhere.”
Hersh stared at the photograph.
Then quietly said:
“That’s Senator Mercer’s chief of security.”
38
BLAZE
The room felt ice-cold suddenly.
Rain hammered through the broken window behind us while Wolf stared at the photograph in silence.
Senator Mercer’s chief of security.
Standing beside Flick’s father three days before he died.
No wonder the old man panicked.
Trigger looked between all of us slowly.
“Well,” he muttered, “that feels extremely illegal.”
Nobody answered.
Because my mind was already moving through possibilities fast.
