Every muscle in my body locked instantly.
I went absolutely still.
Dangerously still.
The kind of stillness right before violence.
“No,” he said.
Just one word.
But even I felt the threat in it.
Outside, Shepherd’s voice remained calm.
“McDougal.” A pause. “Interesting seeing you again after all these years.”
Flick looked up sharply beside me.
My stomach dropped.
Hell no.
“How do you know him?” she whispered.
Hersh didn’t answer immediately.
And that terrified me more than if he had.
Shepherd answered for him.
“Your boyfriend used to be very difficult to kill.”
The entire barn froze.
Flick stared at me in shock.
Rook swore quietly under his breath.
Wolf looked between them. “Okay, what the hell are we missing here?”
My jaw tightened hard.
“Shepherd ran security for Black Hollow transport routes fifteen years ago.”
Flick looked completely blindsided now.
“You knew about this?”
“No.” His voice sharpened instantly. “I stumbled onto one transport by accident.”
“What happened?”
Hersh’s eyes darkened.
“The girls were already dead.”
Silence crashed through the barn.
