Page 26 of Dead O’Clock

“Yes.”

“What about the outcome? Is Rhodes going to win?”

Ten nibbled his bottom lip. His eyes shined with unshed tears. “I don’t know. I can’t see the outcome. Maybe Everly will have a better idea, but I don’t want her to see-”

“You don’t want her to see my dead body either in person or with her gift,” Ronan concluded.

“Right,” Ten agreed.

Ronan felt as if his heart were about to shatter into a million pieces and not because his life was in danger. If, God forbid, anything did happen to him, Ten, Everly, and Ezra would be left to pick up the pieces. The only goal Ronan had in his life was to protect his family and he was failing miserably at the moment. “Okay, everyone. Let’s take a ten minute break and then we’re going to find this fucker and make sure he can’t hurt anyone else.”

Getting up from the table, Ronan headed for the bathroom where he splashed water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. Now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for himself. Now was the time for action. He was going to find Damien Rhodes and fucking end him before he could come anywhere near his family.

12

Tennyson

Ten and the rest of the cold case team spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find Damien Rhodes. He wasn’t registered at any hotels in a three town radius, and his name wasn’t listed on any landlord/tenant agreements. They’d left the office to come home, have dinner and figure out how to save Michael Miller before his doorbell rang at midnight.

Fitz came by with dinner. He brought pizza, tacos, crab Rangoon, pork dumplings, and pork fried rice. All of Ronan’s favorites. He and Cope settled the kids in the living room with their plates, leaving the adults alone in the kitchen.

After careful consideration, Ten grabbed a slice of sausage pizza and all the Rangoon that would fit on his plate.

“We’ve got six hours to save Michael Miller,” Jude said. “Has he called or texted you, Ronan?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything from him.” Ronan turned to Ten. “Is he going to call me? Should we go over there and kidnap him?”

“He’s not going to call you,” Ten said, before biting into his pizza.

“We can’t kidnap Miller either,” Fitz said, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t replace him.”

“What do you mean?” Ronan asked.

“Knowing Miller, he’s still at the office. All we need to do is dress one of us up like Miller and have him go home instead of the real deal.”

“Jesus, Fitz, this sounds like some kind of hair-brained I Love Lucy episode.” Jude shook his head.

“Rhodes knew the two of you were watching Jones’s house. It’s why he came up with an alternate plan to go through the back door to kill the warden. I’m guessing he’ll have eyes on Miller’s house as well, but all he’ll see is Miller coming home from work like he does every night.” Fitz smiled as he spoke. “So far as we know, Rhodes is working alone, but there are four of us.”

“Five,” Everly said, walking into the kitchen. She held a hand up to Ronan. “Don’t even try to tell me no, Daddy. You’re getting my help whether you want it or not.”

“We need walkie-talkies or something to keep us in contact with each other,” Ten said.

“Right,” Jude agreed. “Ronan will pose as Miller. Fitz and I will be stationed around the neighborhood with sightlines on the front and back door. Ten will be home with Everly. The kids can stay with Jace or Cope. Fitz and I will be able to see him coming.”

“Are you hearing yourselves?” Ronan asked. “Me as bait, Everly in the middle of this whole thing. Ten and the other kids left unprotected. Pardon my French, but have you all lost your fucking minds?”

The doorbell rang, making everyone yelp.

“Calm down, guys. It’s Uncle Cisco.” Everly left the table and headed for the front door.

“Should we be letting her answer the door?” Ronan was halfway out of his seat when Everly came back into the kitchen. A solemn-looking Cisco was behind her. In his hands was something awful and familiar.

“I’m sorry, Ronan.” Cisco set the envelope on the table.

“Where did this come from?” Ronan looked terrified.

“It was under a windshield wiper on the Mustang.” Cisco pulled out his phone and handed it to Ronan. “I took several pictures of it before bringing it in the house.”