Page 3 of Sinners Reunion

I clear my throat. “No, just killing Bennett’s mother. Nothing I couldn’t step away from.”

“Oh, that was tonight, wasn’t it? Many apologies, but this couldn’t wait!”

It usually can’t with Jim.

“Go on, old man.” I punch a button, and the elevator doors close. “Tell me what has you so wound up. Did you find that blasted monkey you’ve been looking for?”

He huffs and stumbles over his words before getting going. “It’s not a monkey, King. You aren’t even in the right family. It’s a pygmy three-toed sloth! They’re critically endangered. Show some respect, man!”

“Aren’t they incredibly slow? Shouldn’t it be easy to catch?” I try to muffle my annoyance, but he hears it.

“If you aren’t taking this seriously, I’ll just cancel the entire⁠—”

“You make this threat every time, and you will do no such thing. Now stop being a blagger and just come out with it. What have you uncovered?”

“Since Aven and Quinn killed our only connection to the Brickle operation, I thought we’d never find the rest of the animals, but Ezra has found all of them aside from that sloth.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Get to the part I don’t know.”

“Will you just let me have my moment?” He huffs, and I can picture the pout on his face. “He had a sister, King!”

“The sloth?”

“What? No! Terrence Brickle, the man Aven and Quinn dispatched during the amusement park retreat.”

“The bloke with the lemurs?”

“The very same.”

I struggle to keep all of Jim’s recent animal events straight. Names blur, and species mix together. It’s a worthy cause, but I can’t match his level of excitement when hunting down endangered species for conservation efforts. I’d rather hunt down the men who poach them from the wild. So that I can kill them. Painfully.

That’s more my speed.

“Does his sister have the sloth?” I ask.

“Well . . . we can’t be certain, but Ice Pick and Grim are working to kidnap her and⁠—”

“Ice Pick and Grim? Working together? And kidnapping, Jim? Are you certain this is wise when we’re about to embark on a trip? We leave in two days.”

“All the more reason to tie up this loose end before we go.” He sighs into the receiver, and I pull the crackling speaker away from my ear. “How can I enjoy a cross-country killing spree when I know there’s a sloth in danger out there? I can’t, King. I just can’t.”

I close my eyes. He’s fucking right. He’d be miserable the entire trip, and by the transitive property, the rest of us as well.

“Okay. Just tell me what you need from me,” I say, relenting to whatever part I must play.

When he speaks again, his smile comes through loud and clear. “Meet us at our cabin on Kenny Lake tomorrow night. Dinner is at seven sharp. Don’t be late, and wear your finest. It’s our kickoff dinner.”

He disconnects the call before I can ask anything else.

Chapter Two

Josie

My eyes slide open and adjust to the sunshine streaming through an open door. A deep ache grips the muscles in my neck, which isn’t surprising. I’ve been sleeping upright in a chair for who knows how long, and my arms have been bound behind me. My head slumped forward while I was out, and now it feels like the muscles have been stretched to the point of snapping.

But I don’t groan. I don’t cry. I grit my teeth and do my best to get my bearings.

I’m close to the doorway—maybe six feet away—but freedom is out of reach. The room is dark, only lit by the sunshine streaming through lace curtains and the open door. Despite the gauzy pillowcase over my head, I can make out these shapes.