Page 88 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

Tech set the menu down with delicate precision.

“Mark, I’ve also been in this line of work long enough to know a flunky when I see one. So tell us who sent you, and I might overlook your bad intentions and that ill-fitting shirt.”

“I swear I don’t know what you’re talking—”

“Okay, this can go one of two ways,” Ruxs cut in, sounding annoyed. “One, you don’t give me the name of the guy who hired you to tail Xander, and I take you in the back and beat the shit out of you. Or two, you tell me who hired you, I slam your face into the table, break your nose, and let you go.”

Mark’s breathing turned choppy.

Ruxs leaned closer. “Fifteen broken bones or one. Choose quickly.”

Cassidy stared across the dining room.

What kind of detective method is that?

No wonder God’s men were feared all over Atlanta…and his team under audit.

“Okay, okay.” Mark lifted his hands. “All I was asked to do was take some pictures of Xander Vale and his bodyguards and drop the phone at the place they texted.”

Tech leaned forward. “Who asked you to do that?”

“I was at my usual spot on the boulevard selling my star maps, when some random guy walked past and dropped this phone and two hundred bucks into my tip can. He didn’t look at me or say anything, just dropped it and kept walking.”

“One guy?”

“Yeah.”

“And…”

“As soon as he dropped it, it rang.” The guy shrugged. “So I answered. And the person told me to just tuck my shirt in, come in here and take some pictures, and he’ll give me four hundred more.”

“Where’d he tell you to meet him after?” Tech asked.

“I don’t know. I’m supposed to get a text. I drop it, and my money’s supposed to be there waiting.”

Tech tilted his head.

“That’s all I know, I swear. It was all done through the phone.”

Tech and Ruxs stood at the same time.

“Cool,” Ruxs said. “Let’s go make the drop.”

Mark stood with them.

Then bolted.

He shot toward the back entrance, slamming into a waiter carrying a tray of drinks.

Glasses flew in the air before crashing to the floor. A woman screamed as chaos spread through the back of the restaurant.

Xander flinched, his eyes widening.

Ruxs and Green moved without a beat of hesitation, both tearing after Mark through the service corridor. Tech pivoted, stepping away from the stunned waiter and cutting toward Xander’s table.

Cassidy was already there.

He hooked Xander under his arm, hauling him out of his chair and into his body.