Page 232 of What We Burn

“Stephen is under there.”

“You don’t know that.”

Milo’s eyes lift to Holden’s.

“You’re the one who said Tyler wasn’t dangerous. Don’t be wrong a third time.”

Holden pulls his head back like he got slapped. For one long second, neither of them moves.

Then Holden steps aside.

Milo walks through the broken door.

“Where are you going?” I ask, even though I already know.

He doesn’t look back.

“To finish this.”

Then he’s gone.

“Shit,” Holden hisses, raking his hands through his hair. “You know what he’s doing, right?”

I nod, then look at Knox. “Go with him. Keep him breathing.”

Knox nods once. Follows Milo out the door, moving in that silent, inevitable way of his—a shadow that’s decided to follow.

Micah watches them go. “This is fucked.”

“Yeah.” I cover Tyler’s face again. “We shit the bed on this one.”

FIFTY-NINE

KNOX

“Don’t even try to stop me, Knox.”

I catch up to Milo halfway across the parking lot. He’s got Tyler’s phone in hand as the screen lights up with notification after notification.

“I’m not,” I say.

Another chime.

“Four,” he says.

“What did you send?”

He turns the phone toward me. On it, the Kennel app is open. From Tyler’s profile he’s posted a “dog whistle.”

Got two new pets for the local yard to play with.

A location pin follows—the warehouse on Pike St. The same one he and Micah took Tyler to when they were working him over for information.

“How many does it reach?” I ask.

Milo’s thumbs are already moving again. “Everyone who’s ever checked in at a local yard. Could be a handful of guys. Could be all thirty-seven.” The screen keeps lighting up in his hand, buzz after buzz, and each one feeds something in his face. “They’re biting, Knox. Look at this. Look at—’fresh or trained?’ ‘age?’ ‘pics?’” He laughs, and it’s not a good sound. “Twenty seconds. Twenty fucking seconds and they’re negotiating.”

I read the messages scrolling past. My hands stay loose at my sides. That takes work.