Page 99 of Mr. Match

Liam laughs. Pulls off his black leather gloves one finger at a time. Keeps laughing. It sorta echoes off the high ceilings and that distracts me for a second. It really is an ugly building.

“You fucked up, Vance.” This isn’t Liam talking. It’s the woman. “I think you better check your expectations before you go off getting cocky.” She takes a seat next to Liam, waving a big gun in her hand.

Pax cocks an eyebrow at me that says, Can you believe the balls on this one?

I really can’t. But then again, she did just say that. So I guess I have to.

“Calm down, Ellen,” Liam says. His good-ol’-boy southern accent—which is usually under control—makes an appearance. “She’s like a dog that needs to be corrected. We have to explain where she went wrong. Punish her. And then retrain her.”

Pax reaches into his jacket, pulls out his gun, and shoots Ellen in the chest.

Just bang. Loud as fuck. Bang. Once more to make it count. That wasn’t in the plan he told me back at my office, but whatever. We’re improvising. And we know an Ellen. Well, Mac does. And I’m pretty sure this was that cunt who made Ellie’s life a living hell last year.

And then he turns to Liam and grabs him by the throat. “Look here, motherfucker,” he says in a low, calm voice. “I did your job, and we had a deal. So you had better start talking or I’m gonna shove this gun up your ass and blow your goddamned head off. Because that’s definitely where you’re keeping your brain today if your big bad plan was to bring a woman along to talk shit to me.”

Sometimes a man knows when he’s beat. Sometimes he takes it like a… well, a man. And then there are times when he doesn’t.

Liam Henry doesn’t take anything like a man. But that’s OK.

I look around the would-be shooting range my father has been tinkering with for the better part of six years. Liam was right about this place. It really isn’t much to look at.

But it sure as shit is soundproof.

In the end we get what we need. And Liam gets a date with his little girlfriend.

Different gun, of course. Pax makes dead Liam shoot dead Ellen just to keep it authentic for the forensics team.

He plants the gun that shot Liam in Ellen’s hand. Plants the gun that shot Ellen in Liam’s hand. And then stands up to admire his handiwork.

I whistle in appreciation. “Why, Mr. Mysterious. I do believe you’ve done this before.”

Pax shrugs. “Maybe a time or two. It’s not perfect. I can think of a dozen mistakes I’ve made. But it’s good enough. I think we can probably buy a local cop on that dark market of yours.”

I roll my eyes. “So what do you think?” I ask, looking at my watch. We’ve been in here forty-five minutes. I lied to Liam earlier. Shrike Bikes opens at four PM on Thursdays. So no one will see us here at all. But I’m too lazy to move that damn car. Plus, just thinking about all those fingerprints and DNA samples I might leave behind if I actually have to drive it… nah.

“Victoria will be happy, right?”

“Happy?” I ask. “I don’t think she wanted them to be involved. But yeah, she called it way the fuck back when, right?”

“Let’s go get West first. I bet he’s dying to get out of that basement. Then we can deal with the others.”

I nod and follow him out of the building, locking it up behind us. And then we tuck our hands into our pockets, bend our heads into the wind, and head across College Avenue to the backdoor of the FoCo Theater to bring our dead friend back to life.

Chapter Forty-Four - KATYA

Victoria is sitting in the back of the coffee shop when I arrive, her young son Ethan enjoying a pastry and cup of hot chocolate as he swings his feet and smiles at the Christmas cartoons on the flatscreen just above his head.

“Hey,” I say to Victoria, sitting down in the chair next to her.

“I can’t get a hold of Ariel, or Cindy, or Pax, or Oliver. But I did get a hold of Ellie, and they are on their way to Denver—”

“Wait,” I say. “What are you talking about?”

“The sh—” Victoria looks at Ethan and stops her curse word. “They left town.”

“Who?” I ask.

“Nolan, Ivy, Ellie, and Mac. They left town and they’re creating a credit-card trail as they travel down I-25.”