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Ethan pushed it into his thigh pocket. “Slobbery. But I’m grateful.”

“We have your keys and phone, too,” Gator said, handing them out.

Ethan accepted the items and slid them into his pocket. “You were saying something about them tossing Piper’s phone?”

“It’s in Tango’s vest after the battery went dead. Until then? It certainly called attention,” Gator said. “The screens cracked, but that’s fixable.”

Ethan pulled the shirt over his head and wrestled his arms into the sleeves.

“Piper must have put in some kind of emergency program so that if someone tried to swipe it open to set the airplane mode, it would make itself loud and obnoxious,” Jack said. “Because the flashlight came on, the screen read, ‘Stolen Phone! I’m tracking you!’ and it was blaring ‘Bad Boys’ at top volume while vibrating. If someone pickpocketed her on the street, all eyes would be on them.”

“We’re assuming they tossed it out the window,” Jack said. “People saw it, but they cut a wide swath. Brilliant hack if you ask me. One of the women on the bridge saw me and came over to tell me about it. Sure enough, there it was, making a racket.”

“Perfect,” Ethan grinned as he leaned into the tree to pull on a sock and slip his foot into a tennis shoe. A little big, but any port in a storm. “They’ll have her keys, though. She’ll need to change the locks on her place and the codes on her car fob.”

“Could the attack have somethin’ to do with her lab?” Gator asked. “Drugs maybe?”

“I can ask,” Ethan said, tying the laces with stiff fingers. “It’s going to be a hassle, but she should get everything changed out. I’ll talk to her about it. Hey, listen, can you two keep Tango for me while I get myself cleaned up and head to the hospital to give Piper’s phone back to her? If you’re heading back to Iniquus, that is. If not. I’ll take her right to Cerberus myself.”

“We’ll take her to Cerberus for that checkup,” Jack said. “You still coming to dinner tonight? Suz says anytime around seven thirty. I’ll bring Tango back to my house. A few others will be there—Ares, Gator, Creed and Auralia.”

“Yeah, good. I can go home, get a shower, go check up on Piper, and come on over.”

As they walked to the Iniquus vehicle, Ethan was watching Tango move. She seemed fine. She trotted along like she was having the best day. But dogs were stoics, so it was a relief that she’d be seen by a vet who knew how to keep a working athlete like Tango in top shape.

In the SUV, Ethan was glad that his brothers held off on more conversation.

They dropped him at his truck and pulled away as soon as he fobbed the lock open.

Ethan turned on the engine and cranked the heat.

He sat there, a complete vegetable, waiting for his body to thaw.

With a power bar and a slug of caffeine, he was ready to call in to Pickeridge.

The call was snatched up on the first ring, and Ethan offered a thumbnail of the events.

“She’s not our girl. She wasn’t on the roster. You could have let that go. But you didn’t. Proud of you, son. Glad to hear you’re both out of the river.”

“Thank you, sir.”

There was a long pause. “I don’t know, Ethan. Seems like you’re a magnet for shit shows. We can go years without an incident. And for you? The crazies are flying out of the woodwork.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m looking on social media at the picture of this woman. She’s the spitting image of that woman, Amanda Harcourt, from the other day. You think the target jumped Piper because of the resemblance?”

“I have no information on the attackers, sir.”

“The EMT took her to the hospital?”

“They did. I’m going to head over and check on her in a bit.”

“She went, but you didn’t,” Pickeridge said. “You sure you don’t want to go get a tetanus booster, maybe some antibiotics? You were in the Potomac for a while.”

“I think I’m covered, sir.”

“So what’s the plan at the hospital?”