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13
Mercy
I planteda bowl of nachos in the middle of the coffee table in my dad’s old office, and Kaige immediately dove in. From the way he gulped down the chips, he’d recovered from any lingering trauma of dealing with Glory earlier today.
I tsked at him. “Save some for everyone else.”
“Want one?” Kaige mumbled around his mouthful, nudging the bowl toward Rowan, who laughed and shook his head. Wylder snatched up a handful and leaned back on the narrow sofa. Gideon finished arranging his tablet at the other side of the table to his satisfaction and straightened up to take a chair. When his eyes met mine, the gleam in them made me think of the words we’d exchanged earlier—and how thoroughly we’d proven them to each other after. I smiled back at him.
“When exactly are we expecting Beckett to call?” I asked.
“He left a message indicating that he’d try tonight,” Gideon said. “Obviously he has to work around everything else going on in his life. We don’t want him to get caught any more than he does. But it sounds like he was able to find some information on one of the Storm’s business associates from the list of names we passed on that we got from the Long Night: Anderson.”
“Anderson Cooper!” Kaige said with a triumphant air.
Wylder rolled his eyes. “It was Evan Anderson, you dork. He’s a real estate guru, not a TV personality.”
“The way the Storm’s been tearing down the Bend, it’s funny to think he’s had that much interest in real estatedevelopment,” I muttered.
“Hey,” Rowan said lightly, “even Ezra’s dipped his toes into that area. It’s an easy way to pursue legitimate business activities once you’ve got some money to throw around. I’d guess a guy like the Storm, who’s keeping his less legit activities super-secret, needs a legal front—or several—even more than any regular criminal organization.”
“True.” I waved a chip at Gideon. “You haven’t found any evidence that this Anderson guy is involved in the underground stuff too, have you?”
Gideon shook his head. “He seems totally on the up and up. Lots of deals with prominent businessmen and public figures. I think there’s a good chance he doesn’t know anything about the Storm’s other types of business.”
Wylder smirked. “Which could be good for us. Exposing the Storm would be an easy way to attack him from a totally different angle. He needs to know that we’re not letting up on him and that he can’t predict how we’ll strike next.”
“But without the kid’s guidance, we’re going in mostly blind,” Gideon reminded us. “We didn’t get much more than the name and a few properties Anderson has managed for the Storm from the Long Night. No more than that for any of the other business associates he mentioned either. That’s not really enough to make a solid plan.”
“Beckett will come through,” Rowan said confidently. “He wants this war over nearly as much as we do.”
I nodded. “His information before was good. Let’s just wait instead of getting all impatient.” A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what the kid might face if his dad caught on to how his own son was double-crossing him. Somehow I didn’t think the Storm would see it as a loving gesture meant to protect his dad from getting into bigger trouble later, the way Beckett clearly intended it.
Wylder checked the time on his phone and sighed before grabbing more nachos. Kaige was still munching happily away. I sat down behind my dad’s old desk and picked up the crystal paperweight so I could turn it over in my hands.
It felt strange sitting there. The leather of the chair bit into my ass, but Dad had always preferred not to get too comfortable. According to him, staying a bit on edge helped ensure you didn’t miss anything when it came to important decisions.
Below the window, one of the Claws men moved through the darkened yard on his patrol. We had enough guards staked out around the house to be confident Xavier couldn’t set one foot on this property again, at least not without taking several bullets in the process. Still, the evening shadows outside brought an uneasy sense of gloom over me.
A ringing sound pierced the air. Gideon jerked forward and tapped the screen of his tablet, which he’d connected to a burner phone to take the call.
“Hey, Beckett,” Wylder said in his typical cocky voice. “I hope you’ve got something good for us.”
Beckett’s voice filled the room, slightly scratchy as if it wasn’t the best connection. “I’m here.”
Wylder frowned. “Perfect. Gideon said you indicated you’ve got something to share about this Evan Anderson guy.”
Instead of answering right away, Beckett paused. After a moment of silence, Rowan cleared his throat. “Beckett, are you still there?”
“Yeah.” The kid’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “Yeah, sorry, I just—my dad has a lot of people in the house, and he’s been restless, so I’ve got to be careful. Today was—today was bad.”
Concern jolted through my nerves. “Why? What happened?”
Beckett let out a ragged breath. “Xavier came to the house where we’re living right now. He was pissed off and going on about how my dad isn’t supporting him enough. Ranting about how many people they’ve lost, insisting that he needs even more to work with if he’s going to crush everyone in Paradise Bend. He sounded totally unhinged—I have no idea what he’s going to do next. Or who he’s going to do it to.”
My stomach knotted. I wanted to be glad about how much our assault on the secret facility had thrown Xavier for a loop, but we had other things to consider too. Xavier definitely wouldn’t go easy on Beckett ifhefound out that the kid had been in contact with us.
Which Beckett had obviously already realized, because the next thing he said was, “I kept freaking out that he’d realized what I’d done—how I helped you make that strike on the storage and training facility. He sounded ready to tear someone in half, anyone he was angry with. And I…” His voice got even quieter. “I don’t know if my dad would be able to stop him. I don’t know if he’dwantto if he knew.”
