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“Nothing like that even came out of my mouth.” I laughed, frustrated as hell. “See, that’s how I know you’re just talking at this point, saying anything. Nobody’s trying to be your bestie, but can you not walk around here like I’m your enemy, when I’ve been anything but that.Ourenemy is the same motherfucker.”
He didn’t respond.
Not because he was being an asshole—for a change—but it seemed like he was actually considering my words.
“Listen. All day, I’ve been with Alicia, figuring out how to break whatever last hold he had on me, that was lingering in my brain. And I’ve got that shit beat. But to go after him, I’m gonna need somebody with me, somebody that can… snap me out of it, if he tries to flip that switch. Like I said, he’s both our enemy. We could handle this shittogether… if you’re willing to cut the shit and workwithme.”
He heaved out a deep sigh, still thinking about it. And after a moment had passed, he nodded, opening his mouth like he had something to say. But before that could happen, the door to the clubhouse flung open, and Teo rushed in.
“Something happened atBottoms,” he blurted, the panicked look in his eyes putting me on instant high alert.
“Where is Tati?” Blue and I asked at the same time and the way Teo shook his head made my heart drop to my stomach.
“They’re on their way back with them now.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, quickly followed by Blue asking, “Why am I just now hearing something about this?”
He snatched his phone from his pocket.
“Nobody called or said shit?”
“Some people got away, got ahead. They said something about nobody being able to get any calls or anything out, like the signal was suppressed, which… isn’t supposed to happen. I put up safeguards for that,” Teo explained.
“That’s aGardentactic,” I said, turning to look at Blue. Then I looked back to Teo. “I need you to say a lot more,whois on their way back? And with who? How many casualties were there, what happened?”
“I’ve said everything I know,” Teo countered, still flustered. “I mean… Tati and Keira are both alive; Ghost has them secured. The only casualties I know for sure are the scouts that were watching the back pathway.”
Fuck.
That second exit wasn’t even common knowledge and had a limit on usage so it wouldn’t appear as an overt path through the desert. It wasn’t invisible, but it wasn’t something you just found by accident either.
You had to be looking for it.
You had to know it was there.
“I think somebody planted a signal blocker,” Teo said. “They had to have snuck in with everybody or maybe way before this. Either way, it definitely wasn’t on earlier. I was there and I left because Ivan hit me up, wanting to talk about some family shit.”
“Could he be behind this?” Blue asked, shoving Teo in the chest, but Teo immediately threw his hands up.
“Man, I don’t know! But… shit, I don’t think so. He’s not pressed about us like that; he’s thinking of leaving Vegas, honestly,” Teo revealed. “He doesn’t want any smoke. He’s trying to be… Escobar or something, I don’t know. This shit isn’t the energy he’s on.”
“I’m telling you, this is Renard,” I repeated. “Where is Ghost?” I asked Teo. “Why are we still not getting any calls?”
“Whatever they used, it completely scrambled everybody’s shit,” he answered. “I only know because I intercepted somebody coming back. Lina took Tre straight to Doc,” he told Blue, speaking aboutPredatorsI was only vaguely familiar with. “I came here to tell y’all, but honestly it’s too much talk; we need to be on the move, we need to talk to Retta, we need—”
His panicked rant was interrupted by commotion outside, which we all immediately moved to respond to. I recognized Ghost’s truck and watched Keira climb down from the passenger side looking distinctly shell-shocked.
“Where’s Tati?!” I asked, already rushing to the other side of the truck, where another door was opening.
Tati climbed out, of her own volition, and looking just as traumatized as Keira. But before I got to her, she lifted a hand, stopping me, looking me right in the face.
“What the fuck did you do to your hair?”
