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I shoved the picture into my purse and put my hand on Cian’s arm. “Yeah, I’m fine. Did you just kick the door down?” I rubbed his arms. “It’s OK, you can let him go.”
“Damn, you guys are on fucking edge,” Dobbs grumbled and straightened his jacket.
“Well, apparently your sources didn’t tell you we’re here trying to bait Ryzen, so of course we’re on edge.” I rubbed my temples as a flurry of noises came from the hallway.
Delove popped his head around the corner, his lips going into a flat line. “Dobbs. What the fuck are you doing here?”
“You.” Dobbs pointed a shaky finger at Delove, his face twisting in anger. “This is all your fault!” He charged towards Dobbs, but two agents dressed in server attire came around and restrained him on the floor. Dobbs yelled obscenities as they twisted his arms behind his back. “I’m gonna expose you, Delove. It’s over. You’re over!” he shouted as they hauled him up and dragged him down the hall.
My heart slammed in my chest, and Cian gripped me to him tightly. “What the fuck was that about?” Cian growled, heat radiating off his body.
“Forget that.” Dobbs ran his fingers through his hair. “We got him. Goodacre. Come with me now.”
I glanced at Cian, chills running up my spine.
Could this be it?
Had we finally gotten Ryzen for good?
Chapter Sixteen
Nova
We sat in the back of Delove’s cruiser as he raced through downtown Chicago. My heart was in my throat the entire way as I clung to Cian. Delove hadn’t given any more information other than we were going to the local police station. A million thoughts raced through my mind. We’d left the others back at the gala, and I’d promised to call them as soon as we knew what was going on.
Delove’s phone rang, and he held it to his ear. “What?” he barked. “I’ll be right there.” The car jerked as he took a sharp left, and he gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
“What’s going on?” Cian growled.
“Change of plans.” His eyes darted to Cian’s in the rearview mirror, then back to the road. After a few minutes, we pulled into an alley, red and blue flashing lights illuminating the narrow space. Delove parked to the side and turned to face us. “Look, I need you to stay in the car so I can find out exactly what’s happening.” He waited until we nodded, then jumped out and jogged over to one of the police officers. I turned to Cian, an unspoken question in my eyes.
“Fuck that. We’re not staying in here.” He gripped my hand and helped me out of the back.
A mostly white van, like the one Ryzen had been seen jumping into the night he attacked me, was at the end of the alley, smoke rising from it. I covered my mouth and coughed, the smoke in the air thick and rancid.
Delove gave us a pointed look and held up his hand for us to stay put. God, what was going on? Had Ryzen attacked someone else? Delove took long strides back over to us, worry written all over his face.
“Fuck, I shouldn’t have brought you here.” He looked over his shoulder, his hands on his hips. “Well, too fucking late now.”
“What’s happening? That van looks like Ryzen’s.” I peered behind him.
“We think it’s Goodacre in the van… dead.” Delove walked to the trunk of his car and pulled out a few face masks. “Put these on and stay behind the yellow tape. Do not cross that tape.” He stared at Cian, who nodded in agreement.
Holy shit. Is this really happening?
I put my mask on and Cian gripped my hand in a vice as we walked closer to the van, staying behind the yellow tape. Delove pulled out his flashlight and circled the van, his light flashing over it. The windows had been completely blown out, and the metal had been melted and warped at odd angles because of the intense fire. Delove shone his light in the driver’s seat, where we were able to make out the remains of a person, burned and charred beyond recognition. It was essentially just a skeleton, and utterly disgusting to look at.
“Cian, how do we know this is actually Ryzen?” I gazed up at him, his jaw clenched.
He squeezed my hand. “Let’s see what Delove has to say. I don’t like this very much either.”
The smell in the air was of death and rubber, the mask Delove had given me doing very little to camouflage it. This was not what I had been expecting when he’d come barging into the bathroom and had said they got him. I’d thought they had him in actual handcuffs. But there were no handcuffs; hell, there was barely a body. I didn’t like the look of this whole thing. This could have been a setup or a trap, and we had just walked right into it. I peered around the dark alley, noticing most of the windows were dark except for one random light on four floors up.
A team of forensic analysts swept through the area, taking photographs and documenting the condition of the van. Two of them put on gloves and carefully removed the body—well, the charred bones. The whole thing was sickening, and I thought I was going to throw up at any moment. I turned my back on the scene unfolding in front of my eyes and walked back to Delove’s car, ripping off the mask. Breath felt like a luxury in that moment as I gasped for air.
“It’s OK, Nova. Just deep breaths in through your nose, out through your mouth.” Cian rubbed his hand up and down my back, my body shaking as he did so. A slew of emotions ran through me, and I was having a hard time focusing on just one. Fear, worry, hope: I was consumed by all of them. My heartbeat quickened as I felt the beginnings of a panic attack starting to surface.
Cian walked me around the car and kneeled in front of me, gripping my hands as my head sagged. “You have to breathe, baby.” His hands were rough as he squeezed mine. He inhaled through his nose and out through his mouth until I was doing exactly the same. “There’s my girl. You got it. Just a few more.”
