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Micah leans on the shovel handle and looks down at my feet. “Sorry about your shoes, man.”
“No worries. They were too clean anyway.”
“Isn’t that Gage?” Lita says and moves to the sidewalk for a closer look.
Sure enough, the red Jaguar convertible heading this way is definitely my cousin. Gage screeches to a halt in front of the driveway, rips his sunglasses off and vaults over the driver’s side door.
This isn’t good. Gage doesn’t get bent out of shape over nothing. I shoot a glance at Micah and see that he’s already tossed his shovel down.
Gage stops walking when he sees Lita. “Haven.”
“No,” says Lita. “Other twin.”
Gage’s eyes swerve to mine and my blood runs cold. “Where’s Haven?” he asks.
“At the club. Why?”
He glances at Lita again. Hesitates. Not like him at all.
Micah stands at my side. “What happened?”
Gage pulls no punches. “Aric Marchenko is dead.”
Lita’s hand claps over her mouth. Automatically, I reach out and take her arm to make sure she doesn’t fall over.
“When in the hell did this happen?” I ask Gage.
“Early this morning.” He looks at Lita and his shoulders drop. “I’m so sorry, Lita.”
“How?” she chokes out. “How did he die?”
Gage shifts his weight and looks away. Again, this isn’t usual for him. Gage doesn’t shrink from the truth. There’s deep uneasiness in the way he looks around and keeps one hand on the gun holstered at his side. “The story that will be fed to the press is that he got caught up in a cafeteria riot.”
Micah can read between the lines. “And what’s therealstory?”
“I have an inside connection there. Aric was found unresponsive in his cell with deep stab wounds in his chest and ligature marks around his neck. He doesn’t share a cell. Someone with the keys had a reason to kill him. That points to a hit.” Gage looks at me. “You tell Haven to drop what she’s doing and get the hell out of there. I have some reliable boys on their way over here to act as security until we get a handle on what’s going on.”
I’m already scrambling for the phone, which is still sitting in the bird bath. Somehow when I was busy digging a tree hole I missed a text from her.
I’ll be home soon. Love you.
The message is something of a relief but hearing her voice would be a big improvement. Fuck, I should have stuck to her like glue.
My thumb hovers over the green call button just as tires screech on the north end of the street. A glossy black Escalade wildly turns a corner. Gage, gun already drawn, steps in front of Lita to shield her.
The car slows, swerves, and ultimately crashes into the metal pole of a street lamp. A piece of the street lamp falls, crashing into the windshield. Smoke rises from the grill of the vehicle. The door to the passenger side is flung open and Gage raises his gun.
But the person who staggers out to the sidewalk is a kid. A kid covered in blood.
Lita screams. “ROBERT!” She sprints toward her younger brother.
Gage gives chase, shouting at her to wait.
I’m faster than both of them. I’m the first to reach Robert Marchenko. He wears a soccer uniform and the shirt must have been bright white before the front was soaked with blood. He blinks at me but I get the impression he sees something else.
Gage approaches the vehicle with his gun still drawn. “Shit.” He lowers the weapon.
There’s a familiar face behind the wheel. He’s someone Haven trusts, someone she sent to protect her little brother.
