Page 44 of Tick Tock, Boom!

Brimstone nodded. “Been thinking the same. Bulldog doesn’t just drop dead. Not him.”

“His heart was good. He was careful. Paranoid even,” Saddle added. “So, what the fuck happened?”

“No wounds. No signs.”

“Poison?” Hart offered. He stared at his drink and then pushed it away with a grimace. “Could’ve been laced in something.”

“Only one way to know,” I said. “We need an autopsy.”

“You heard Aiyana.”

“Fuck what she said,” I snapped. “She's not thinking right, and we owe Bulldog the truth. Besides she deserves the truth before she drops dead too.”

"Don't fucking say that," Brim shook his head.

"I'm just pointing out the facts. She's at the end of the line, that sickness is gonna kill her. I feel bad for Elrik, it's too much at one time. They both deserve the truth."

“But without her permission?” Knuckles asked. “It’s a risk.”

I rubbed my temple, trying to think. A deep voice caught my attention on the other side of the room, and then it hit me.

“Ain't that Hound. The new Prez up in Kentucky?"

Hart and Saddle turned to look. "Yeah, why?"

"Doesn't he run a crematorium with his son, Coy?”

Brimstone’s eyes lit. “Yeah, he does. You think..."

"I think he might just be the right person to help us.”

"You think he'd want to? What we're asking is a lot," Saddle whispered.

"Those fuckers have seen more blood and body parts than we could ever imagine. This is a fucking walk in the park for them"

"It could work," Knuckles nodded.

“We get Bulldog moved. Quiet. Fast. Let Hound handle the rest. I'm sure he'll do anything for Bulldog.”

Saddle shook his head. “This is wrong.”

I met his eyes. “It is. But not doing it? That’s worse.”

Knuckles lowered his voice. “Elrik can’t find out.”

Our eyes turned to the young President outside, standing beside the fire pit where the older men used to pass him drinks when he was a boy.

The kid was lost, and we were about to shatter everything he thought he knew.

Because whatever killed Bulldog wasn’t done yet.

And we needed to know the truth before it came for the rest of us.

TICK TOCK

The roads were still slick from the storm the night before, moonlight bounced off the water and like the hum of ghosts lurked in the corners of my eyes. Natalia was still asleep when I climbed out of bed, her body wrapped up in my sheets, her hair splayed across the pillow like silk. I stood there a moment, taking her in, letting that peace settle into my chest, because I knew I wasn’t going to feel that again for a long time.

I didn’t wake her. Couldn’t. She’d ask questions and try to come with me. But this run… this one had to be done in the dark.

---