Page 95 of The Verdict

Get him,I prayed silently when he went inside. A second of silence. A second to hold my breath.And then the unmistakable sound of gunshots reverberated out to the street.

“Shit,” Rhys muttered and opened the door.

I moved to the other side of the seat, watching as he positioned his weapon through the jamb, using the door as a shield.

A second later, the door to the gym opened, and through it walked Harm and Talon, holding Mercury cuffed and limping from the gunshot to his leg.

“They have his confession,” Rhys relayed to me, and the breath inside my lungs evacuated. I turned my head to look out the side window, about to close my eyes in relief, when something flashed from a few cars down.

The flare of the gunshot registered before the sound—before the shouts.

No.

Instinct surged through me. I grabbed the gun Rhys had left in the center console and forced the back door open. Rhys had the same notion and was already running toward his friends to help them. But I knew where the shooter was. I saw where the shot had come from.

My flats hit the pavement softly, my eyes locking on the man in a suit with pepper-gray hair who strode rapidly toward a dark SUV with the engine running. Cold air burned my lungs with each breath as I closed the distance.

If he killed one of them…

“Stop!” I shouted when the man reached the front of his car, knowing I wouldn’t reach him in time. “Stop or I’ll shoot.” I aimed the gun at his back, ready to do whatever I had to stop him.

The shooter halted, but it was his other movements that sent the frigid fingers of dread scratching down my spine. The way he tipped his head like he was considering… something. The way his shoulders…relaxed.

“Drop the gun and turn around,” I ordered, taking another step closer.

There was something familiar about this man. Something I couldn’tput my finger on…

“Is that any way to talk to an old friend?” His voice was familiar. It was the same voice from the room earlier.Ivans.

He started to turn.What did he mean, “old friend?”I gasped loudly, feeling like the earth had opened up underneath my feet and plummeted me into an alternate reality.

No. It couldn’t be.My mouth went dry. My throat cinched tight. Everything I thought I knew came crashing down.Nowonder I couldn’t place the voice. No one thinks to recognize the voice of a dead man.

“Saturn,” I choked out, staring wide-eyed at the man I believed Jupiter had killed all those years ago.

“It’s good to see you, Venus.” He smiled, and it was the same as I remembered. The same smile that made me feel safe from Mercury when he was around. That made me feel like he looked out for me like a father. And I wanted to vomit.

“You’re… Jupiter killed you,” I blurted out, blinking as though any moment he’d disappear, and I’d realized I’d chased nothing more than a ghost.

“People disappear for all kinds of reasons, Merritt.” He used my name on purpose. “You understand that.”

Oh god.I thought Saturn’s death was a warning to the rest of us, but it was a change of plans.

“It was you,” I said, my voice tight and thready. “You were their man inside the police.”

“You were too clever from the start,” he said with a sickening sense of pride. “I should’ve known Saba planted you. Instead, I thought he’d turned the kid?—”

“Juan,” I spat. “His name was Juan.”

“And he had to die,” he said like it was simply a fact. “Miguel killed him, and I killed the cop. Collateral damage with plenty of time to walk out with the diamond.”

I couldn’t speak. I could only death-grip my weapon and shake my head.

“I realized my mistake when Miguel told me you ran.” He shook his head, and my hand tightened on the gun. “Youwere the one on the inside, but it was too late, and the whole thing was getting too hot.”

Breathe, Merritt. Breathe.

“You killed Saba…”

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