Page 127 of The Vigilant

“The top—what does he mean dead?” he demanded when Tynan pulled the phone back. His eyes were wide and frantic. “Who is dead? What have you done?”

My teeth ground together, ready to unlock and let him know the truth—that his nephew and two others were dead because they’d taken my friend.

But just as my mouth opened, I caught Tynan’s eyes—a steady, silencing stare that cautioned me to keep silent.

Ignoring the continued outbursts from the man tied to the chair, Tynan opened the message, the indicator lit with a dozen unread messages.

But how did Carson know about the dead men when they’d vanished? He couldn’t have been the one to find them and clean up the bodies…

I blinked quickly and started to read through the messages.

I’ve confirmed the meet for Friday. You and Kang need to be there, understood?

That was yesterday. Sent while the Straw Sandal was on route to the apartment.

I need your confirmation. Neither you nor Kang have responded. What the fuck is going on?

And then came the messages from this morning.

Three dead?! Are you trying to fuck this up?

I brought you in with assurances that you could handle this, and since then, six dead and all because of some fucking girl.

If you’re in a war with Damon Remington, this deal is over.

Tynan lowered his arm and barked over his shoulder to Creed, “Keep an eye on him.”

I moved to follow him as he headed for the door and I assumed the office, but then I paused next to the Straw Sandal, who was still demanding answers.

Bending, I looked him in the eye, cocked a half smile, and said, “Your Little Dog is dead.” The color bled from his face. “That’s what happens when you underestimate your prey.”

I caught up to Tynan in the office just like I expected. What I didn’t expect was to find Robyn there, staring at the news playing on the screen like they were reporting on the world’s first ghost sighting.

“What’s going on? Why was Carson talking about Damon Remington?”

Rob winced, her trance fracturing as she dropped the chain of necklace.

“Look,” she murmured, her lips so tense I was surprised any word could fit through them.

She hit the volume button on the remote, the female reporter’s voice carrying into the small room, the captions like a highlight reel of her words.

Breaking News.

“Suspected associates of the Wah Ching gang have turned up dead in front of the FBI building this morning. Left with abow on their head and a card. My sources inside the bureau have informed me that the card only contained a single letter. R.”

“Remington,” Tynan said, his brow knitting tighter together. “How the hell did he know—did he find them? And why would he do that?”

I folded my arms, waiting for Rob to answer, but she didn’t. She had to know, didn’t she? Could it be I was the only one this was obvious to?

“Robyn…” he drawled, and still she said nothing.

I stepped up to the table, laying my bloody knife on the surface and staring at the dark stains on my hands.

The things we would do—the risks we would take to protect those we cared about.

“We just killed several members of the Wah Ching, including the nephew of the Straw Sandal who is currently tied up in your garage,” I began slowly, laying it out piece by piece as I saw it. At first, I thought Robyn might jump in and stop me—correct me or take over the explanation—but she didn’t. “Even if you took care of the bodies, the Wah Ching wouldn’t let that go. They’d look for their men, for what happened, and for who was responsible. They’d want revenge.” I swallowed. “Are you prepared to weather the wrath of the entire Chinese Mafia coming after you?”

“Shit…” Tynan’s head tipped, but Robyn, her face just continued to lose color. “Remington delivered the bodies to law enforcement with a signed note. He wanted to take the fall for all of it.”

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