Page 88 of Lights Out

The room filled with the rumblings of angry men, and I started to feel a little safer now that we had a mutual hatred of Brad in common.

Nico’s dark eyes burned with anger. “Why was he there?”

“He had a kill kit on him,” I said, not bothering to elaborate since they likely knew what it was. “We overpowered him, tied him up, and planned to leave him on the back porch of his latest victim’s family, but he died en route. Aly said we should come here, so we did. Brad’s cell phone is still at his house, and he turned his car’s GPS tracker off, so I don’t know where it is, but I’m guessing somewhere near Aly’s house.”

“How do you know that?” Nico asked.

Fuck. Walked right into that one. “I’m a hacker.”

One of Aly’s cousins shifted forward, drawing my gaze. “What model and make is Bluhm’s car?”

I told him.

Nico snapped his fingers at the son who’d spoken, and I tried not to grind my teeth. It must be a family thing. “Call Jimmy,” Nico said. “Get his guys over there, and don’t leave until you find the car and haul it out.”

His son nodded and peeled away, heading for the door.

Nico turned to another one. “Her house needs to be scrubbed down. Have Aly and Greg meet you there when they’re done with Josh’s car so she can get her cat and her things before you start.”

That son headed for the door next, leaving just me, Nico, and Nico’s oldest child – Junior? – standing around the island.

The family patriarch eyed me. “What else?”

“All Brad learned about Aly at the hospital was her first name, so he must have done some digging to find her,” I told him. “I’m worried that his phone or a computer at his house might point the cops straight to Aly when he gets reported missing.”

Nico turned toward Junior. “Go to Vinny’s and tell him you need a whole crew at Bluhm’s house.”

“He comes from money,” I warned them. “He’ll probably have security cameras and alarms and –”

Nico held up a hand, silencing me. “All due respect, but this isn’t our first rodeo.”

“Are you going to steal the computer or hack it?”

Nico glanced at his oldest.

Junior met my eyes. His gaze was even harder than Greg’s. “This needs to be a smash-and-grab because we don’t have time to prepare. We’re gonna steal it.”

I shook my head. “That’s too suspicious. Take me with you, and I’ll hack it.”

His brows lifted as he looked me over. “You sure?”

I blew out a breath. “Yes. I do this for a living, and I can get in and wipe Brad’s drive in less than ten minutes without leaving a digital footprint.”

Junior turned toward his father, brows raised in question.

Nico threw his hands up and whirled back to the coffee machine. “I’m gonna have to make this all over again in a to-go mug.”

Forty minutes later, I was still alive, having passed whatever weird test that was with Nico in the kitchen, and now I sat in the back of a van, sipping a piping-hot macchiato out of an insulated mug. The sides of the vehicle bore the markings of the local power company. I couldn’t figure out if it was stolen, a good copy, or, worst-case scenario, actually belonged to said power company because it was mob-controlled.

I made a mental note to stop messing with their grids whenever I wanted to break into my girlfriend’s house. I was already going to owe the mafia a favor for this; there was no need to paint an even bigger target on my back.

“You like the coffee?” Junior asked.

He was seated across from me on a bench with two much larger men I hadn’t been introduced to – probably for the better. There were two more on either side of me, and at first, I worried they weremycleanup crew until they started talking logistics about what we were about to do.

“The coffee is great,” I said.

Junior nodded. “Make sure to tell my old man if you want to get on his good side. He’s vain as hell about his barista skills.” He frowned and turned toward the man on his right. “Baristo? Is that a gendered term?”

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