Page 25 of Refrain

I nod. “My turn. They picked up a girl last night—”

“A girl?” Grey rolls his eyes. “Fucking hell. I told you—Women like that bring nothing but trouble.”

“She’s young,” I insist. “Brunette. Thick accent. Probably didn’t give you her name. They think if they hold her long enough she’ll spill something on the Russians, but she won’t.” I wouldn’t. “Get them to let her go—”

“Andyouget me something on Mackenzie,” he counters before snatching his bottle back. “Something solid that I can use to get us both out of this mess without a fucking scratch. You got that, Parker? Even if you do, I can only buy us a few days.”

Days I don’t have. The clock is ticking, and in the end, Grey will be left holding the short end of the stick.

“Look, I know I screwed up—”

“You think I don’t know the risk I was taking, letting you go into that place alone? And I’m not just talking about the fucking danger of Vladimir Olshenkov and his buddy Petrov.” Grey sizes me up and sighs. “You lost someone to violence. I knew the look in your eye the moment I saw you. Who was it, huh? Your mom? Dad?” He shakes his head. “That kind of evil… It leaves a mark on you—”

“I’m just a rookie from Podunk, Montana, remember?” I can’t stop picking at the gauze on my injured hand. “Don’t get soft on me.”

“Whatever. I just needsomething.” His neglected cigarette’s grown quite the tail of ash. If he doesn’t flick it soon, it’ll fall off on its own, possibly splattering the leg of his dark-brown pants. “Something to nail even one of those bastards to the wall. A Russian. Mackenzie. I don’t fucking care. Just something to prove that this all fucking means something.” He gestures to the decrepit city landscape around us. He wants it all to matter. He did spend most of his life fighting for it, after all.

“Let the girl go, and I’ll do my best.” It could be a lie—the part of me itching to run wants it to be—but deep down…

Who knows?

“Give me an hour,” Grey says while switching the car’s engine off. “I’ll see what I can do. But I’ll say this again, Parker—This will only buy us time. And after this…maybe it’s better for everyone if you go back to Montana.”

If only he knew.

“Thank you. I mean it,” I say.

Judging from the wary tilt to his mouth, he might believe me. “Just get out of here,” he says. “Before one of those overachieving rookies sees you.”

I reach for the door on my end. My fingers brush the handle, but I don’t pull it just yet. “Were there any other girls who came in the other night?” I ask. “Young. Red hair?”

Grey shrugs. “Not anyone sober.”

I swallow hard and accept the information with a nod. Averting my face from his, I leave the cruiser and face the street, ignoring the burning sting creeping behind my eyes.

Then I start walking, and I don’t look back.

My shadow turnsout to be quick. I find him where I left him last, leaning against the wall as if he never moved. Maybe he’d already caught on that I sensed him in my wake. It could be that heletme sense him all along.

“So?” he asks.

“Your birdy should be free within the hour.”

“Then I guess we’re done here.” He withdraws a wad of cash from his pocket. “Here. It’s yours, as promised.”

It’s enough money to outlast Piotr for a little while…

But it’s nowhere nearenough. My excuse has run out, but some deep-seated itch in my skin won’t let me leave. Maybe it’s Anna, calling to me. If I leave now, I might not find her again.

“Not comfortable with receiving payment upfront?” Espisidoreturns the money to his pocket. “Professionalism. I can respect that.”

“Was your friend a plant?” I ask, changing the subject. “That’s a stupid risk to take if she was—playing around with the Syndicate’s toys. Though it would be even more foolish if she weren’t.”

“That’s me. Foolish.” He confirms the worst by shaking his head. “No… She’s in deep. I’ve been trying for months to get her out. This is the only shot she has. If I’m lucky, those friends of hers aren’t already watching the station.”

“I see.” There’s a reason why he’s willing to pay so much for my help now.

As he said, it’s her only chance.

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