Page 62 of Dangerous Command
We pulled into a quiet neighborhood with wired fences around patches of green and yellow grass. A faded flag hung from one of the driveways, and a pinwheel twirled on the yard next to it. Cars on the street, some in garages. The sidewalks empty. In the cul-de-sac, most of the houses were for-sale or seemed unoccupied, except for one: a lawn chair and a resting man. Kit—his face scruffy, his brown hair oily and unwashed. Stains on his tank top. Like he wanted to watch the world roast away on this hot, desert day.
What had happened to him?
With the engine still running, Derek checked his holster, then held up a hand, instructing me to stay still. He opened the car door, leaning out of it.
“Kit?” Derek said, his voice loud.
“You found me then, huh?”
“We have a few questions for you.”
At the word ‘we,’ Kit glanced at me, sitting in the passenger seat, but his eyes stayed stoic. Had he recognized me?
Kit turned back to Derek. “How did you find me?”
“Ulrich Byron’s club,” Derek said.
Kit let out a long, audible sigh. He motioned behind him, then went inside, leaving the door open for us. Derek killed the engine and I checked the rest of the neighborhood, almost sure that someone was watching us. But it was empty. No one seemed to care.
A television sat on top of a plain, wooden stand in the front room, with one beat-up recliner. The rest of the house was bare, as if Kit never expected to settle down for long.
“So what does Muro want this time?” Kit asked.
“We’re here to ask you about Muro,” Derek said. “Where is he?”
“Whoa,” Kit said. He put a hand to his chest. Stale body odor wafted from his armpits at the movement. “You’re messing with me, right? You think I’m going to tell you where he is?”
“It’s not a question of if,” Derek said.
Kit turned towards me, then tilted his head. He narrowed his eyes at Derek.
“Who are you?”
“Derek Adler,” he said. Kit studied him, then rubbed his chin.
“I don’t have any beef with you two,” Kit said. He turned away from us, facing the back of the house. “If you go now, I won’t say anything to Muro, all right? Just go.” He motioned in the general direction of the front door. “But be quick. And I won’t say anything.”
“We aren’t leaving without a location.” Derek put a hand on his gun. “This can be a civil conversation.”
“Civil, my ass,” Kit muttered. He rubbed his holster too. “You know I lost my job over this, right? My position at the department. I lost everything. And if there’s one thing I know, I’m not going to throw away even more shit just to rat Muro out in the end.” He threw up one hand. “I’m biding my time.”
“My finger is itching,” Derek warned. “Don’t give me a reason.”
“You think you’re hot shit because you’re the new Adler boss, huh?” Kit shook his head. “But you can’t seem to track down a single man, can you?” He laughed. “You’ve got nothing, Adler. Muro is still alive.”
“Muro has nothing left,” I said, interrupting the two of them. “His headquarters are gone. His products and deals have been taken over by the Adlers. There is literallynothingleft of Muro’s empire. So if you want a chance—” I stopped, trying to find something,anything, that Kit might care about, but I found nothing, “If you want a chance to survive, then you’ve got to do what’s right. You need to help us.”
Kit studied my face with those same bloodshot, narrowed eyes. Beer on his breath. I pleaded for him to do this for us. For everything that we had been through. For everything I knew he had sacrificed. He turned to Derek.
“She would know,” Kit said, tilting his head in my direction.
“Know what?” Derek asked.
I shook my head frantically. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
“Why don’t you know?” Kit asked.
What was I supposed to say? “I haven’t lived here in years. Why would I—”
