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I was startled out of my reflections when Bax knocked me on my shoulder

“Let’s get you hoht is done for” He sounded like it was just another day, just another glitch in the wiring thatdown my spine

“All right”

Once ere back in the car headed the few blocks to the garage so I could grab the Stingray, he asked

“I’m not sure This is the Point It’s supposed to be a place that takes care of itself Nothing and no one is supposed to be worse than the Point I don’t kno I feel about it being under attack and losing”

He made a noise low in his throat “It’sto spoiled kids and one wrong turn away froly it is, how vicious and hard it is to live here, it’s still ho torn apart, when you know the threat is real and coht for it, even if you knoould watch you rot and not give a shit”

He was absolutely right The Point do to tear it down As ht it would happen, I ith Nassir on this one When we had the person behind the destruction, behind the bloody and ht at the heart ofarm of the law, no pursuit of justice—there would only be retaliation and payback in the name of this place that was not nearly as unbreakable as it seemed

I told Bax good-bye before he raced ho need a little bither safe and in one piece She was my tether to the reality outside of the violence and machinations thatto win this war that was being waged She kept ame

I got to the condo that was built on the docks right on the edge of the city It was far enough out of the heart of the Point to be safe, but still far enough away from the Hill and burbs that no one would think to look for two upper- it as a hideout The condo had been my dad’s secret love shack It here he took all the women he cheated on ed to escape the feds’ lockdown on anything with the Hartman name attached to it The only reason I knew it existed was because Novak had taken great pleasure in not only pulling all ofme know just how much dirt he had on reased paler, and all traces of hts about having the title to the condo put into Brysen’s naality of her ownership of the property would fall apart, but for now, the place was hers, even if she didn’t know it or ended up not wanting it

I parked in the underground garage and took the elevator up to the top floor The condo looked out over the water, onto the shipping docks If the Point had been in a better place, been in a prettier city, the vieould be aweso, rusty ships, and crusty dock workers When I pushed through the door, I was greeted with the open end of a gun pointed ataround since Brysen’s tumble at the school I kneasn’t the sentimental or sympathetic type, but he also wasn’t the type that liked to look like anyone had gotten the better of hi Brysen’s attack personally, which was fine by me

He lowered the gun and the scar that covered half of his face twitched

“I didn’t know you were coht”

He stashed the gun back wherever it had been before he pointed it at me as I shut the door behind me

“My girl is here Where else would I be?”

He snorted and picked up an open beer that was on the coffee table “You better tell her that She wasn’t thrilled I was the one taking her home from the hospital today She’s been a real peach to be around all day”

I winced a little I should have freed up the tiet her here I sucked at this relationship stuff She should always come first

“And the little one” He lifted his eyebrows up “She’s going to get herself in trouble Alalking around with those big puppy-dog eyes like she’s looking for a ood hoal”