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Chapter 18

Titus

I was surprised when the big, lifted-up truck rolled to a stop next to the GTO where it was parked up on a hill overlooking the battered and long-abandoned warehouse that Novak and his now defunct crew used to work out of I had been standing there for a while, just waiting and watching, kicking ether sooner, which see with Roark Souys were just better than I was When the driver climbed out of the beast of a ured I should’ve known he had to be lurking around waiting toafter the attack The way he had watched those video ca that he was tied into Roark’s plans was telling The entire way Booker had acted when he was in Race’s building had hinted that soame board we couldn’t see It was just like an ex-con to et to clue the rest of the players what they were

If I was surprised to see him I don’t think he was at all shocked when I was on hiround I wanted to rip his head off and spit down his throat for the danger he had put Reeve in I was happy I hadn’t called in for backup yet I couldn’t drop-kick him across the Point if I had witnesses

He thuainst the side of the truck as I barreled into him but ere evenlybefore I had a fist in ing heavy blows and grunting with exertion He got in a good shot to my cheek and I was pretty sure I broke his nose when I slammed my forehead into the center of his face I took an elbow to the sternum, which knocked the wind out of me, so I retaliated with a kidney punch that finally had the other ered to our feet, bloodied and furious, as we continued to circle one another like fighting dogs

“She could have died, asshole” I spit ahim step back and swear at me

“She has a gun and she kno to use it It was the only way any of us were going to get close to Roark Soet in on the inside and the only way to do that was to give hi he wants”

“Reeve’s corpse?” Just saying the wordsstep toward the other esture of surrender and shook his head slowly

“No He wants you, but in order to convince hih, I had to show hio Why do you think I let the ca blind spot in that building I wanted you guys to see ure shit out I wanted you to know so was up”

“The bastard cut her, almost raped her It wasn’t worth the risk She isn’t yours to play with like that”

“We don’t have a choice Sacrifices have to be ling on the end of his string waiting around like a bunch of duoes after next I believed Reeve could take care of herself and it got us exactly where we needed to be I followed you when you left the house so I could talk to you, even though I knew you were going to take a crack atyou to him now that I’ve proven myself to him He’ll think I took you down just like he believed I wanted to let Zero in the building It’s the only shot we have at getting close, Titus He’s too smart He knows the way this shit works from the inside He’s better at it than we are and et hurt We can stop it if you trust me”

I crossed my arms over my chest as he let his hands fall “Why does he want me?”

Booker heaved a deep breath and lifted a finger to wipe at the steady trickle of blood leaking out of his nose My side was aching and my jaw throbbed We had done a nuirl loves you It’s obvious to anyone that sees the two of you together He doesn’t want her gone, he wants her to suffer In his own sick and ht the two of them were a match made in heaven when she told him about how she asked Novak to take care of the sister’s boyfriend He thought she was as brutal and as violent as he was He thought revenge would tie the she has a heart and actually cares about other people, and he wants to make her pay for it She disappointed him, so she deserves to feel that same kind of pain”

“Zero tried to kill her, Booker”

The scarred“Roark is malicious and devious, Titus Zero didn’t know she was ar she was going to fight back Knowing she would pull the trigger Why do you think the guy only had a knife? Roark wants her to be like him He wants her to be a killer He sent his man in there to die by her hand”

“The gun was downstairs Zero could’ve stabbed her the second she got out of the shower He surprised her and she had to fight She fought hard to stay alive There are too many what-ifs in that scenario”

“It’s in for Roark She kills his guy and he feels like he has proven to himself that she is exactly what he wants her to be, or she ends up dead and she’s out of the hile he continues to torture the rest of us Like I said, he’s better at this than we are, so the only way to stop hiet to you, that I would arrange to have you meet me, and that you would show just to take a chunk out ofZero in I told him you would do your job and the opportunity to takecouldn’t be passed up I told hi you to hi” ”

“How did he contact you in the first place?”

Booker wiped a hand across his face, s atnose “Zero aiting for ht outside of the police station He asked if I needed a ride back to the condo and made it clear the only answer I had better have was yes He asked me about Karsen He kneent into the school after her She’s just a kid, daoes down in this place She has a shot at having a normal life I told him to leave her alone and he ood help It was very ‘come to the dark side’ He made it sound like they would leave the kid alone if I did what they wanted, so I told his, and that’s when he told irl”