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“I know, but his shot that took Broussard down was sheer perfection.”
“It was,” Corey agreed begrudgingly. “But he’s still on my shit list. How’s your arm?”
“Shot. It was a through and through, but it needs stitches.”
Corey laughed, the sound more than a little hysterical. “Too bad you killed Zach. He could have fixed you right up.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Yeah, well, the dog got me. I went looking in the kid’s room and the dog attacked. Bit my sore arm, the fucker.”
“Did you shoot it?”
“Tried to, but my shot went wide when that little prick brother of mine attacked me.”
Czar’s okay. Thank God.
“I didn’t see that comin’,” Bobby admitted.
“Me either,” Corey said, his anger clear. “I hope Jace chokes on his own blood.”
He might, Val thought dully, thinking of the bright crimson staining the boy’s shirt. But Corey hadn’t found Elijah and Kaj was safe.
“Since we don’t have Cardozo,” Corey said, “we need to get in touch with him to deliver our demands. We should have dumped the contacts from the blonde’s phone to get his number. Can Drysdale get the number for us?”
“I’ll ask him when we’re safely away from here.”
The van came to a stop and Val was grabbed again and frisked. They dumped her in the trunk of a car, her body shoved into a fetal position. The trunk slammed down and it was dark.
Val fought to push back the fear. Stay alert. Be ready. Fight back.
Mid-City, New Orleans, Louisiana
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 10:40 A.M.
Kaj stared at the blood sugar monitor app on his phone, dread like icy fingers down his spine. “Oh no.”
“What?” Phin asked.
“Elijah’s blood sugar is dropping. Fast. His levels get fed to my phone.” He dialed his son, but the phone just rang, then went to voice mail. “Something’s wrong.”
“Duck your head down,” Phin said. “We’re approaching your neighborhood.”
But Kaj’s phone rang and he immediately answered without glancing at the caller ID. “Elijah? Why’s your sugar dropping? Take some of that glucose gel.” It was fast-acting and would bring his sugar back up.
“Kaj, it’s Antoine.” And he sounded frantic. “Where are you?”
“With Phin, on our way back from seeing Aaron at the jail. Antoine, what’s wrong?”
Phin glanced down to meet Kaj’s eyes. “Speaker, please.”
Kaj did so. “You’re on speaker. How’s André?”
“In recovery. But, Kaj, you need to get home right away. Elijah’s there alone.”
Kaj couldn’t breathe. Elijah’s blood sugar was continuing to drop. “What?”
“Intruders,” Antoine said. “My phone alerted when the perimeter was breached. It was MaryBeth’s van, but...” His voice hitched. “She was hijacked. Shot in front of your house. Burke was shot on your porch when he went out to help her.”
