Page 51 of Hellbent

Evan twitched the barrel slightly.

“I DON’T KNOW WHERE! I don’t know anything. I swear. They keep us in the dark about everything.”

Evan let the weight of the hot barrel press into the hollow of the man’s throat. The flesh sizzled. “Not improving your situation, hired man.”

“Hang on! I overheard Thornhill saying something about a female Orphan. Candy something. Orphan V.”

At this, Evan’s face tightened.

“Please.” Saliva sheeted between the man’s lips. “That’s all I know. I told you everything. Can I … will you let me live?”

“You were dead the minute Van Sciver told you my name.” Evan pulled the trigger.

He heard a creak behind him and pivoted, dropping the empty shotgun and drawing his ARES.

He found himself aiming at Joey.

She stood in the doorway, surveying the wreckage. A flush had come up beneath her smooth brown cheeks. The shack smelled of blood iron and the insides of men. Through the lingering smoke, her emerald eyes glowed, unguarded, overwhelmed.

“I told you to stay in the car.”

“I’m fine.”

“Pull the car around. Hurry.”

She stepped back and was gone.

He flung a corpse off the central table and rifled through the items beneath. Coffee cups, battery packs, a half-eaten sub. Useless. Beneath a pack of black gel pens, he found a red-covered notebook. Seizing it, he thumbed through the stiff pages. Nothing inside.

He tossed it, moved to the chipped counter em-dashing half of the east wall. Coffeepot, microwave, utility sink. The cabinet beneath held rusted pipes, water spots, a crusted bottle of Drano.

He turned in his crouch, giving the room a last, hurried scan.

Blood dripped from the edge of the table. A strip of duct tape shimmered beneath the lip.

A laptop, adhered to the table’s underside.

He tore it free and turned for the door. As he stepped over what was left of the broad-shouldered man, something chimed. Evan paused to fish a familiar-looking Samsung Galaxy from the dead man’s pocket.

He used the man’s shirt to wipe a crimson smear off the screen. Location services were toggled off, GPS disabled.

Out front he heard the Subaru squeal to the curb.

Keeping the phone, he exited through the fortified steel door. As it swung open, he heard the faint slosh of water within.

It was a nice security measure, if you thought about it.

23

Damaged Goods

As Joey sped away, Evan checked out the Samsung. It appeared to be wiped of data, holding only the operating system and a single app.

Signal.

The encrypted comms software showed several incoming contact attempts.

Sirens wailed, a squadron of cop cars rocketing past one block over on Lombard Street, blues and reds lasering through the night air.