Page 104 of Shadow

Until what?

The door banged open. “What was that?” Daphne charged in.

“Roger. Having a temper tantrum.”

She rolled her eyes.

He shrugged. She turned back to her room as Asher moved to his jacket, bloody and hanging on a chair.

Searched the pocket.

The burner phone was gone. He took a breath. Okay, so, probably he’d lost it in the fight at the house.

He did, however, have his cell velcroed in his leg pocket. He pulled it out, and the screen lit up when he touched it—harsh blue light in the gray morning. Pulled up encrypted messaging. Typed carefully, thumb moving over the screen.

Asher

It’s on. Tonight. 5pm. Blackwater Pass. Will send location details. Come watch the show.

He sent it to Dmitri’s number.

His phone buzzed. Response already. Less than ten seconds.

Dmitri

Received. Will be there.

Either Dmitri was playing along, or he was setting a trap.

Only one way to find out.

Asher deleted the messages. The screen asked: Are you sure? He tapped yes. The messages vanished.

Then he pulled up the contact of the only man he knew who could build explosives from scratch, and prepared to end this.

Ten

This had to work. Asher checked his mirrors for the third time in two minutes and ran through Rowan Wallace’s instructions again.

Former spec ops, the guy had shown up with a duffel filled with everything he needed to stage the deaths. Equipment and instructions.

Speed: 45 mph approaching the curve. Fast enough to look like loss of control. Slow enough to bail safely.

Angle: 23 degrees. Steep enough the SUV would roll. Gradual enough it wouldn’t flip immediately.

Distance: 51 feet from edge to detonation point. Enough time for witnesses to see. Not enough time to intervene.

Timing: 4.3 seconds from when he jumped to when the SUV went over.

Detonator: Remote trigger in his jacket pocket. Two-second delay after activation.

He blew out a breath. He’d calculated every detail, every variable, every contingency.

He hoped. He hadn’t felt like praying…ever, maybe. But something pulsed inside him. Maybe his sister, looking down from heaven.

Please.

Felt a little silly, but a weird peace settled inside him, ever so briefly.