Page 359 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

Elliot stepped closer to the speaker.

“Claire.”

The monitor changed. Not Claire. Ronan. Live. Sitting inside the van. His blood went cold. Camera angle from outside windshield. Someone was watching the van. Right now. Vance saw it.

“MOVE.”

Everything exploded. Officers shouted over radios. Vance grabbed Ronan’s shoulder.

“Down.”

Ronan ducked. Elliot’s body camera shook as he ran from unit twelve.

“No!”

Ronan shouted into the mic.

“Stay there!”

Too late. Elliot came around the corner. Running directly toward the van. Saint laughed through the unit speaker. Then Elliot’s phone vibrated. Ronan saw him look. He stopped dead in the lane. Message. PROMISES, ELLIOT. Another photograph. Claire. Knife still beneath her jaw. Elliot’s entire body locked. Ronan got out of the van. Vance grabbed him.

“Stay down.”

“No.”

“Ronan.”

“He needs to see me.”

“What?”

Ronan stepped into the open. Elliot saw him. Across two rows of storage units. Their eyes met. Ronan lifted both hands. Empty. Alive. Stay. He mouthed it. Elliot stared. Ronan touched his own shoulder. The bite beneath his shirt. Then mouthed: Promise. Even from twenty yards away, Ronan saw Elliot understand. His chest rose. Fell. He stopped moving. Good. Sirens finally broke the silence. Not police. Fire alarm. Every unit light flashed simultaneously. Vance swore.

“System override.”

Smoke began pouring from the far end of the complex. Ronan’s stomach dropped. Saint was evacuating everyone. Creating chaos. Elliot’s phone vibrated again. He looked. Then toward Ronan. His face went white. Ronan knew before seeing it.

“What?”

Elliot didn’t move.

“ELLIOT.”

He held the phone up. Ronan couldn’t read from there. Vance ran toward him. Ronan followed despite her shouting. They reached Elliot. Ronan grabbed the phone. Message:

CLAIRE WAS NEVER AT MERCY STORAGE.

Another:

YOU WERE.

Cold moved through him. Then: WHILE YOU WERE BUSY PROVING YOU COULD CONTROL HIM… A final photograph loaded. Rebecca. Standing outside the main house. Taken less than a minute ago. Ronan stopped breathing. Elliot made a sound beside him. Not a word. Something lower. Dangerous. The next message appeared.

I TOOK THE WRONG MOM.

Everything inside Ronan dropped.

“No.”