Page 400 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

“But don’t worry.”

A pause.

“You can still fix it.”

Elliot stared at the locked door.

“Where is Ronan?”

Silence. Saint laughed softly. Then:

“Exactly where I need him.”

Every instinct Elliot had ever possessed came alive at once. The promise. No killing. Ronan. Saint. Five bodies. Choice. Bell tightened his grip on Elliot’s shoulder.

“Do not move.”

Elliot looked at him. Then toward the red-lit door. And for the first time since confessing, he understood exactly what Saint wanted now. Not secrecy. Not obedience. Not another body. Saint wanted Elliot to prove that when forced to choose between his promise and Ronan’s life, the promise would always lose.

Chapter Thirty-Two — For You

ELLIOT

TUESDAY · 4:51 P.M.

Elliot stopped hearing the alarm. Not literally. It still screamed somewhere beyond the locked interview-room door, sharp enough to vibrate through the walls and turn every second into something mechanical. But Ronan was somewhere outside. That replaced everything. Bell’s hand remained locked around Elliot’s shoulder beneath the table.

“Stay down.”

“No.”

“Elliot.”

“Let go.”

“You are currently under arrest for five homicides.”

“I noticed.”

“Then perhaps do not add attacking counsel to the afternoon.”

“I’m not going to attack you.”

“That is the most reassuring thing you’ve said all day.”

Another gunshot cracked through the hallway. Closer. Elliot’s entire body reacted. Bell tightened his grip.

“Stay.”

“Ronan is out there.”

“So are armed officers.”

“Saint is out there.”

“You do not know that.”

Elliot looked toward the red emergency light above the door. Saint’s voice had come through the building speaker. Live. Undistorted. Warm. Familiar only because Elliot had spent months reading that voice inside his own head. Saint was here. Or close enough to control this place in real time. Either way, Ronan was exposed. That was enough. Elliot moved. Bell caught him around the upper arm.