Page 75 of Falcon’s Forever

“Maybe,” I reply.

“Is it useful?” Vulture asks.

“No,” I admit.

“Then you probably shouldn’t,” he says.

I glance at him. “Did you come out here to give me another motivational speech?”

“No,” Vulture answers.

There’s no humour in his voice this time.

“Hustler is with Knox,” he continues. “He has cuts from the glass and bruised ribs, but his mouth is working fine.”

“Good,” I say, releasing a little of the tension in my chest.

Vulture doesn’t say anything about Carrot.

He doesn’t need to.

Carrot’s death sits in the space between us, the way a body remains in a room long after someone has carried it away.

“The police picked up the man you left at the industrial yard,” Vulture tells me. “He has a gunshot wound to the leg and a false identity. He’s in the hospital under guard.”

“What about the SUV?” I ask.

“Rook thinks it’s the same one that’s been watching the south road,” Vulture replies.

That doesn't surprise me. Vulture looks toward the damaged north fence. "Condor's pulling everything he can. Sterling's talking to the warehouse contact about how those men got Rachel's prescription route."

I frown as I work through the timeline. “That’s what bothers me too. The ambush wasn’t improvised. They knew exactly where I was going. They could have followed us from the pharmacy.”

“They could have,” Vulture agrees.

“But they attacked the compound at the same time,” I point out.

“It looks that way,” he says.

Cold settles in my stomach. “It was coordinated.”

“Maybe,” Vulture replies.

For once, neither of us has enough humour left to make a joke about the word.

“Someone knew we would leave,” I say.

“Maybe,” he repeats.

Then his expression hardens. “Do you want to tell me why you ignored a direct order?”

There’s no warm-up, he goes straight for the throat.

I look away. “The SUV boxed us in near traffic. There was a minivan beside us with kids in the back. I moved the fight away from the civilians.”

“You did that after I ordered you to hold the route,” Vulture reminds me.

“Yes,” I admit.