Page 30

Thirty

Roman

I slept like shit last night, but that was nothing new.

Ever since Quinn showed up, asking for my help a few weeks ago, I hadn’t relaxed enough to truly rest. I had debated going back to my apartment to handle things but decided to stay at Mike’s place after agreeing that it was better to keep Rosie safe by having more eyes on her.

Quinn and Rosie slept in the guest bedroom while Mike stayed awake in his, and I camped out on the couch in the living room. He had gotten a call around five this morning, confirming that Saul had more complications during surgery and didn’t make it.

I was in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee when there was a knock on Mike’s door. Before I could answer it, he came down the hallway, looking at me, confused. I shrugged, not having any clue who was there, and then went back to grabbing some mugs from the hooks above the sink.

“What do you want?” he asked, slowly opening the door but not enough to let in whoever was on the other side.

“I need to talk to you,” a quiet female voice answered.

“Now isn’t a good time. We can talk at the office.”

“You don’t understand, Mike—there isn’t going to be a good time. This is urgent.”

The door pushed open, and the woman from the party that Mike hated appeared. I pushed at the corners of my mind, trying to recall her name, but the lack of sleep had me struggling this morning.

“Anastasia,” he groaned, shoving a hand through his hair in frustration.

“Look—I know that you don’t like me and hate having to deal with me, but there’s something that you need to know.”

“What?”

I leaned against the counter, not making any effort to leave as she tossed her honey blonde hair over her shoulder, and her hazel eyes pleaded with him to listen.

“Frank Bestillos was murdered this morning. They found his body when a neighbor called the apartment manager about a noise complaint. The door was kicked open, and his body was left in the kitchen, bullet to the head.”

“What the fuck?” Mike muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

“That’s not all,” she said nervously. “Julia was taken to the hospital this morning. Someone attacked her on her way to work in an alley. An onlooker intervened and scared them off before they could do anything else.”

I pushed off the counter and joined them.

“Are these all the same people who—”

“Were in the car when Justin died.” Mike pulled his lips into a thin line.

“So someone’s taking out his entire team?”

She nodded as tears filled her eyes.

“Do you think it’s Elias Salvador?” I asked. “It seems pretty convenient that suddenly everyone that was working the case that sent him and his father to prison is now being targeted and murdered.”

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen. I didn’t want to bother you by coming here, but since Justin was your brother-in-law, I was worried they might come for you too.”

Before he could say anything, I noticed the red dot that quickly moved from her forehead to her chest, then back up again.

“Get down now!” I shouted, diving toward her and pulling her to the floor as a bullet whipped past us. Mike crouched next to me before taking off toward the guest bedroom where Quinn and Rosie were.

“Take cover, Quinn,” he yelled while pulling his gun from its holster.

I dropped to the floor, cradling Anastasia in my arms as I watched the blood pool around her.