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“Mother of Jesus, can they not just wait a minute?” Kane mutters, rolling off of me and reaching for his pants while both our phones go silent.

But not for long.

We’ve accepted the inevitable, and I follow his lead and scramble for my clothing. There’s no peace for the wicked, and we are most definitely the wicked. I’m not sure I’d have it any other way, though I’d take a little less cartel in our lives right about now. Ghost and Pocher are enough.

Once we’re both dressed, I reach for my phone, prepared to navigate whatever waits on me, but apparently Kane isn’t as ready. He catches my arm and gives me one of his intense, for me only looks, framed with the kind of hard edge he does so well. “You have to trust me.” It’s as much order as plea, a weird combination he manages to pull off a bit too often, considering it works for me.

“You’re pretty much the only person I trust, Kane. I mean, yes, I trust Jay, but sometimes in the wrong way. I trust him to put himself in harm’s way. Yes. Check. I trust him to—”

“ Lilah. ”

“I trust you, Kane.”

“Are you sure about that?” he challenges.

“Why does this feel like a trick question?”

“Because as we’ve established, I know you, which means you’re not going to hear what I’m about to say to you. You have the attention of not one, but two lethal killers.”

“Three if you count Elsa, though I’m not sure I have her attention yet.”

“ Lilah .”

“ Kane. ”

“My father and Ghost aren’t just killers. They’re intelligent, calculating, successful killers, and that success stretches over time. They have staying power. And the biggest mistake you will ever make is to think they are like anyone you have ever faced.”

“If I underestimated even one of the people I have faced, I’d be dead. And that whole Enrique tattling to daddy thing is not cool. If he chooses the wrong moment to defy me, that can get us killed.”

“Cut him some slack, bella. Enrique knows the brutality of my father. He’s seen it firsthand. I understand why he wanted to call me, and you should as well.”

“He called you because he was afraid you’d kill him if he didn’t.”

“I might have, if I wasn’t too dead to get the job done. My father loves a good distraction to a murder. Enrique knows that. He was as concerned for you as he was for me.” There’s a knock on the door, and his scowl could burn a hole in Hell.

With a Spanish curse, he releases me and heads for the door, rubbing the back of his neck in the process. I grab my phone, dismissing the topic of Enrique as I eye what appears to be ten thousand text messages from Tic Tac that started out normal and reasonable.

All three of the targets not attending my father’s party are in DC. Maryland is less than an hour away. I’d expected Elsa to be in DC; only DC will be locked down after a director, one of their own, was murdered.

Maybe the party isn’t in play after all.

I scan a few more messages. Chief Houston is asking about Murphy and the status of the case. DD, the ME on Murphy’s case wants to know if I want to join in the autopsy. The ME in the Gomez case is asking the same thing. There’s nothing from that little dweeb Lucas.

I’m back to more messages from Tic Tac, noting the rising level of agitation— I need help, answer your phone, and for once answer your phone. Where is Lucas? is another theme.

“The sketch artist will be here in thirty minutes,” Kane informs me, stepping back into the room. “I told them to just have him wait, maybe give him that damn strawberry pie. I can’t believe you got him pie, Lilah.”

“That pie is so good, it distracted him. He forgot to try to kill me,” I joke, and then on a serious note, “I don’t know if he’s really going after my father. I think it was a distraction.” My cellphone rings in my hand, and I glance at the caller ID. “It’s Tic Tac, and he’s losing his shit on text message. I have to take it.”

I plop down in the chair behind me and hit “answer,” and before I can say a word, I’m blasted. “I thought you were handling Lucas?!” His voice squeaks with panic, and I’ve heard a lot of things from Tic Tac before, even panic, but never with the Mickey Mouse voice.

“What is going on with you, Tic Tac?”

“I don’t know, Lilah,” Tic Tac says, snark in his tone. “I’ve been shuffled all over the place, threatened, scared, and bodies are dropping like flies. Is Ellis dead, or dirty, and I’m now on his shit list?”

“Ellis isn’t coming after you.”

“You don’t know that.”

He’s right. I don’t know much. And we’ve been at this way too long, with too many lives on the line, for me to feel like I’m the stupid one right now. “You need to take a deep breath, Tic Tac. I am not going to let anything happen to you.” Kane sits down in the chair next to me and makes a motion, encouraging me to add, “Neither is Kane.” Which reminds me of just how far I went to protect Tic Tac. “I called freaking Rich for you, Tic Tac. Do you know what hell that brought on me?”

“I’m sorry if hell rained down on you for saving my life, Lilah.”

I scowl. “What is going on with you? I think I need to meet this guy you’re dating. You’re just plain snarky these days.”

“I’m not dating anyone, remember? We broke up because he couldn’t take you calling me at all hours of the night. This job is going to kill me. I don’t want to die.”

“You’re not going to die, and when this is over, I’ll call your man and promise him to not call at all hours.”

“You’d be lying.”

“I’d mean it when I said it.” My phone buzzes with a call, and I glance at the caller ID and show it to Kane, who smirks. He knows what’s coming, and it’s not gentle. “Enrique is calling, Tic Tac. He’s with Pocher’s security guy. I’ll explain later, and you can continue being cranky when I do.” I disconnect and then hit the speaker button to answer Enrique with, “Is he on the chopper?”

“Yeah, and I made sure he was scared shitless.”

“Good,” I say. “Now do it again .”

“What?”

“Go back to Lucas’ house and hold a fucking gun to his head until he does his job. He still hasn’t called Tic Tac. He’s supposed to be finding Elsa. Or Ghost. I don’t give two fucks. Find one. Find the other. And feel free to play cartel gangbanger. Shoot him in the foot or cut his damn finger off.”

“Does this mean I’m back on your good side?”

“No,” I say, meeting Kane’s stare. “It does not mean you’re back on my good side. It just means I’m not going to kill you tonight. I might tomorrow.” I disconnect and set my phone on the table between me and Kane. “He’s not off my shit list.”

“I’m aware,” he assures me.

I sigh and press my lips together. “There’s more going on that I don’t understand.”

“You mean with Ghost?”

“I mean with everyone and everything. Ghost is a part of this. Maybe more than we know. Maybe he is the distraction. Maybe that’s what he’s being paid to do.”

“If that were the case, why would he kill Elsa’s brother?”

“Because someone on the hit list wants Mark and Elsa dead, is what I’m thinking. Ghost is just using the number one assassin thing as a cover story.”

“That computes to me. The question is, who’s pulling the strings?”

I push to my feet and turn to face him. “The president called me, which is not a big thing. I asked him to call to ensure the VP is protected. It’s the fact I told him Adams wasn’t communicating, and I’d barely hung up with him, and Adams called me.”

“That feels funny to you?” he asks. “Maybe it’s simply that his boss just got mad and he responded to that anger and contacted you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Adams is just an arrogant power play dick, and nothing more, but Adams also told me Ellis called him and told him if he didn’t contact him by a certain time to come for him. Why didn’t Ellis say that to me? He was with me when he left.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Whoever is in charge really wants me out of the way and in Maryland, which is why I’m not going to Maryland.”