Page 43 of Bleed the Shadows

“We like to know the risks going in,” Jude said, tipping his beer to his mouth.

“Shouldn’t get you into trouble if you stay out of sight,” Bram said.

“Who’s the target?” Rafe asked.

“Manosphere douchebag,” Remy said. “He’s from here apparently, and now he’s back.”

“Wait… is this the guy who’s involved in the trafficking thing overseas?” Jude asked. “I saw that on the news.”

“That’s the one,” Poe said.

“What are you looking for exactly?” Nolan asked. “With the drone.”

“General layout of the place, ID on the guy we’re looking for if at all possible,” Bram said.

Jude rubbed at his jaw. “You’ll want us to send it up during the day then.”

“We’ll leave that to you,” Remy said.

Nolan leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Why this guy? I know you said he’s from Blackwell, but so what?”

Bram’s jaw tightened. “Is telling you a deal-breaker?”

Nolan shook his head. “Not necessarily, but like Jude said, we like to know what we’re stepping in before we step in it.”

There was a lot of testosterone in the room, but I could tell Nolan was trying to keep things cool.

“Then let’s just say it’s better for you if you don’t know.”

“He wasn’t involved in the trafficking operation up here was he?” Jude asked.

“Why would you say that?” Bram asked.

He was always hard to read, but I thought he sounded surprised.

Jude shrugged. “The Hungary thing.”

I’d heard whispers about a trafficking ring, first from Aventine University, the college outside of town, and then with a couple of guys who’d gone to Blackwell High a long time ago. One of them had been a hotshot real estate developer and had planned to build a resort on the mountain before he was found out.

But none of that had anything to do with Ethan Todd.

Still, I felt the scratch again, that feeling that there was something I wasn’t quite catching, a loose thread I needed to pull. I thought about the flyers I’d seen at Cassie’s Cuppa, the missing girls on the bulletin board.

“Maeve?” I looked up to find Lilah looking at me, her green eyes bright. “What is it?”

I shook my head. “I saw some flyers of missing girls on a bulletin board in town.”

Lilah’s expression darkened. “That might have been Rain.”

I nodded. “I think so. Did you know her?”

Lilah cut a glance at Nolan and Jude and I felt something private pass between them. “Not directly. But I’ve talked to her mom. She’s still looking for Rain.”

“The guy we’re looking for has only been around town for a few weeks,” Remy said.

Rafe stroked Lilah’s hip. “The trafficking thing was transnational.”

“How do you know?” Bram asked.