Page 53 of Deadly Knight

No one saw the war with Mancini’s family coming, but the bigger surprise was the way Zeno broke down Vanessa’s defenses and made her care about another person. Years of fighting to prove herself made her cold, a shadow of who she really is, and now, she’s a blend.

As though thinking about her prompted her to reach out, my screen flashes with her text.

Vanessa

Haven’t heard from you in a few days. Lev says you haven’t found anything yet. Zeno’s reaching out to every connection he has.

I unhook my phone from its car mount and, with the help of the endless red lights holding up traffic, type:

Me

Tell him thanks.

Vanessa

How’s Katya?

Me

Alive.

Vanessa replies one more time about keeping her updated, and when I’m about to rest my phone back into the mount, Lev texts a list of four names.

Henry Johns

Theo Markman

Luke Turner

Caleb Carter

The first three have worked at the centre since before Katya, but the fourth is new.

Me

Find me what you can on Caleb Carter.

Stupid name.

Lev

Does this have something to do with your father?

Me

Kinda.

Lev

Anything in particular I should be looking for?

Me

No. Just everything. Thanks.

I drop my phone into the console and focus on the remainder of the trip, anticipating the information about Caleb Carter. Even his name sickens me.

Fuck, I hope he has skeletons in his closet, if only to give me reason to remove him from Katya’s life permanently. Then she can return to not smiling at other men and making it more and more difficult to restrain myself from killing someone.