Page 116 of Make Them Bleed

“Don’t,” Juno snaps. “Don’t call me kiddo.”

He winces, then schools his face. “Okay. Juno.”

I shift my chair a half inch closer to hers. One of the muscle guys notices and plants a hand on the chair back. I stop. I take inventory. Zip ties are heavy-duty. No give. My belt has a micro ceramic blade in the lining (a gift from Dean I never thought I’d ever need.) If I can get my hands to my hip, I can cut. Not yet.

Etta crosses to the table and sets down a leather folder. “Let’s be efficient,” she says. “Time is not our friend.”

“Whose fault is that?” Juno asks, eyes on Bob.

Bob exhales. “I never wanted any of this to touch you,” he says. “Or your mother. Or Arby. I wanted—” He stops, looks at Etta. She gives a tiny nod. He goes on. “I wanted discretion. That’s all.”

“Discretion?” Juno repeats. “You hired a hit squad because you wanted discretion?”

“Careful,” Etta says mildly.

Juno turns on her. “You were with him at Club Greed.”

Etta doesn’t flinch. “I was.”

“This is insane,” I say, keeping my voice level. “Untie her. You don’t fix discretion by kidnapping two people in broad daylight.”

“Sun’s behind the clouds,” the muscle says, like that helps.

Bob runs a hand over his face. “Arby found out about me and Etta,” he says. “She saw us. She confronted me.”

Juno’s throat works. “When?”

“Three months ago,” he says. “She came to my office. She said she’d keep quiet if I came clean to your mother and if I stopped pushing certain contracts.” He gives Etta another look. “It wasn’t just… personal. There were approvals. Nereus. Pass-throughs we use for… things.”

Etta lifts a brow. “You wanted flexibility in procurement. Nereus provides flexibility. It’s not illegal to hire a consultant.”

“It is when you hide it,” Juno bites out.

Bob ignores the jab, focused on telling his version before he loses the chance. “Arby said she was going to do an episode. Not about me by name. About the rot. About the way money moves. And she refused the HOLO-BURST deal. Said it was poison. Said she’d tell Juno to tell listeners to boycott.”

“And?” I press. “You could’ve resigned. You could’ve told Karen the truth. You could’ve stopped.”

He looks small for the first time. “I panicked. Etta introduced me to someone who… handles problems.”

Etta’s face stays blank. “I introduced you to a man who understands how to manage optics,” she says. “Coleman manages optics.”

The name is a hammer in the room.

“We asked for a scare,” Bob says quickly. “On my mother’s grave. We asked for a scare. Make her back off. Put the fear into her. I never said—” He can’t finish it.

“You’re sick,” Juno says, voice flat.

Bob shakes his head hard. “I didn’t know.” He swallows. “They told me it would be a live stunt. Embarrass her. She’d stop.”

“Stop breathing,” Juno says.

He stares at the floor.

Etta opens the leather folder and slides two papers out. “We are off-schedule,” she says. “Mr. Coleman is dealing with fallout from… recent events.” She means Merritt and Devin and doesn’t say their names. “Until he arrives, we will perform triage.”

“Here’s your triage,” I say. “Chloe Huxley knows you grabbed Juno today. She’s on her way.”

Etta’s mouth twitches. “Detective Huxley knows no such thing.”