Page 71 of No Mistakes

Carter nods. “We need eyes. Surveillance, fast. I’ll sort some outside contacts in the city-”

“No,” I cut in, setting my fork down. “That’s our job.”

Everyone stops, all eyes landing on me.

Mandy nods, “We’ll do it. The two of us can blend better than any of you.”

Axel lifts his gaze, eyes narrowing on me. “This isn’t a game, Eva.”

I meet his stare head-on. “You think I don’t know that?”

He doesn’t answer, but the twitch in his jaw tells me he’s holding something back. Maybe anger. Maybe fear.

“Look,” I continue, pushing forward, looking at everyone individually. “You said it yourself… People talk. And they’ll talk more freely to two women who don’t look like muscle. Mandyand I can go into hops, bars, bakeries, and corner stores. Ask questions without raising suspicion."

“I already had a quick scope of the area when we went to the store earlier,” Mandy adds, shrugging like it’s obvious. “And I’m good at getting people to talk.”

“You’re not trained for this type of surveillance,” Carter says gently, like he’s trying to be the voice of reason.

I scoff at the fact that he thinks we’re not capable of doing anything at this level. “No,” I say. “We’re better. We’re unknown. It’s our job to be invisible, and that’s what we need.”

Gunnar grins, picking up a piece of chicken on his fork. “Honestly? It’s kinda hot watching you two take over the damn table like this.”

Mandy throws a napkin at him, and the tension cracks just slightly.

Axel leans back in his chair, arms crossed, still staring at me like he’s trying to solve a puzzle he didn’t mean to start. I don’t flinch, matching his gaze in our stare-off.

I’m not the same girl who got left behind. In those few days, I changed, remembering who the fuck I am, and I won’t be sidelined again.

Not by him.

Not by any of them.

Axel places his cutlery down, leaning back on his chair. “Well then, since that’s settled. I guess it’s time for dessert with a side of emotional damage.”

He lifts his glass in a mock toast. “Bon appétite.”

CHAPTER 30

MANDY

After dinner was put awayand the table was cleaned, we gathered around it with all the information we had spread across it.

The whiteboard didn’t join us on our journey, which meant we had to pull Ant’s laptop out and rewrite everything on paper.

Gunnar’s handwriting is an actual war crime. I mean it with love, but it looks like a toddler tried to play Pictionary with a spider. Still, the information we need is there. Names, addresses, drop hints, debts owed. Places we need to visit. People we’ll need to watch.

Carter’s hunched over the table, sorting through a pile of printouts that Ant gathered on his search.

I could watch him for hours as he accesses bank accounts, burner phones, CCTV cameras of people’s homes… he was amazing.Isamazing. I can’t take my eyes off him as he types away silently, his eyes flicking between screens and scribbled notes like his brain runs on a faster frequency than the rest of us. Axel stands with his arms crossed, shoulder pressed to the doorframe, his face unreadable. He hasn’t said much since dinner, but I know he’s listening.

Eva sits opposite me, spinning a pen between her fingers with that half-bored, half-pissed off expression that usually means she’s waiting for someone to say something stupid so she can tear them apart.

“From all this information, it looks like our best bet will be to hit the bakery on Webster Avenue. Benny still runs that location, and he is a talker.” Carter says, finally. “He might be able to give us a better idea of who is doing what these days.”

I glance at Eva. She glances at me. The same thought passing between us both.

“We’ll do it,” I say.