Page 123 of Silas

“There ain’t no out in this game, Si,” he says. “You know that.”

“Yeah, well, I made my own out.” I pause. “I need you to call off the hunt. I don’t want to be at war with the Cabal. Iwilltell what I know, Malik. I’ll spill everything. Or, if you make it clear I’m to be left alone, what I know about the operation will go with me to my grave.”

“What happened with the agent, Si?” He scratches his belly, glancing at Lizzy, who has sat up a little and is listening with interest.

“It got complicated,” I say, “that’s what. I was feeding her intel on the Marcciones like I was assigned, and misleading intel on our operations. She was no dummy, though. She knew what I was doing, what my assignment was. She sort of sensed that I was feeling…disillusioned, and she turned me. It was gradual. She showed me her intel on the Cabal, and she had alotof it. Shit I didn’t know, like I said. She was close to being able to make a raid happen, Malik. Like,daysfrom getting warrants. But my intel on the Marcciones was working a little too well, I guess, and it got them raided. Someone put two and two together and got four, and they sent a kill squad after us.” I sigh, thinking back. “I really cared for her, man. She was a damn good woman, a cop just doing her job. I had a lot of respect for her—she came out of the hood. Clawed her way out of poverty and gangs, got into the academy, and made agent. Made a name for herself, and finally landed a cherry fuckin’ assignment—the Cabal. And like I said, she was a matter of days from making arrests, from the top down.”

“Jesus,” Malik breathes. “That close?”

I nod. “That close, man. Then the Marcciones came for us. She nearly died, and so did I. I shot my way out, barely. Got her to a hospital, and went to ground.”

“If she had that much evidence, how come nothin’ ever came from it?” he asks.

“Because I sent her a message telling her to drop it, if she wanted to live. She’s paralyzed, now. Married, with kids, analyzing data.” I shrug. “I guess she listened. I don’t know. I haven’t seen her or spoken to her since the shootout.”

Malik is silent for a long time, thinking. “Where you been all this time?”

“Probably not smart for me to say,” I tell him. “You could change your mind.”

“I ain’t made up my mind,” he says, eyeing me. “What are you gonna do, if I agree?”

I shrug. “Live my life. I have friends. I’ve got a woman I love. I just wanna…” I shrug again, and sigh. “I just wanna be left alone, man. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder everywhere I go, waiting for a Cabal strike force to find me. As much as I’d love to see the trafficking stop, for the sake of the girls, I’m selfish enough to be willing to keep quiet if you leave me the fuck alone.”

“And you’ll just, what, sneak out of here and go your merry way?”

I nod. “Yep. You’ll let me walk out the front gate and you’ll never see me again.”

At that moment, a radio on Malik’s desk squawks. “Boss, we’ve got shots fired out in the woods. About a mile out. Orders?”

Malik eyes me. “That you?”

I shake my head. “I’m here alone.”

My phone buzzes again. I rest my gun on my knee and keep it trained on Malik as I dig the phone out of my pocket.

“Naomi? You okay?” I answer, knowing it can only be her.

“No,” I hear her whisper, her voice so quiet I can barely make out her words. “They’re after me. There are too many. I’m in the woods. Inez said she was sending me to you. I don’t—I don’t know. I’m scared, Silas. I’ve killed some of them.”

“I’m coming, baby,” I say, trying to put courage into my words, trying to keep the shaking of fear and anger out. “Stay free, and stay alive. You’re a warrior, Naomi. You fucking fight, you hear me? I’m coming.”

I hear a thud, and then faint sounds—her, shouting, cursing. Male voices. A gunshot. A scream. More gunshots. She’s in pain, I can hear it.

The phone cracks in my hand when I hear a male voice: “GRAB HER!”

“GET HER GUN, GODDAMMIT!”

“She’s a fuckin’ wildcat,” a third voice says, close to the phone.

I hear a thud, and another: a body being kicked.

“Grab her ankles…nah, we ain’t got time for that shit, plus the C-O will know. That fat old fuck Jerry will want her intact so he can punish her himself. Just fuckin’ carry her and quit thinkin’ with your dick, you asshole. Knowing this bitch, she’s probably got teeth down there anyway.” The voice fades, but not before I hear one last vitally important detail: “We’re meeting Bud and Jerry about six miles from here. There’s an old, abandoned barn off the highway. They’re gonna meet us there later, we just gotta keep this fuckin’ bitch tied up so we can hand her off.”

Then they’re too far away to make anything more out.

I drop the phone on my lap and glare at Malik. “Abandoned barn six miles from here. Where is it?”

He eyes me. “I can show you.”