Page 55 of The Hardest Hit

Jackson looked up, surprised. “Broken jaw?”

“They’re the ‘Wall Street Bro Punches Nazis’ crew, right?” The nurse’s assistant grinned, flashing gold fronts.

“Yeah,” said Jackson cautiously.

“That redhead and the brother with dreads did some damage. Southern boys should know better than to fuck with people on the train. I watched that video like fifty times though, so I’m pretty sure the carrot top is responsible for the jaw.”

“He doesn’t like Nazis,” said Jackson, and the CNA laughed, the beads on the end of his braids clacking together.

“Fuck Nazis,” he quoted. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Jackson took the hospital records back to the car. Ten minutes later he had them uploaded to Pete. Pete called back almost instantly.

“They’re all over the Neo-Nazi boards and Klan groups,” he said without preamble when Jackson picked up. “I barely even typed in this one guy’s name and it was like fucking Nazi popcorn there were so many hits.”

“Hm,” said Jackson.

“What?”

“It feels too coincidental that they showed up on Evan’s train.”

“There’s been a lot of anti-Deveraux chatter in these groups since her speech.”

“Yeah, but if you’re targeting Evan, then you fucking show up and shank him while he’s getting on or off the train. You don’t make a whole production of it. Half these guys are from out of state. They made a special trip for this. You don’t make a special trip to accidentally protest on the one train a Deveraux is on.”

“I see your point,” said Pete thoughtfully. “It’ll take us a little time to start digging into them, and we’re going to have to be careful if the DA is prosecuting.”

“Yeah, that’s my next stop,” said Jackson, checking his watch.

Pete snorted.

“I’ll see where they’re at on charging this bunch.”

“I’m sure Eleanor and Aiden are putting the polite hammer down on them.”

“Completely,” said Jackson. “Aiden’s pissed as hell. Eleanor’s actually reining him back. He wants heads on a platter for the way the arresting officers acted. She’s telling the DA to get it right or she won’t be responsible for what kind of legal action Aiden takes.”

Pete laughed. “Good for Aiden. All right, I’ll start poking at this hornet’s nest and see what flies out. Call me later and fill me in on the blow by blow.”

“Shut up, Pete,” said Jackson, hanging up while Pete laughed.

His phone rang moments later and he saw that it was Dominique.

“Hey!” he said, picking up.

“Oh good, you’re you and not the machine. Have you talked to Evan today?”

“Yeah, I drove him to work.”

“Oh. Good. I was worried he’d go into hiding. You know how much he hates being the center of attention. Aiden said he seemed a bit mortified over the fuss yesterday.”

“He shouldn’t be,” said Jackson. “Turns out he broke that guy’s jaw.”

“No! Well, good for him. I heartily approve.”

“So do I. Seriously, that video is the best.”

“So he’s OK?”