Page 86 of The Last Morgan

"Years later, she found me again. Told me she had a way for us to never be poor and never be powerless."

Lucy’s eyes narrowed.

"She said she had a job. Just one," Max whispered. "Find a family."

Lucy felt her stomach twist but kept her face cold, unreadable.

"I was young. Stupid. I loved her. I would have burned down the world for her."

He coughed.

"Rebecca told me it was life changing, She said if we found what they were looking for we would be able to start a new life. Somehow, something changed, and they gave us the order to kill your family." He hesitated. “I never knew who hired us. Only... Jimmy. Jimmy knew everything."

Lucy's heart pounded harder at that name.

"And now?" Byron growled from his shadowy spot in the room.

Max flinched.

"Now? Jimmy's still out there. Watching you. He'll show himself when you find what he needs."

"What does he need?" Lucy demanded.

Max shook his head helplessly. "I don't know. Rebecca did. She had the real orders."

Lucy touched her throat instinctively, feeling the familiar weight of the chain.

"Jimmy's waiting for you to find what he needs," Max said. "He’s been waiting a long time."

The holding room was cold and bare, lit by a single strip of flickering light overhead.

Max sat slumped in the metal chair, chains clinking softly every time he moved.

"My family," Lucy said frustrated.

Max swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing visibly.

He started slow, almost mumbling:

"I didn’t kill your family."

Lucy’s eyes narrowed.

"I was there," Max continued, "but I didn’t pull the trigger. I was the lookout."

He shifted uncomfortably, the chains scraping against the floor.

"I was supposed to warn them if the cops came. That’s all. But... Jimmy told Rebecca he wanted no witnesses."

The room seemed to shrink, the weight of the past pressing in heavy around them.

Max ran a shaking hand over his face.

" But Jimmy—" Max stopped, frustration crackling in his voice. "Fuck Jimmy. He’s had a chance to fix this, but he’s been ignoring me. Hiding. Leaving me twisting in the wind."

Lucy’s face stayed perfectly still.

Max leaned forward, voice dropping to a whisper: "I heard his voice, you know."