Page 160 of The Vigilante's Lover

“You didn’t kill him?”

I shake my head. “Too much Vigilante blood on my hands already.”

“You’re creating enemies,” Sam says.

“They can wait in line.”

Paulson turns around to us. “We’ve got a network-wide bulletin coming up,” he says. “You probably want to see this.”

We lean forward to look at his dash screen. Sutherland comes on. He looks concerned, his gray hair neatly combed, a military-style jacket on. He’s trying to convey authority, right down to the strategy map behind him.

He clears his throat. “Earlier today, a German Vigilante by the name of Mars Bronson killed one of his fellow countrymen.” Sutherland’s face is grim. “And just an hour ago, two more Vigilante executions within the network were reported in Russia and China.”

He walks to the strategy map. “We have reports of blackouts here and here.” He taps North Korea and Afghanistan, then turns to face the camera with a somber expression. “We have some sort of uprising within the network.”

He walks back to a chair. The camera zooms in on his face.

“This feels rigged,” I say to Sam.

He nods. “Agreed.”

Sutherland goes on. “But we have a solution. After one of our own operatives went rogue last year, we were able to implement correctionalinitiatives to stem the damage.”

Sam elbows me. “You required correctional initiatives.”

Paulson grunts. “Still does.”

Sutherland continues, “We are sending our finest minds to these other networks to share our strategies so that we can uphold the integrity and safety of humanity.”

“That’s a lot of ten-dollar words,” Sam mutters.

I sit back. “He has no intention of sharing strategies,” I say.

Paulson turns around. “What’s he up to, then?”

I look out the window at the trees blowing past. “This is a takeover.”

6: Mia

I’m alive.

My awareness comes back in stages. The car stopping. A door slamming. Footsteps. Voices. I try to open my eyes. Light barely makes it through the fabric. I’m still covered by the tarp.

Still bound to the seat of the Acura.

My door opens and the tarp comes off. The brightness is so intense that my skull feels like it might explode. I just want to go back to sleep.

“She’s a beauty,” a male voice says.

“She’s drugged. Do what you want with her,” Jovana snaps.

This jolts me fully awake. I squint and look at the man staring at me. He has short curly hair and merry eyes. “I think she’s up,” he says. His smile tells me he has no intention of doing anything Jovana says.

“You want me to untie her?” he asks.

“Be careful,” Jovana says. “Look what she did to the car.”

The man looks past me at the damage I inflicted to the dash. “Too bad. These are nice vehicles. For civilians, anyway.”