Page 231 of Things We Hide from the Light

“I think you could pull off something cool. Like maybe a wolf. Or what about a hatchet?” Lou suggested.

“Give y’all a group rate if you do decide you want one,” Sally said over the buzz and stabbing needle of the tattoo gun.

I was listening to the hum of dueling tattoo guns when Stef let out a yelp.

“Shit. Oh shit,” he said.

“What?” I demanded.

“Stop clenching,” Sally instructed.

I did my best to relax my ass cheeks.

“You know that article that wasn’t supposed to go out until Monday?” Stef said, still peering at his phone.

“What article?” Jeremiah and Lou asked in unison.

Dread creeped into my gut. “What about it?”

Stef turned his phone so I could see the screen. There I stood next to the American flag in my office, looking pissed off as hell under the headlineSmall Town Hero’s Comeback.

“It went live early,” he said. “Apparently they lost the feature that was supposed to run today and posted this in its place two hours ago.”

“Gimme my phone. Now,” I snapped. “Sal, we’re gonna have to finish this later.”

“Roger that, Chief. I won’t complain about getting to see this masterpiece again.”

I waited impatiently while she slapped a piece of gauze over the work in progress.

“Holy shit. It already has fifty thousand likes,” Stef commented. He looked at me. “You’re America’s goddamn sweetheart.”

My phone was already ringing by the time Lucian dug it out of my pants pocket.

It was Special Agent Idler.

“This is not what I meant by lying low,” she snapped when I answered.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Special Agent,” I said pointedly as I vaulted out of the chair and grabbed my pants.

Nolan made the universal “I’m not here” slashing motion over his throat.

“Police chief recovers from gunshot wounds and memory loss to rid his force of a dirty cop,” she read out loud. “I distinctlyremember telling you I wanted to know if and when you regained your memory. And where in the hell is your protection detail?”

I shoved my leg into my jeans. “You know what I don’t recall? I don’t recall you telling me you were gonna cut a deal with the criminal who tried to put me, my niece, and my sister-in-law in the ground.”

“Who said anything about a deal?” she hedged.

“The FBI has more leaks than the goddamnTitanic. You’re willing to look the other way on attempted murder and kidnapping charges to land the bigger fish. Well, news flash, Special Agent. I’m not putting my family in danger because you can’t build a case the old-fashioned way.”

“Now you listen here, Morgan. You do anything to jeopardize this case and I’ll make sure you end up behind bars.”

I zipped my fly. “Good luck with that. I’m America’s goddamn sweetheart right now.” I disconnected before she could say another word and dialed Lina. It went to voicemail.

Knox was on his phone, presumably dialing Naomi. “She’s not answering,” he said, his voice tight.

“I’ll call Mandy,” Lou volunteered.

Lucian was looking at his phone. “According to the trackers, Naomi is at home. Waylay and Lina are in the grocery store parking lot.”