Page 12 of Shadow Of Sin

“Understood,” he says.

I fold my arms across my chest. “I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Wolfe,” he says.

“That’s not a real name,” I say with a roll of my eyes.

He shrugs. “It’s the one I’ve got.”

I start to ask about a last name then snap my lips closed. It’s not like he’ll tell me the truth, anyway.

He stands up from my kitchen table and pulls on his jacket. At the door, he stops.

“I’ll be around,” he says. “Close by. When Dmitri gives you the next job, finish it and then come find me.” He pulls a burner phone from his pocket and puts it on the counter next to the knife. “There’s one number programmed. Use it.”

He walks out. The door closes behind him and my apartment goes quiet.

I stand there for a full minute. Then my back hits the door and my knees buckle. I slide down until I’m sitting on the floor with my palms pressed against my face, my body trembling. The kind of trembling that starts deep in your chest and works its way out until your teeth rattle and crack together, and it’s got nothing to do with the cold.

Get it together, Eva. Get up. Move.

I give myself sixty seconds. Then I get up.

I pick up the burner phone from the counter. It’s small, cheap, the kind you buy at a gas station. One number in the contacts. No name attached.

Then I lock my door, check the deadbolt twice, and stand at the window looking down at the street. He’s already gone. There’s no car pulling away, no shadow on the sidewalk. He disappeared as quietly as he showed up.

I just agreed to betray the most dangerous man in my life for a stranger who sat on my stoop like he had all the time in the world. He didn’t threaten me. He didn’t charm me. He just showed me a door I didn’t know existed and waited to see if I’d walk through it.

That’s either the most honest thing anyone’s done for me since Sal, or the most sophisticated trap I’ve ever seen.

I sit down at my desk and stare at the burner phone and the knife. I run through the exit plan in my head. My go bag is in the closet. I’ve memorized every street between here and three different bus stations. If shit goes sideways, I can be gone in ten minutes. God knows, I’ve done worse.

Regardless, my eyes are wide fucking open. And right now, that’s all I’ve got.

CHAPTER 4

WOLFE

The apartment I find is a one-bedroom above a dry cleaner that smells like chemicals and regret. The radiator works, which puts it ahead of most places in Eva’s neighborhood. The landlord took cash and didn’t ask for ID.

It’ll do.

The whole point of getting this place is to keep eyes on my targets. I could run surveillance from home, but I need to be close to my source. I need access. I need to build trust. And I can’t do any of that through a screen. Eva is already suspicious of me. If I didn’t give her a face to put to my system break-in, she might have spooked and bolted, and I’d be left with no answers about Dmitri’s plans for our family.

So here I am. Close to her, close enough to my brothers so that I can get back to them quickly and without raising any eyebrows.

I spend Saturday morning getting set up. Monitors, cameras, the basics I need to keep eyes on Sal’s block without anyone knowing I’m here. By noon I’ve got what I need, which isn’t much compared to my setup at home, but it’s enough.

There are four days until Ronan’s deadline. Four days to figure out what I’m going to tell him that isn’t the truth, but also isn’t a lie he’ll see through, either. My brother’s a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.

I check my phone when it pings with a text from Cillian.

Thursday game was weak. Tuesday better happen.

I type back.

Wasn’t weak for me. But I’ll be there on Tuesday so you can redeem yourself.