“Who’s asking?”

“We wanna score some weed. We heard you could hook us up, man.”

Geoffrey looked from Nico to Owen and back again. “Sorry, dude. Just sold my last bag. Besides, your Ken doll buddy here looks like a cop to me.”

“I’m not a cop,” Owen said evenly.

“Then who the hell are you?”

“Never mind who I am.”

“I don’t have time for this cloak-and-dagger shit,” said Geoffrey. He tried to walk around them on the path, but Owen grabbed his shoulder.

“Get out of my way, motherfucker!” said Geoffrey, shrugging himself loose.

Owen backhanded him across the mouth. Geoffrey reeled, then looked quizzically at Nico.

Nico laughed nervously. “I’d watch my language if I was you, G.”

“He’s right, G,” said Owen. “I ought to kill you just for your foul mouth.”

Geoffrey laughed and spat on the ground. “With what? Your bare hands?”

“I could.” Owen drew his weapon and brandished it in the moonlight. “But I’d rather use this.”

Geoffrey took a step back. “Easy, man. You don’t want weed. What do you want?”

“I have a friend who says you’re her baby’s daddy. What about it?”

“Naw, man, bitches be crazy. I ain’t never got a girl pregnant.”

“Robin Goldman begs to differ.” Owen leveled the Glock, aiming it at Geoffrey’s heart.

“Yo, I swear, I didn’t get your girl pregnant!” Geoffrey screamed, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I don’t know any Robin, dude.”

“Well, that’s even worse if you don’t remember the girl you raped, Geoffrey.”

“Shit, man, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. If your girl got herself raped, she probably wanted it. Have you seen these college girls around here? These bitches are beggin’ for it.”

“That’s the only admission of guilt I need,” said Owen. “There’s a special corner of hell for scumbags like you. And that’s where you’re going—now.”

Owen didn’t hesitate. Geoffrey was just a 3D version of the targets he had shot at all his life. A pop broke the silence of the still night air, then Geoffrey hit the ground with a soft thud.

Right in the heart. Dead on impact.

“Holy shit, Owen! I thought you were just bluffing.” Nico’s eyes goggled in horror, his mouth frozen in an O. He was a common criminal, not a murderer, and he’d never seen this much blood before.

“Come on, we gotta get rid of the body,” Owen ordered, but Nico couldn’t move. His feet were dead weight.

“Nico! Get it together, man!” Nico jolted, snapping out of his trance. “We gotta hide the evidence.”

With chilling detachment, Owen picked up Geoffrey’s limp arms. “Grab his legs. We’ll bury him in the woods where there’s not a lot of foot traffic.”