“Friendly. Knew my dad. Seemed like a nice guy.”

“You know who did this, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I feel sorry for him. ’Cause I wouldn’t want to piss you off.”

Despite myself, I smile. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me. Say hi to Alice.” I hang up. “Fuck!” I shout. I want to smash something. Preferably Finn. “Too late,” I say to the room. “Cops are all over the place. Gus is going to see what else he can learn.”

For a moment, we sit in silence. I think about Yousef, doing dangerous work in Iraq, escaping with his family to a new life in the U.S., only to be killed by one of the American soldiers he’d worked with. When I see Finn again, I’m going to shoot him between the eyes.

“Suzie,” Uncle Gavin says.

I blow out a breath and nod. “Okay, where were we?”

“You need a car, not your motorcycle.”

Frankie sits up straight. “Don’t even think about asking me,” he says.

“I need something less conspicuous than the Frankenstein. Plus I want something I don’t mind getting banged up if necessary.” I look at Ethan and raise an eyebrow.

Ethan shakes his head. “What would Uncle Gavin and I be in, then?”

Caesar interrupts by closing his laptop. “Found them,” he says. “Mark O’Connor died in Iraq in 2005. Humvee hit an IUD outside of Ramadi. You found Stephen Chow, the one who died in a car accident. The third man’s name is Julius Verne. He was a Spec4 in Iraq and served with Finn. Honorably discharged in ’06, worked a series of odd jobs, got a record—assault, disturbing the peace, various traffic violations. One sexual assault charge, later dropped. And then, a year ago, he went off the grid. Deactivated his Twitter and Facebook accounts, broke his lease on an apartment in Oklahoma City.”

“About the time Finn got out of prison,” I say. “It’s him. What was Verne’s specialty in the military?”

“Explosive ordnance disposal. Got a citation for marksmanship too. Apparently wanted to try for Army Sniper School at Fort Benning but didn’t get the required letter from his company commander.”

So Finn has an explosives expert and a would-be sniper working with him. “Finn will have Julius Verne with him at Stone Mountain,” I say. “Perfect place for a sniper to hide.” I look at Caesar, Frankie, Ethan, Uncle Gavin. All are looking to me. “So, what am I driving?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR