“No, it won’t, because I’ll be six degrees of Kevin Bacon removed from it.” Luke nodded assuredly, then drummed one finger against his temple. “I know people. Shitty Hollywood sharks that circle constantly for a single drop of blood. They’ll take this and fight over every scrap. The canary, the celebrities, the Viking imagery . . . it’ll be a goddamn feeding frenzy, and I’ll be the little fish swimming in the opposite direction.”

Kitty covered her mouth, perhaps to hide the hopeful smile that had snuck onto her face. It didn’t feel right to hope when so much was broken, but it was there, a nebulous cluster of energy, too small to truly shine, too real to be ignored.

“You really think this will work?” she asked.

“Yeah, I do. But I need you to tell me everything you know. I want names, dates, and addresses. Credible information.” Luke linked his hands across his chest and leaned forward. “I’ll start out slow. Just a little drop of blood here and there. But as soon as the sharks begin sniffing around, Johan’s contacts and clients—all those do-good celebrities—will get the fuck out of the water. They won’t want anything to do with him.”

“He won’t like that,” Kitty said. “The hit to his pride, to his status. He’ll begin to unravel.”

“Yeah, and then I’ll add the real meat.” Luke grinned and snapped his fingers. “The big guy, Mr. UFC—”

“Ruben.”

“You said he turned on Sly Boy, right?”

“Yeah. He was working for Johan behind the scenes—told him everything Sly Boy had been doing.”

“Okay, so Ruben has proved himself to be about as loyal as a wet piece of toilet paper.” Luke sat back in his seat and shrugged. “I’ll find a way to credit at least some of the leaks to him, and Johan won’t look any further.”

Kitty scrunched her hands into fists and pressed them to her eyes. Everything felt larger than she could comfortably hold. She didn’t know if Luke’s plan—any of it, including faking her death—would work, but she wanted to hug him, if only for his willingness to bear the load.

“Thank you,” she said, but the words were enveloped in a rush of emotion, and all she managed was a grateful sigh.

“This might take a few months,” Luke continued. “But it’ll hopefully culminate in Johan being sent down for a very long time, and he won’t have the same level of protection because his name will be shit in this town.”

“Yes,” Kitty said. Another sigh.