“I really don’t care.” Declan crossed his arms over his wide chest. “No, actually, grab him for me when you see him. Put him in lockup until I can decide what to do with him. I don’t need him running around right now.”

“You got it.”

Lennon didn’t release a breath until the men’s footsteps had completely faded.

He stood and walked to the corner of the apartment building. He paused, making sure the coast was clear, then stepped out into the street.

He wasn’t sure where he was going. He didn’t know where the family meeting was. He wasn’t even entirely sure what Declan had been talking about.

But he suspected that here, the cross fire meant literal gunfire. Declan wasn’t worried about Maisie getting caught in the middle of a screaming match.

He tried to remember what she’d said before leaving.

Stay put or I’ll kick your ass when I get back.

No, not that part.

Before that. I’m going to a family meeting not far from here. I won’t be long.

Not far from here didn’t exactly narrow it down. The entire quarantine zone wasn’t far from here, by his standards.

He couldn’t just stand here and do nothing, though. Not if he had time to get to Maisie and tell her that it sounded like her ex-boyfriend was about to kill a lot of people.

He jogged down the street and back to the churro lady. “Hey,” he said breathlessly.

“Come for another one?” She snapped her tongs together.

“No. Thank you. I mean, it was amazing, but—” He cut himself off with a shake of his head. “Do you have any idea where a Lopez family meeting would be?”

“At one of the Lopez houses, I imagine.”

“Is there one close to here?”

“Yeah, Jasmine lives about a mile down that way, and Beto is…” She turned in a circle. “He’s not even half a mile down Eighth Street.”

Beto. It had to be Beto. He’d been the one angling to take over for his father.

“Down that street?” He pointed. “Do you know the number?”

She frowned, considering. “Sure don’t. Big brown house. Roof goes like this.” She lifted her elbow, letting her arm hang down in a slant.

“Thank you,” he said, taking a step back. “Really, thank you!” He turned and took off running.

MAISIE

MAISIE DOVE OFF the couch, pulling Hadley with her. Bullets sprayed across the living room.

Someone fell on top of her, and she grunted, collapsing beneath the weight.

“Shit shit shit.” Hadley yanked her hand out of Maisie’s. She got up on her knees, covering her head with her hands as more bullets flew through the air. Beto and the other Lopezes returned fire.

Hadley shoved the body off of Maisie, who gasped as the pressure left her lungs. She rolled over, bracing her hands against the carpet.

The room went quiet suddenly. Maisie cautiously got to her knees, peeking over the couch.

The two men at the doorway were on the ground, blood pooling around their bodies. Maisie counted two of their own dead, motionless on the living room floor. Beto had a hand pressed to a hole in his shoulder.