He freezes when he sees me. Not that there is a lot to see. I’m in all black with the hood of my hoodie pulled up to hide part of my face and hair. He stares at the gun but sizes me up. He knows I’m female and small.

I pull the gun off him and point it at the doorknob to the two-story warehouse and fire, hitting it before I swing it back toward him, letting him know I’ve got great aim.

“The fuck!” Ocean hisses, both of us knowing the two men inside would have heard that.

“Don’t make me tell you again.”

He steps back, placing the unconscious girl back into the vehicle.

“Close the door.”

He slams it shut. “Who are you?” he asks as I start to move around the back of the vehicle.

“Toss me the keys.” He does.

I snatch them from the air as the two asshats from the warehouse come peeking out the front door to see what’s going on. The wind blows, and my fucking hood falls back, but our eyes lock, and something about him is familiar.

“Who I am is the person saving your life,” I tell him before I fire one shot into his shoulder and a second into his outer thigh. He collapses to the ground as I run and jump into the car. He can’t chase me, but he also can't rush into that warehouse either. I floor it.

“What’s going on?” I ask Ocean.

“He’s lying on the ground. The dipshits have come out to help him.”

“I guess he saved their lives.” I sigh as I flip open the remote and push the button. The building blows. I watch in the rearview mirror as it goes up in flames.

“He might have saved their lives, but they’re not going to look pretty anymore.” Ocean chuckles.

“I guess I can cancel your pickup?” Magic chimes in.

“No, move it to Midwestern Hospital. I’m dropping this car there in the emergency bay with the girl.” I glance over at her. She can’t be but sixteen. I should have shot him in the head.

“Did you get a better image of his face?” I ask.

“I think. I’ll run it and see what I can find,” Ocean responds.

“There’s a gas station two blocks from the hospital. I'll have the car there,” Magic informs me. ”Lots of cameras at hospitals, Rebel.”

“Then do your magic.”

3

GILLY

There’s an itch at the back of my brain.

I’m trying to work through disentangling Larone assets so we can feed the Corlettis into the FBI’s machine via an informant, but when I should be examining shell companies and detangling corporate webs, my mind wanders. Back to her.