Chapter 6: The Blood in the Water
By the time Elias reached the spot where the stranger had stood, there was nothing but a faint smudge of soot on the ground.
He returned to his car, his mind replaying the stranger's voice. The locket is leaking. He drove to the precinct, but he didn't go inside. Instead, he parked three blocks away and watched. At 4:12 AM, Captain Miller exited the side door. He looked frantic. He made a call on a burner phone, his gestures jagged and sharp.
Elias clicked on his long-range directional mic.
"...I don't care about the boy!" Miller hissed into the phone. "The girl is the problem. She's digging. If she finds the 2006 ledger, we're all dead. Do you understand? I don't care if she's Thorne's partner. Eliminate the variable."
Elias felt a cold sweat break across his neck. Miller wasn't the killer—Miller was the target.
Suddenly, a red laser dot appeared on Miller's forehead. It danced for a second, steady as a heartbeat.
"Miller, get down!" Elias screamed, throwing open his car door.
CRACK.
The sound of the rifle shot echoed through the concrete canyon of the city. Miller's head snapped back. He slumped against his SUV, the burner phone clattering to the pavement.
Elias looked up at the rooftops. A silhouette stood against the moon—the man in the charcoal coat. The "Wild Card" hadn't just saved Elias earlier; he was now executing the people Elias needed to interrogate.