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felt off to him.” Lee put his hand on mine. “Plenty of false walls and hidey-holes. Drug dealers are nothing if not ingenious.”
    We sat there another ten minutes, holding hands, not saying a word.
    â€œShouldn’t be long now,” he said.
    I nodded, not trusting my voice.
    He gave me a cockeyed smile. “Not much of a date.”
    â€œJaysus, Lee. Give it a rest.”
    He put his arm around me and tugged me into his chest. I stiffened and tried to pull away, but he held my face to his chest, thumb stroking my cheek. The steady thump of his heart beat in my ear.
    â€œHe’s all right,” he said softly.
    My mouth formed the words, “ I know, ” but all that came out was a sob.

Chapter 8
    There was only one place to take Cash.
    Hank’s.
    We’d keep the clan in the dark for as long as we were able.
    Cash flipped through channels on DirecTV, halfway through the pint of Häagen-Dazs Swiss Almond in Hank’s guest room. I handed him two OxyContins from Hank’s medicine cabinet and a bottle of lemon-lime Gatorade.
    â€œThanks, Snap.”
    I sat next to him on the bed. “I’ll pick up your prescriptions tomorrow morning. First thing.” I couldn’t stop smiling at him. I knew if I did, I’d start bawling.
    â€œWhat do you wanna watch?”
    I shrugged. “What’s even on at ten thirty in the morning?”
    He clicked the remote. Channels blurred in front of my eyes. “Sweet!” he said, stopping on Bill Murray carrying a pizza and dry cleaning. Stripes .
    Carefully, I scooched up next to him. “Does it hurt?”
    â€œLike a bitch.” He gave a pained chuckle. “But it’s the pissing a feckin’ stream of gore that freaks me out the most.”
    Yeah, he was gonna be just fine.
    I lay back on the pillow, watching the movie through half-closed eyes, and fell asleep.
    Cold metal pressed against my cheek. My eyes snapped open.
    â€œTell me.” Stannislav Renko loomed over me. “Tell me, Vatra Anđeo .”
    Fire Angel.
    I raised my chin slowly, the barrel of the gun sliding down along my jaw, knowing exactly what he wanted to hear.
    â€œ Moj đavo, ” I rasped. My devil.
    He grinned, crooked white teeth gleaming from his blue-black scruff. “For always.” He straightened and put the gun to his temple.
    An FN 5.7.
    â€œNo!” I jerked awake, panting. Stiff and cold and sweating.
    And furious.
    Cash was passed out next to me, snoring softly. I slid my legs off the side of the bed and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands.
    A little overdone, that’s all. I’m just a little overdone.
    Disoriented, I went into the kitchen, the midday sun jarring. I needed to pick up Cash’s painkillers and antibiotics. I scribbled a Post-it Note for Wilhelm, who probably already knew Cash was here and why, then grabbed my keys and headed to the garage. Forcing myself to wait until I’d left the driveway before I made the call.
    â€œCan’t bear to be away from me for more than a couple hours, huh, Bae?” Lee answered.
    â€œYeah, that’s it.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. The street blurred in front of my eyes.
    â€œCash all right?”
    â€œYeah. Thanks for asking.”
    He let the silence stretch and warp before saying, “What’s up?”
    â€œUm . . .” The words seemed to wedge in my mouth. I cleared my throat. “I . . . uh . . . need a favor.”
    â€œName it.”
    â€œDo you have the gun Cash was shot with?”
    â€œNot on me,” he said. “It’s probably been logged in to evidence by now. Why?”
    â€œI need a look at it.”
    â€œHmm.” Lee made a clicking sound with his mouth. “Any reason why you’re not running this through Sawyer?”
    â€œI need to know if I’m right first.”
    â€œAs a McGrane, you’re not exactly an unknown entity around here.”
    Duh . A