Page 52 of My Crazy Killers
“Eli, how’d you make out today?” Pete asks, all eyes turning to Elias.
“I have a lead.” My eyebrows raise in surprise. “So I didn’t find anything specifically on the Black Heat, but I found a girl here in Moscow, her name is Mary, and apparently, if there is anything to know about the criminal activity in Russia, she’s the one to ask.”
“Is she dangerous?” Sly asks.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think she’s a criminal… exactly.”
“What does that mean?” Pete asks with a frown.
“She’s more criminal adjacent.”
“Like us,” I ask, trying to understand what he means.
His eyes flick to mine, and he nods. “Yes, like us. I don’t think she’s a bad guy, but she would probably break any laws she needs to, to get things done.”
“How did you find her?” Sly asks in curiosity. Elias doesn’t answer straight away, which makes me nervous, and Sly too, since he prods him again. “Elias, how did you find her?”
“She’s pretty well known for her podcast on conspiracy theories.”
“Ah shit,” Pete says, letting out a deep breath of disappointment.
“I don’t understand,” I say, glancing at all the guys' disappointed or skeptical expressions.
Sly looks at me as he answers, “Conspiracy theorists tend to be a little…”
“Wacky,” Pete adds.
Sly nods. “Yes, they are a little out there and base their knowledge on theory, not fact.”
“Okay,” Elias says, pulling the attention back to him. “But she has done several podcasts recently on a new weapon that she believes is going to hit the streets before the end of the year that will have a huge negative impact on the community.”
“Black Heat,” I guess, reading between the lines.
“She hasn’t put a name to it,” Elias says in thought. “But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know. Maybe she has to toe the line carefully, not wanting to put a target on her back.”
“And how do we find this Mary?” Dex asks before shoveling another mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth.
“I already have,” Elias says, surprising me.
“I’ve got the address she airs her podcasts from. I think we head there first thing tomorrow. It’s about forty minutes from here by car.”
“We’ll all go,” Sly says, his eyes slightly narrowing on Elias as if daring him to argue.
“I agree,” he replies, nodding his head before moving back to his meal.
“Wren, this meal is so good. You outdid yourself again,” Pete tells me before taking another bite of his garlic bread.
“Well, Sly helped. It wasn’t just me.”
“Thanks, Sly,” Pete and Dex say in unison, making me smile.
“How do you say delicious in Russian?” Pete asks curiously.
“Vkusno,”I tell him before taking a bite of spaghetti.
“Mmm,” he hums in approval. “Wren vkusno.”
“That’s not—” I start to correct him, but Elias cuts me off.
