Page 274 of Forged in the Fire
Crap, I didn’t even know Meems’s or Brody’s birthdays.
I tried a few different variations of Crimson Crows, though I was pretty sure that would be way too generic and obvious.
And then it hit me.
A solid piece of reality.
My heart jackhammered as I typed in the code, already knowing it would grant me access.
It’s your heartfollowed by the date below it.
He never confirmed it, but I knew it was the day his mother had been killed.
A surprised gasp left me when it granted me access, and I realized there had to be a hundred different files inside.
Different than in every other folder that I’d clicked into the moment Silas had originally left me with this laptop, though I’d given up halfway through since there was nothing of value. Assuming they were all the same and contained old invoices, I’d never opened this one.
I clicked into a random file. It was just a regular Word document. In every way, it appeared inconsequential.
Somehow, I knew it was not.
It was a date and a town in central California.
I fumbled for my phone and inputted both into the search.
The results populated, and there was a news article that stood out above the others.
Eight men found slaughtered at a house on the outskirts of town.
My spirit stretched taut like a rubber band, and I inhaled a steadying breath and clicked into another.
Another document.
Another date and town.
Seven men. All dead. Their murders remained an unsolved mystery.
I clicked through more.
More dates and towns.
More dead men.
All with suspected ties to criminal organizations.
Mafia. Cartels. Gangs.
My blood sloshed, a flood that I could feel gushing through my veins.
I knew.
Of course I knew, and I promised him that I didn’t care, but seeing this threw me off balance.
Shuddered through me on a torrent of uncertainty.
It was thewhysthat made it so hard to comprehend. No longer could I fathom Silas a cold-blooded killer.
Then there were different documents.
