Page 32 of The Hitman’s Final Job

“How did you end up here? Pine Ridge specifically.”

“I needed somewhere that felt like mine,” he says. “I had the Denver apartment, but Rowan needs his space and I didn’t want him to have to buy a place when I wasn’t that attached to it. I grew up in farming country, and I always wanted to leave the city. Besides, this is the perfect location for my research. I looked around, and Pine Ridge just fit the bill.”

“That makes a lot of sense. You’re close enough to Rowan, but then you have the space. This community.”

He nods. “Tess showed up maybe three days after I moved in,” he says. “I hadn’t met her yet. She just knocked on the door with a loaf and said welcome to the valley. I hadn’t had that since I moved to Denver with Rowan.”

I think about that for a moment. About what it would be like to have someone knock on your door with bread just because you were new and they wanted you to feel welcome. It happens in a world I have always considered as parallel to mine. Except now I’m here.

“I can definitely see the appeal.”

Vaughn’s expression suggests he sees more than I’ve said, but he doesn’t press.

“Ready?” he asks.

“I am. Do you mind if I check out the gift shop?”

“Not at all. I need to go to the hardware store to get a few supplies.” He points to the shop down the street. “I’ll meet you at the truck?”

“Ten minutes?”

He nods before heading off down Main Street. I watch him go for exactly as long as it takes to be certain he’s not going to turn back, and then I pull out my phone.

Zuza picks up on the second ring.

“You know how time zones work, right?”

Shit. “I’m so sorry, Zee. I forgot.”

“It’s okay. I was going to the gym anyway.”

I chuckle. “No, you weren’t.”

“I was thinking about it.” I hear rustling and then the sound of her coffee machine.

“I have news, but I have to be quick.”

“Shoot.”

“I need you to look into HelixGen Corp,” I say. “They’re based in Denver. I don’t know much more yet, but they’re sharks. They go to small towns with the guise of investing but end up buying land and properties cheaper than they’re worth to develop.”

A brief silence. “I’ll start on it now. Have you had a chance to go through anything at Vaughn’s house? Office, paperwork, anything that might tell us why specifically he was targeted?”

I let out a breath. “Not yet,” I say.

“Silas—”

“I know.” Down the street, a family is leaving the bakery. A dog is sitting outside the bookshop waiting for its owner. “I’ll find a way.”

Zuza is quiet for a moment. “You’re struggling with it, aren’t you? Do you want me to fly in? I can pretend to be a tourist, search the house while you’re out.”

“He trusts me,” I say. “He’s let me into his house and his lab and … I feel like I’m lying and deceiving.”

“You’re doing it to protect him,” Zuza says.

“I know that too.”

“I’ll email you what I find,” she says. “And Silas, you’re doing the right thing.”