Page 80 of Sleeping with the Dark (The Righteous 3)
Trev nodded but didn’t voice that he was concerned this went deeper than one pissed-off and emotionally damaged soldier. Arek was already too deep mentally into this. He needed to throw him a lifeline, not push his head under deeper.
“Do you want me to get rid of the body, or do you want to grab the stuff in the other room and just go?”
“Show me the room, and dig out the bullets. We leave nothing behind. Then we will burn it all down.”
Twenty minutes later, Trev stood alone. He stared up at the house as orange flames flickered in the windows. The fire hadn’t fully engulfed the house yet, but it wouldn’t be long now. Sirens wailed in the distance as fire trucks made their way to the scene.
Trev opened his palm. The metal of Miller’s tags cool against his skin as the reflection of the flames danced in the metal.
Squeezing the tags tight, the metal bent in half the edge, digging into his palm. There was a sweet bite of pain as a single drop dripped to the ground.
Trev climbed in behind the wheel of the Hummer and closed the door to a part of his past he never wanted to think about again.
The Hummer revved to life. “Delilah, play Beethoven’s, Fur Elise.” The music filled the space as he passed the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles.
He had questions that needed to be answered, and he was determined to get them, one way or another.
Trev slipped the Bentley into his reserved spot at the courthouse. It was a big day, today was the closing arguments in Maeve’s murder trial, and things had not been looking good. He’d only lost one case since he’d become a lawyer, but he had a feeling that this was going to be his second. He saw the writing on the wall. The jury members lapped up the lies that the prosecution had spoon-fed them. He recognized the final nail in the coffin of his case being hammered in when the pregnant widow of the deceased detective got up on the stand.
As for the rest of the question marks in his life, Spike had mysteriously disappeared. The races became no more, and they were back to square one with the Golden Dragons and who was running them. Maybe Arek had been right, and he should’ve kept Miller alive long enough to get some answers, but no matter how many times he went over that night in his mind, he couldn’t picture torturing him.
“You know what I’m going to get the moment I graduate law school,” Cody asked, pulling Trev out of his thoughts. He glanced over at Cody, who looked amazing in the dark blue suit. He was smoothing out the front and double-checking that his tie was straight.
“Should I be afraid to ask?” He smiled as Cody gave him his patented don’t be a jerk look. “What do you want to get?”
“A Lamborghini. I always wanted one, and besides, I better look the part if I’m going to be working alongside you.”
Cody gave him a heated smirk over the roof of the car as they removed their briefcases. “I must admitAnderson and Waltersdoes have a nice ring to it.”
They walked side by side, their strides in time with one another, when a sound caught Trev’s ears. He halted, and Cody took an extra stride before turning to stare at him.
“What is it?” Cody looked around for a sign of a threat.
The sharp and distinct call of a kestrel reached his ears, and he turned in the direction. A man shrouded in a tattered coat, the hood of a hoodie was up and hiding his face, but Trev knew who it was. He made his way toward the man, and as he did, the guy turned and wandered into the alley beside the courthouse.
“Where are you going? Do you know that guy,” Cody asked, his voice low with concern.
“It’s alright.”
The guy was leaning up against the wall about halfway along the alley. His arms crossed over his chest. His position appeared more annoyed than relaxed.
He came to a halt a few feet away, and slowly the man looked up at him from under the grey hood. “Kestrel, you are a hard man to find.”
“Ever think I didn’t want to be found, Sir?”
“Call me Trev. I’m not your sir anymore.” Kes had always been a difficult personality to gauge, but after their last mission and what happened, he’d retreated in on himself. He pulled away from everything and everyone. “Can I ask why you are dressed like you’re homeless?”Trev took in the boots coming apart at the seams and the gloves with the fingers cut out, not to mention the distinct scent of old moldy clothes surrounding Kes.
“Maybe because I am one,” Kes said. His voice was laced with irritation. “You asked me to meet you, and here I am. What do you want, Sir?”
Trev bit his lip and decided to let it go. Kes was never going to change, and if the man wanted to live on the streets, that was his choice. “I need your help.”
“You know I don’t take special jobs, we’ve been through this, and the answer is and always will be no.” Kes pushed off the wall and began walking away.
Trev called out at Kes’s back. “It’s for Morry.” Kes froze, his back rigid as he slowly turned around.
“What about her?”
“One of Morry’s girls, one of her good friends, is in trouble, and she needs our help. To pull this off, I’m going to need your help.”
