Monsters, Matt Rogers [ereader for android .txt] 📗

the itch.’

She exhaled. ‘Some part of me wanted to do this solo. But I can recognise that as ego. There’s no point being stubborn and getting myself killed.’

‘Good,’ Slater said. ‘I’m glad you realise.’

‘But just…stay in your lane, okay? I’m not demanding. I’m asking. But I can handle Heidi Waters myself.’

‘You don’t know what she’s capable of yet. It might be far worse than you think.’

‘Whatever it is, I want to handle it myself. I need this, Will. For myself. So I know what I’m capable of.’

Slater understood every word because he’d been there before as a young man in his twenties, demanding more dangerous ops from a government that was already uncomfortable about the risks of sending him into hell, over and over and over again. It was the ultimate freedom, knowing you can deal with whatever comes your way.

He said, ‘Sure. But we’re looking to destroy whatever we find Frankie doing. Something tells me that’ll lead to Heidi.’

‘We’ll find out, won’t we?’

He smiled. ‘I thought this would go worse. I thought you might take it the wrong way.’

‘We’re both going to war. Did we really expect anything else?’

‘No. I guess we didn’t.’

She said, ‘We’re a good match.’

‘You’re only just realising that?’

‘Of course not. I knew all along.’ A pause, then, ‘I’m boarding.’

‘Maybe see you around.’

‘Maybe.’

He clicked off and lowered the phone.

Wondered if King’s conversation had gone worse.

18

It hadn’t.

King thought it might, but he was kidding himself. He stopped at the base of a shallow hill in Ingleside Park, took Violetta by the hand, and looked into her eyes. His suspicion that she might be furious revealed itself as mere paranoia when she smirked at him before he even opened his mouth. ‘Go on. Spit it out.’

He furrowed his brow. ‘You’re a mind-reader now?’

‘Only with your mind. I know you too well.’

Junior squeaked a happy noise from the stroller they were wheeling through the park. The sun was out, practically making the grass glow. The gardeners in charge of Ingleside were consummate professionals: the view was straight off a postcard. Manicured green lawns, quiet suburbia, friendly neighbours, and a healthy, happy baby. Only a madman would leave it behind unless he absolutely had to.

King had accepted his madness a long time ago.

He said, ‘Slater needs my help.’

She stared into his eyes, like she could see into his soul. ‘Does he now?’

King cocked his head, realised it wasn’t the full truth. ‘He could probably take care of it on his own.’

‘What triggered it?’

She was right, he realised. She knew him maybe better than he knew himself. He hadn’t even mentioned the Dunfields’.

‘Bill wanted to learn how to strike,’ King said. ‘I gave him a lesson this morning. It’s like it woke something up. I called Slater right after, asked if there was anything on his plate. There was.’

‘He’s working on the list?’

He ran her through a summary of what was unfolding — Alexis, Ava, Mary Böhm, Frankie Booth, San Francisco. Violetta listened patiently.

When he finished she said, ‘I wouldn’t have cared either way. But now I’m glad you’re going.’

‘You think Alexis is biting off more than she can chew?’

‘She might be. But that’s what you and Will did, early in your careers. That’s how you learned.’

‘I don’t think Slater ever pushed her into this life. I think she was always eager to dive in. She was just looking for the opportunity. She found it in him, in what he could teach her.’

Violetta nodded slowly along. ‘I agree. She’s already more than I’ll ever be.’

‘That’s not true.’

Violetta smiled. ‘I made that sound worse than it is. Truth is, I don’t know if I want that life anymore. Storming Tirano’s townhouse a couple of months ago…it made me realise things. Now I want this.’ She gestured to the stroller, to the park, to the sun and the pleasant murmur of suburbia. ‘So I’m happy for her to be better than me at war. I have new priorities.’

‘Better priorities?’

‘I don’t think there’s good or bad. It all comes down to what you want.’

He nodded.

She said, ‘What do you want?’

‘To help Slater. I’d never forgive myself if he ended up needing me and I wasn’t there.’

She said nothing.

He said, ‘You’re okay with that?’

‘If I wasn’t okay with that we wouldn’t be right for each other.’ She paused. ‘And we’re right for each other.’

He kissed her. ‘We leave tonight.’

‘Does Tyrell need looking after?’

‘I don’t think so. But I’ll make sure he has your number, knows to call if he needs anything.’

‘Of course.’

He could see her thinking about Tyrell, about Junior, about nurture.

She read his mind again. ‘That’s my world now.’

They got the stroller rolling again and finished their lazy walk through the park.

19

Late afternoon turned to early evening, and Slater heard a knock at the door.

Tyrell got there before he could. The teenager swung it open and peered up at King, who loomed on the porch.

‘You here for the sleepover?’ Tyrell said. ‘You bring pizza like I asked?’

King reached out and tousled his cornrows as he brushed past. ‘Funny.’

He went to the kitchen and clasped hands with Slater. They gave each other a knowing look. It said, We leave this happy-family business behind the moment we get on that plane.

Tyrell said, ‘When y’all leaving?’

‘Couple of hours,’ Slater said. ‘We got ourselves a red-eye.’ To King he said, ‘At least it’s not Mexico.’

They paused for a moment, then laughed in unison.

Tyrell said, ‘What’s funny?’

King turned to the boy. ‘Doesn’t matter where we’re going. San Francisco sounds nicer than Durango, but there’s scum everywhere. Even right here in Boston. You remember Tirano, that townhouse…’

Tyrell said, ‘The rest of the people on that list…are they from all over?’

‘No,’ Slater said. ‘They’re all here.’

‘Shouldn’t you be cleanin’ up Boston before you go elsewhere?’ Tyrell waited, and the lack of response provided the answer. ‘So you are going to protect her.’

King shifted foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable about talking business in front of a thirteen-year-old. But Tyrell was no ordinary teenager. All of them knew that, Tyrell included.

‘Yeah,’