Chapter 15 · Make Him Talk

"Drop it."

Marcus doesn't drop it. He swings the muzzle between Sienna and me, breathing hard, and his timer's at zero but he's still standing. Still holding that gun like he knows exactly what he's doing with it.

"You had six years," he says. "Six years to stay gone. Why'd you come back?"

I'm on the floor. Sienna shoved me hard enough that my shoulder's screaming, but I'm alive, so I'm not complaining. She's between me and Marcus now, standing perfectly still, hands loose at her sides.

"Lower the weapon," she says. "We can talk."

"We're done talking." Marcus kicks the door shut behind him. "You opened that box. You saw the contract. Now you know what happens to people who see it."

Sienna doesn't move. "The contract's six years old. Statute's run out. No one's coming for her."

"Not the point."

"Then what is?"

Marcus smiles. It's the kind of smile that makes my skin crawl, the kind that says he's already decided how this ends. "The point is I paid good money for a clean slate. Mia took proof. You've got her files now. That makes you both liabilities."

I push up off the floor. Slow.