Chapter 35 · Maps

"Get your hand off the map, Volkov." Levi's voice came out flat, but his knuckles had gone white on the edge of the table.

I didn't move. My palm sat flat over a red circle he'd drawn an hour ago, thinking I hadn't clocked it. "This circle's got a name on it somewhere. You gonna say it, or am I gonna find it myself?"

"You're contracted for logistics. Not for reading my notes."

"Funny. Contract says I follow orders. Doesn't say I go blind doing it." I dragged the map an inch toward me. He slapped his hand down on top of mine to stop it, and for a second we were both pinning the same piece of paper, close enough that I could count the fast beats of his pulse in his throat.

"Hollow Creek," I said. "That's the circle. That's a black site, Levi. Twenty-two years old on the last file I ever saw of it, and it's still marked live on your map. Why."

He didn't answer. His jaw worked once, like he was chewing the words down before they got out.

"You want me to guess out loud?" I leaned in. "Because I will.