The judge was actually a really good friend of mine.
I’d worked with him for several cases lately and had also testified at my fair share of them as well.
I found people for a living.
One of those people I’d found was the judge’s grandson.
He’d been missing for three weeks from a playground in town. I’d been the last resort—I usually took anything locally that I needed to, but I’d been gone out of town for a month working an abduction case of a senator’s daughter.
I’d received a call two weeks into that case explaining about the judge’s grandson, and between working on my current case, I’d worked on that one, too.
I’d found him, locating him two states away at his mother’s best friend’s cousin’s place, and had brought him back home using a buddy, all without leaving my temporary office space.
Anyway, I had two open cases at that moment in time. And I was set to finish one up as soon as I could make one last connection. One that would come later in the day, hopefully.
The judge understood that and gave me the time that I needed.
Now, the other case? That one was cold.
I’d been doing everything that I could to find the missing woman—a surrogate that had taken off just days away from giving birth—and had come up empty. The woman that had the baby definitely knew how to cover her tracks.
Once at my office, I did what I could with my currently open case, then waited for the information to arrive.
It did half an hour later.
I was shifting through paperwork on my cold case when the call came in that I was hoping for.
I smiled and called the police chief of that particular county. Five minutes later, I got the confirmation that the child was found.
The next call went to the judge presiding over my case.
“It’s done,” I said. “I’ve solved it.”
The judge breathed a sigh of relief.
“I really fucking hate that I couldn’t fix this for you, son,” the Judge grumbled.
I knew he did.
I could see the torn indecision in his eyes.
He didn’t like the case.
He didn’t like the circumstances.
But, sadly, the letter of the law was simple. You couldn’t kill someone. Even someone that was doing something very, very wrong.
Or, at least, someone that you thought was doing something wrong.
I understood.
I didn’t like it, but I completely understood.
“I know,” I said. “It’s okay.”
It wasn’t okay, and we both knew it.
“Report to the jail tomorrow morning at nine,” he said. “Get the rest of your affairs in order. Then turn yourself back in.”
PROLOGUE III
i before e except when your foreign neighbor Keith received eight counterfeit beige sleighs from feisty caffeinated weight lifters.
-Coffee Cup
KOBE
Five Years Later
“Who would you suggest?” he asked.
The man that was sitting behind the plexiglass window, his arms across his chest, looked at me like a snake would his next meal.
I wasn’t sure what to make of him.
His name was Lynn.
That was the only information he’d given me of a personal nature.
“What, exactly, are you asking me here?” I asked. “Be blunt.”
The older man smiled, and it sent chills down my spine.
I wasn’t sure what he was after, to be completely honest.
I mean, what he was saying was too good to be true.
“I’m tired of how the justice system works,” he said. “We’re fixing it, a few good men at a time. The only thing that I want out of this is, if it ever comes to it, you help me if I ever need it.”
Get out of jail, but also possibly have to help a man that may or may not be bad.
Honestly, a few years ago, that might’ve bothered me—the gray.
But now, after years of having to protect myself in every way possible?
Well, now that black and white wasn’t ever going to be solid black or solid white again. Gray was my only color now.
“Etienne Deveraux,” I started. “Wake Westfield. Kyle Davis. Bain McDempsey. Cassius. Aodhan.”
“Cassius have a last name?” he asked. “Aodhan?”
I shrugged. “Sure they do. I just don’t remember them.”
Normally I was great with names. But they were two of that group that I hadn’t spent as much time with. They would protect me, and I would protect them if needed. But ultimately, they all stayed out of my way, and I stayed out of theirs.
“I’ll get my hacker guy on it,” he said. “If they prove to be okay guys, I’ll get them out. It won’t be at the same time as you, though.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter.
As long as I was out of this place eventually, then I’d be okay.
The sooner, the better.
“You won’t make them promise the same thing?” I asked the man.
He shrugged. “Maybe. But probably not. I don’t need muscle or wealth. I have that in spades. What I need is a mind like yours to find the people that need found.”
“And what will you do with these people once they are found?” I asked. “And what if I’m working on another case?”
Lynn grinned. “You’re not giving me a single inch, are you?”
I didn’t bother answering.
“No, you’re not,” he confirmed his own question. “Hopefully, Kobe, I never fuckin’ need you. But, if there ever comes a time when I need someone, then you’ll help. And if your other cases aren’t urgent, then you’ll put my stuff over yours. But if your other cases are urgent, if, say, you have a kid that needs found, I’ll never put my stuff over yours. Children always come first.”
I liked him for saying that. I liked him a lot.
“I’ll help you if I can,” I returned. “Just get me the fuck out of here.”
Lynn winked. “Done. It’s going to take us some time to coordinate this. We don’t want any of the wrong people asking the right questions. We want this to be legitimate. And getting you out at separate times doesn’t bring up as many red flags.”
I would wait. And I would plan.
Six months later, I was breathing free air again.
CHAPTER 1
I want to be a nice person, but everyone is just so dumb.
-Kobe’s secret thoughts
KOBE
8 years earlier
I watched as the woman struggled to breathe.
Her teeth were gritted in pain, and I saw the moment that she’d decided to give up.
Tomorrow, I was surrendering to the police, where I would then be sentenced to jail for the next few years. But right then, I was able to help.
She was bent over a park bench, clutching her belly as if it was about to rip itself away from her.
“Can I help you?” I asked the woman.
She looked up, and I felt the breath leave my body.
God, she was pretty.
Her eyes were a melty, liquidy, soul-stealing brown.
I’d never seen the likes of the color before.
In the harsh brightness of the overhead streetlight, I felt like I’d taken a good look at my life and been found lacking.