Bry’s features soften, and he lowers his voice. “The guns are the ones used to kill Sariah Roark’s family.”
I can barely breathe over the messy ball of emotion clogging my throat. A hush descends over the room, and the only sound is the crackling of the fire.
“What?” I splutter, tears instantly stabbing my eyes. “How do you have this?”
“I stole it from Archer Quinn’s safe last night,” he confirms, and all the blood drains from my face.
“Fuck.” Saint stares at him with newfound respect. “Was that smart?”
He shrugs casually. “I broke in, in the middle of the night, wearing a full disguise. I disabled the camera feeds before destroying the one I’d installed. There is no trace it was me. The Arrows will know come Friday night, but by then it’ll be too late.”
“The Arrows murdered Sariah’s family? She always thought it was The Sainthood.” I rub the ache tightening my chest. Her entire family was gunned down in a drug deal gone wrong. Sariah only survived the massacre because she played dead.
“I overheard a conversation Archer had with a couple of his board members last night. They’re onto Diego. They know he’s an FBI informant. I watched Archer place that tin in the safe. After the board left, his number two asked him why he kept such incriminating evidence. He said it ensured loyalty because most of the board had been involved and their fingerprints were on the weapons. I figure he plans to use that against Diego.”
“So, if they go down, he does too,” Caz says, filling in the rest.
“They’re gonna put a bullet in his skull,” Saint says. “That’s usually the way these things go down. That evidence is insurance in case the FBI decide to prosecute on the grounds of Diego’s testimony, even if he’s dead. They’ll use that to discredit him.”
“We should let Diesel know about Diego so the FBI can protect him,” I suggest. “He was due to reach out to them anyway. Might as well give him something to extend an olive branch with.”
“I’m on it,” Theo says, his fingers already flying over the keypad of his tablet.
Galen wraps his arm around me, pulling me into his side, while Saint grips my hand on the other side, squeezing my fingers. “What do you want to do with it, Lo?” Saint asks.
“I want justice for Sariah’s family. I want her grandma Lorna to finally see the men responsible put behind bars.”
“We can’t interfere with Friday, or Sinner will murder us all in cold blood,” Galen says, eyeing Saint over my shoulder.
“Why don’t we let Friday go down as planned and ask Diesel to give this to the FBI on Saturday morning,” Theo suggests, and it’s a good idea. I nod, giving him a sad smile.
“The Arrows will be dead in the water by the time this weekend rolls around,” Caz says.
“Two enemies down, one left to go,” Saint adds, squeezing my hand. “Payback can’t come soon enough.”
_______________
We’re busy the rest of the week, making last-minute plans with Diesel for the fake assassination and scheduling a time to hand over the package from Bry to the FBI. I’m not sure what’s happened with Diego, but I don’t really care. We passed on the intel. Whether the FBI acts to protect their informant is on them.
On Friday night, Saint, Galen, and Caz go with the rest of The Sainthood to ambush The Arrows warehouse. Theo and I sit it out, primarily because the guys don’t want me anywhere near the showdown. Plus, we want to prepare for tomorrow. I need to take a few practice shots, and Theo wants to test hacking into the apartment’s security systems in a dummy run before tomorrow. That excuse should appease Sinner, but one can never be sure where that psycho is concerned.
The guys return in the early hours of Saturday morning, exhausted but uninjured, and my taut muscles finally relax. Their clothes are covered with blood splatters, so they strip in the living room, throwing the tainted clothing in the fire while telling us about the successful ambush.
The Sainthood had the element of surprise, and they cleaned out The Arrows warehouse, before sending them an anonymous tip that sent the rival gang racing to protect their supplies store, only to find they were too late. It was a bloodbath, according to Saint, ending with most of The Arrows either injured or killed.
The news is all over the TV screens a few hours later, and we watch reports of the carnage as we quietly eat breakfast. Chaos has erupted on the streets of Prestwick as protesters take to the streets, calling on the governor and the commissioner to take a firm hand in tackling the increasing gang violence.
Diesel calls a couple hours later to confirm the FBI has the evidence and he expects arrests to be made in the coming days, as soon as they have verified the evidence is legit.
Galen comes with me to Lorna’s house, because I want to deliver the news to Sar’s grandma in person. Lorna collapses in my arms, sobbing with relief, and I only wish my bestie were here to witness justice being served.
When we return to the barn, Bry is there, helping Caz to prepare a late lunch. Although Saint didn’t answer Bry the other day, there’s an unspoken ceasefire between them, and they are mostly making the effort to get along. To be honest, it’s shocked the hell out of me, but it only further highlights how far Saint has come. I’ve been telling him all along that Bryant isn’t a bad guy, and I’m glad he seems to have accepted him now.
After we’ve eaten and loaded up Saint’s Land Rover, we make our way to the northern end of Lowell, parking in the staff parking lot of the apartment building owned by Sinner’s friend. Bry follows in his Chevy, pulling into the empty space alongside Saint.
Having an extra pair of hands helps, and we are set up on the roof in next to no time with plenty of time to spare before it all kicks off.
Although there is a small, enclosed greenhouse up here, this isn’t a functional rooftop, and the apartment residents don’t have access to it. We’ve been told it’s occasionally used by staff, but we don’t have to worry about unexpected guests at the wrong moment today.
Theo distributes earpieces he got from Diesel. “Check to ensure they’re working,” he says as he hands them out, and we test it back and forth for a couple minutes. “I’ll be in an office on the first floor,” he confirms. “The Wi-Fi signal is stronger there. I’ve disabled the cameras inside the building, but I can’t deactivate the cameras out on the street until the last possible moment in case we tip the cops off.”
The commissioner will have a team with him today, as is usual, but none of them are privy to the plan, because this needs to look real.
“Break a leg, babe.” Theo pecks me on the lips before exiting the roof.
“I’m gonna take a piss before shit goes down,” Caz says.
“I’ll come with.” Galen strides across the roof toward the door, spinning around at the last second. “You need anything from inside?”
“Grab a few bottles of water,” I say, kneeling on the cushion and bringing my eye to the lens of the AR-15 rifle, checking the angle again.
“He’s coming from the Lott Lane direction, right?” I ask Saint, double-checking because you can never go over the plans enough.
“Correct,” Saint assures me, dropping to the ground a few feet away. He leans his back against the small wall that rims the perimeter of the roof, bending his knees. At this height, we shouldn’t be spotted or heard, but we’re not taking chances.