Chapter 19 Saint
Saint
The fire department finally gets water on the hardware store.
Too late to save it.
The roof collapses inward with a roar of sparks and steam, sending a wave of heat rolling down the street.
But we saved the people.
That’s what matters.
Paramedics move between the trucks and ambulances. Civilians sit wrapped in blankets on the curb while firefighters shout over the roar of hoses.
Chaos slowly turns into controlled damage.
The sniper is gone by the time Wolf and Trigger reach the roof.
Professional.
Clean exit.
No shell casings.
No trace.
Cowards.
I’m helping carry an old man to an ambulance when my phone vibrates in my pocket.
Unknown number.
My stomach tightens.
I already know who it is.
I answer.
“Yeah.”
Her voice slides through the speaker like silk dipped in poison.
“You see what happens when you keep what isn’t yours?”
I don’t bother pretending I don’t know what she’s talking about.
“You missed.”
She laughs softly.
The sound makes my skin crawl.
“Oh no, Mr. Jennings,” she says. “That was just me knocking.”
My hands curl into fists.
Rage burns through my veins so hard my vision sharpens.
“If you ever come near my child…”
“Your child?” she interrupts, amused.
Then her voice goes cold.
Precise.
“No. My granddaughter.”
Every muscle in my body goes still.
“She belongs to my family.”
“No,” I say.
My voice comes out low. Deadly calm.
“She belongs to me.”
Smoke drifts through the street around me.
Sirens scream in the distance.
“I think you misunderstand,” I continue. “She isn’t related to you. Nothing of yours is in her blood.”
I pause.
“Mine is.”
Silence stretches across the line.
For a moment I wonder if she finally realized she lost.
Then she laughs again.
Slow.
Amused.
“We’ll see.”
The line goes dead.
I stand there in the middle of the street, smoke hanging in the air, sirens echoing off the buildings, the smell of burned wood and gasoline thick in my lungs.
And one truth burns through me like fire.
This isn’t about Laney anymore.
This isn’t about Marco.
This is about my daughter.
And I will kill anyone who comes for her.