Canary by Tijan
Ash
Iwoke up when I felt the bed move.
Raize leaned over me, kneeling on the bed. “Want to start crossing names off your list?”
That got me awake, wide awake.
I sat up. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
He went to the closet, grabbed new clothes, and started changing. The clothes he pulled on were still black, but they were tighter, more form fitting. The hood of his long-sleeve shirt was a mask he could pull over his face.
My mouth went dry. I hugged my knees. “What’s going on?”
He sat on the bed, pulling boots on.
“What do you think is happening?” He stood and began moving around the room, grabbing things, putting them in a bag. He tossed a second bag on the bed next to me. “You need to put all your personal items in there.”
“We’re running?” I’d not anticipated that.
“I got two guys out there who want to switch allegiance to me. What do you think that means in this world?”
“Someone’s going to die.”
“I gotta make a choice. No way am I going to trust them to go back and change their minds. They either get dead or their bosses get dead.”
He went back to work, removing a section of the wall to show a safe. He opened it and my eyes almost bugged out. I got up and went over to have a look. Money. Weapons. He had passports, driver’s licenses.
I felt like I’d just had sex with Jason Bourne.
He kept stuffing everything into the bag. When it got full, he grabbed another from the closet and tossed them by the door.
My head was spinning. Again. “You’re going to kill Carloni and Bronski?”
“Yep.”
He moved around me as I stood in just a T-shirt that fell to the tops of my thighs. I grabbed the end of my shirt, wringing it in a ball. “What’s that mean?”
He had another bag ready to go and stopped behind me, tossing it to the door. “That means we’re going to war.”
I whirled, my heart in my throat. It was a common sensation by now. “What does that mean?”
He paused and let out a soft sigh. “Your list aligns with my boss’ timeline,” he said flatly.
“You didn’t tell him—”
“No. I went to Roman. I reported in, and he decided it was time. I left that team behind for surveillance on Marco. They called in, said Carloni was down in Texas.”
I stumbled back, but he caught my hand.
“Carloni made a move. He might’ve done it behind my back, I don’t know. Maybe Carloni found out I’m really working for Roman, not the brother Carloni answers to. Again. I don’t know, but Roman made his decision. I got the order to take Bronski and Carloni out.” He was quiet. “You gotta pack everything you want because when we leave this house, it’s going to get torched. Everything is going to change.”
He tossed the mattress, flipping it over and shoving aside the frame. There was another safe in the floorboards, this one much longer. Raize began pulling out gun after gun.
We were going to war, and he had an entire arsenal for us.
