Secret Warrior

ildew didn't bother her-she'd stayed in worse places during her years of research trips. What mattered was the privacy it offered. She sat at the

much of it was useless. The man was a coward, quick to shift blame and evade re

ng to Victor, Mark had been the one to "clean up" the mess after Lillian's death, ensuring that no evidence pointed b

ceiling. She felt the weight of exhaustion pres

ictor that he lived in a small town about fifty miles away, in a house on the edge of a sprawling fo

arents had insisted on shielding her from the worst of it-but she'd followed every update from a distance. She remembered the sinking feeling of watching the case unravel,

lie, al

Mark wasn't untouchable anymore. She had the knowled

-

keeping her head down as she sipped her coffee and reviewed her notes one last time. Mark's address was listed as a remote

use was uneventful, the scenery shifting from suburban sprawl to rolling hills and dense forests. Erica's GPS di

shoulder. The house was a modest, one-story structure with a sagging roof and a faded American flag hangin

a table with a beer in hand. He looked older than she remembered, his hair thinning and his face lined

he strap of her bag. She wasn't here to

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d of the television masked the creak of the floorboards as she stepped inside. The house smelled

papers and unopened mail, and a bookshelf in the corner was filled with old police manuals and hunting

bers. Most of them appeared to be routine reports from Mark's time on the force,

, and photographs. Her hands trembled as she flipped through the pages, each one a painful reminder of the

Mark immediately, but the others were unfamiliar. She scanned the accompanying report, her eyes narrowing as she read the det

" Erica

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that she didn't hear the footsteps

hell are y

he doorway, a shotgun in his hands. His eyes narrowed as he took in t

ice low and dangerous.

p her voice steady. "I'm not here to

ou think you can just break into my house and d

tone cold. "You covered for them. You d

otgun tightened. "You

nd if you don't start talking, I'll

hands. For a moment, she thought he might lower the gun.

-

ster, using her smaller size to her advantage. She dodged his swings a

led and charged at her again, but she was ready. She grabbed a heavy book from

trembling. Mark groaned and tried to push himself up

id, her voice shaki

kling down the side of his fac

d. "Why did you cover for the

is eyes darting t

voice bitter. "A lot of money. Enou

kay with that? You were okay with letti

y. They threatened my family. My wife, my kids-they

g over. "So you chose to protect your

ond, his gaze fi

her voice cold. "And you're goi

-

ad taken. Mark wouldn't be able to stop her-she had tied him up and left hi

d the proof she needed to take down the rest of them, and she wo

onfession had been pitiful, full of excuses and self-pity. And yet, there

But then she thought of Lillian, of the pain and humil

no room