The q, p.9
The Q, page 9
He paused in front of a sign for Mamma Mia! It should have been his dad who was dropped in here for seventy-two hours. He would have already started brokering peace between north and south, and earned the devotion of a good chunk of the population.
Lennon, as usual, was just the crappy substitute. The son who looked like his father but could never compare.
He sighed as he turned away.
He eventually made it back to Maisie’s apartment, and went around to the side of the building, where there was a shaded stoop. As he sat, stretching his legs out in front of him, he overheard a man talking.
“Is Maisie in there?”
Lennon leaned forward, peering around to the front of the building. Two men stood at the bottom of the stairs, and a third man stalked up to them. He was in his early twenties, broad and muscular, with thick dark hair. He looked like the kind of guy who talked about protein powders and had very firm opinions about proper dead lift form.
“No one answered when I knocked,” one of the others said. He had tattoos covering both arms. “She must still be down at the family meeting.”
The broad man cursed. Lennon started to get to his feet.
“Don’t worry, Declan, the guys know not to hurt her,” the tattooed man said. “They know Maisie is your girl.”
Lennon stopped, glancing back at the men again. Declan was the name of the ex-boyfriend whose clothes he was wearing. Why was he worried about Maisie getting hurt at the family meeting?
Also, it suddenly made sense why this shirt was a little baggy on him. He tried not to feel self-conscious about his pecs, which he’d always been quite proud of up until about thirty seconds ago.
“What’s the word on Lopez?” the man with a mustache asked.
“Still unconscious.” Declan leaned back, taking a look around, like he wanted to make sure no one was listening. Lennon quickly sat back down, hidden from sight. “I really didn’t want Maisie anywhere near that meeting. I don’t want her getting caught in the cross fire.”
Lennon stiffened. The cross fire?
“You know Maisie,” the tattooed man said. “She can take care of herself.”
“Go down to the end of Cypress,” Declan said. “Catch the stragglers. I’m going to wait for Maisie at the garage.”
“Sure thing.” The tattooed guy began to walk away, but he stopped, turning back to Declan. “What do you want to do about that guy? The one who got dropped from an airplane? I think Maisie was put in charge of babysitting him.”
“I really don’t care.” Declan crossed his arms over his wide chest. “No, actually, grab him for me when you see him. Put him in lockup until I can decide what to do with him. I don’t need him running around right now.”
“You got it.”
Lennon didn’t release a breath until the men’s footsteps had completely faded.
He stood and walked to the corner of the apartment building. He paused, making sure the coast was clear, then stepped out into the street.
He wasn’t sure where he was going. He didn’t know where the family meeting was. He wasn’t even entirely sure what Declan had been talking about.
But he suspected that here, the cross fire meant literal gunfire. Declan wasn’t worried about Maisie getting caught in the middle of a screaming match.
He tried to remember what she’d said before leaving.
Stay put or I’ll kick your ass when I get back.
No, not that part.
Before that. I’m going to a family meeting not far from here. I won’t be long.
Not far from here didn’t exactly narrow it down. The entire quarantine zone wasn’t far from here, by his standards.
He couldn’t just stand here and do nothing, though. Not if he had time to get to Maisie and tell her that it sounded like her ex-boyfriend was about to kill a lot of people.
He jogged down the street and back to the churro lady. “Hey,” he said breathlessly.
“Come for another one?” She snapped her tongs together.
“No. Thank you. I mean, it was amazing, but—” He cut himself off with a shake of his head. “Do you have any idea where a Lopez family meeting would be?”
“At one of the Lopez houses, I imagine.”
“Is there one close to here?”
“Yeah, Jasmine lives about a mile down that way, and Beto is…” She turned in a circle. “He’s not even half a mile down Eighth Street.”
Beto. It had to be Beto. He’d been the one angling to take over for his father.
“Down that street?” He pointed. “Do you know the number?”
She frowned, considering. “Sure don’t. Big brown house. Roof goes like this.” She lifted her elbow, letting her arm hang down in a slant.
“Thank you,” he said, taking a step back. “Really, thank you!” He turned and took off running.
MAISIE
MAISIE DOVE OFF the couch, pulling Hadley with her. Bullets sprayed across the living room.
Someone fell on top of her, and she grunted, collapsing beneath the weight.
“Shit shit shit.” Hadley yanked her hand out of Maisie’s. She got up on her knees, covering her head with her hands as more bullets flew through the air. Beto and the other Lopezes returned fire.
Hadley shoved the body off of Maisie, who gasped as the pressure left her lungs. She rolled over, bracing her hands against the carpet.
The room went quiet suddenly. Maisie cautiously got to her knees, peeking over the couch.
The two men at the doorway were on the ground, blood pooling around their bodies. Maisie counted two of their own dead, motionless on the living room floor. Beto had a hand pressed to a hole in his shoulder.
“Get out,” Beto panted. “Everyone. Now. They’re targeting us.” He darted toward his back door.
Maisie sprang to her feet and ran to the door with Hadley. They sprinted outside and onto the street.
“What in the hell is happening?” Hadley yelled as they ran.
A figure appeared at the end of the street, running toward them. Maisie put her hand on the gun at her waist.
“Is that Lennon?” Hadley asked.
He spotted them, waving both arms in the air, like they hadn’t noticed the dude running straight at them.
He pointed suddenly, frantically, and Maisie stopped. She turned.
A truck was barreling toward them, a gun sticking out the window.
Maisie grabbed her gun, flipping the safety off as she raised it. Beside her, Hadley did the same.
The truck slowed as it drew closer to them.
It took a sharp turn and left them in its dust.
Maisie slowly lowered her gun.
“Maybe those were Beto’s guys,” Hadley said.
“Maybe.” Maisie slid her gun back into its holster. Behind her, she heard Lennon’s footsteps, and turned to see him coming to a stop in front of them.
“What are you doing here?” Maisie snapped. “I told you to stay in my apartment.”
“Yeah, I…didn’t…do that.” Lennon took a deep breath.
“You should not be—”
“Just listen, listen,” he interrupted. “When I was coming back to your place, I saw these three guys outside. Declan was one of them. And I heard them talking about something going down at the family meeting.”
Hadley’s eyebrows drew together. “But it just happened, like, a minute ago.”
“Did someone attack you guys?” Lennon asked. “It sounded like that’s what they were talking about.”
Hadley shot Maisie a concerned look. “A couple guys came in shooting.”
“Yeah.” Lennon nodded. “Exactly. Declan was talking about cross fire and not wanting Maisie to get hurt. One of the guys said that everyone knew not to hurt you.”
Hadley’s eyes widened and she pointed to where the truck had disappeared. “Oh, shit.”
“Wait.” Maisie shook her head. “No. How do you even know it was Declan?”
“Because one of the guys called him Declan.”
“That’s a pretty solid clue,” Hadley said.
“There’s more than one Declan in the Q,” Maisie argued, even though she knew it was stupid.
“Tall guy? At least six foot two?” Lennon held a hand up level with his own head. “Looks like he works out a lot? Early twenties?”
Shit.
“That’s him,” Hadley said.
“Maybe you misunderstood,” Maisie said. “What did he say exactly?”
“He was upset you weren’t home. He didn’t want you anywhere near that meeting. He said, ‘I don’t want her getting caught in the cross fire.’ ”
“That asshole,” Hadley said forcefully.
“He also told them to put me in lockup when they found me. He doesn’t want me running around.”
“And yet, here you are, running around,” Hadley said.
“I’m notoriously difficult.” A smile twitched at his lips.
“Guys.” Maisie put a hand to her head.
“Sorry.” Hadley looked at Lennon. “It annoys her how I make jokes in tense situations.”
“I actually find it kind of comforting.”
“Thank you.”
Maisie closed her eyes and took a breath. If Declan had staged this whole attack, it could only mean one thing.
He was moving to overthrow Lopez.
“Was he still at my apartment when you left?” Maisie asked. “He didn’t see you, did he?”
“No, I was around the corner. He said he’d wait for you at the garage.”
Right. She was supposed to do her daily check-in soon.
“Okay,” she said. “You two, go hide at my apartment.”
Hadley nodded her agreement.
“Where are you going?” Lennon asked.
“To check in with Declan.”
* * *
—
Declan was pretending to work on a car when she arrived. She knew that he could see through to the street from a small window at the back of the garage, so he would have noticed her coming.
He stood over the open hood, frowning like he was trying to figure something out. She’d learned quickly what actual concentration looked like on Declan—it was a more subtle, less self-aware expression.
This expression, with the deep frown and the intense gaze, was for show. It was what he did when he wanted to get out of going somewhere with her.
“Hey, Maisie.” He straightened and smiled. “How’s it going?”
She took a beat before answering. She had to play this right. “There was a shoot-out at the family meeting.”
His face turned into a mask of surprise. This expression could have been real or genuine. She really didn’t know. Declan was actually a pretty good liar, and she’d only learned a few of his tells over the course of their relationship.
“Was anyone hurt? Are you okay?” He did a quick sweep of her body.
“Lots of people were hurt. Several are dead.”
He held her gaze.
“They were Reaper guys.”
“Christ. What a fucking mess.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” He sighed, running a hand across the stubble on his jaw. “Let’s get an official tally of everyone who died so we can let their families know. I’ll go over to the hospital to visit the injured ones.”
“Why weren’t you there?” she asked. “At the family meeting?”
“I had some things to take care of. And I knew it was just going to be Beto posturing, trying to act like Lopez would want him to take over.”
“Do you know who Lopez actually wants to take over?”
“No.” Declan looked down at the car. “Listen, do you still have that guy? Pierce?”
She hesitated, considering. “No.”
“Weren’t you keeping an eye on him?”
“I had to leave him alone while I went to the meeting. He took off.”
“Find him for me, will ya? Throw him in lockup. None of us have time to babysit him right now. He’ll be safe in there.”
“Sure.” She eyed him, wondering if maybe Declan had reconsidered whether letting an outsider leave the Q was a good idea. Safe might have been the entirely wrong word for his experience once he got to lockup.
Her stomach clenched. It was obvious that Declan was responsible for the attack. It had been obvious since Lennon told them what he’d heard.
And she had a terrible feeling that she knew exactly who had shot Lopez.
She took another step toward him, and he turned his attention from the car to her.
She had to admit, she was a little surprised that he’d wanted her protected at the family meeting. Their breakup hadn’t been nasty, but she would have thought he was kind of ambivalent about her.
Apparently not. And she could use that to her advantage.
She put a hand on his left arm and smiled. His lips began to turn up as well.
Then she drew back and hit him in the left shoulder.
He yelled in pain and stumbled back. “Maisie, what the fu—”
She yanked the collar of his shirt down to reveal the bandage on his shoulder. “I shot the guy who tried to kill Lopez. In that shoulder.”
Declan went still. She could see him debating, trying to decide if it would benefit him to lie.
He sighed and twisted his shirt out of her grasp. “I didn’t mean for it to go down like that.”
She gaped at him. “You were executing him in the street!”
“I was trying to get him to listen to reason. He won’t listen—hasn’t listened, for years—and I thought it might finally get through if he had a gun to his face. I didn’t want to hurt him, but sometimes you just have to get shit done.”
Maisie swallowed back the urge to scream at him. Declan wouldn’t listen to her if she got emotional—he barely listened to her as it was.
“What did you want to say to him?” she asked.
“We have to take the whole Q. The north holds all the power, since they get all the shipments from beyond the wall. It was different back when supplies were still dropped by plane, but for the past ten years or so…” He shook his head. “This can’t go on. The north is holding our shipments right now because they can. Because they know we’re weak, and we won’t fight back. There are some people inside the Lopez family who understand that, but there are a lot of other folks in the south who get that.”
“Which folks? Reapers?”
“Some of them, yeah.” He stared at her like he was daring her to challenge him.
“Reapers don’t have loyalty, Declan. If you’re looking to rule the entire Q—or even just the south—they won’t help you do that. They don’t follow leaders.”
“Well.” A smug grin crossed his face. “Some Reapers have started to come around to the idea of a more organized leadership. They’ve been getting screwed by a few guys holding all the power for years.”
“So they might as well get screwed by you instead?”
He laughed like he thought she was joking.
He stepped forward, putting both hands gently on her arms. She resisted the urge to smack him away. Using his feelings to her advantage. She needed to remember that.
“You should know that I never wanted you to get hurt in any of this. In fact, I told them—”
A yell from outside cut him off. They both turned at the sound.
One of Declan’s guys sprinted up the shop driveway and skidded to a stop.
“He’s dead,” he said breathlessly. “Lopez is dead.”
LENNON
LENNON WENT WITH Hadley to Maisie’s apartment. He sat on the couch while Hadley paced back and forth in front of the door.
Hadley’s phone dinged, and he watched her expression change as she read something there. It was bad news.
“We’re fucked,” she breathed.
Very bad news.
“Is…everything okay?” he asked hesitantly.
“Uncle Franco is dead.” She covered her mouth with her hand, turning her face away from him.
Dr. Lopez was dead. The leader of the south, the genius who was responsible for keeping so many people in the Q alive. Dead.
This was bad on so many levels.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
She sniffed, then checked her phone again. “Maisie’s on her way over. Wait here, okay? We’ll be right outside.”
He nodded and watched as she hurried out the door. She was gone for a long time, and when she walked back in, her eyes were red and she had Maisie in tow. Maisie pushed the door shut and locked it behind her. Lennon stood.
“You were right,” Maisie said to him. “It was Declan. All of it. He’s the one who shot Lopez.”
“Bastard,” Hadley muttered, even though she clearly already knew this information.
“He told you?” Lennon asked Maisie, surprised.
“Yeah, he told me.” Maisie crossed the room and leaned against the wall near the kitchen, chewing her lip.
“You think he’d at least be ashamed,” Hadley spat. “He must know you’re going to tell everyone. He just let you leave?”
“You know what Declan thinks of me.”
Hadley rolled her eyes, but Lennon just looked at her in confusion.
“He thinks I’m harmless,” Maisie explained. “It doesn’t matter if I know, because there’s nothing I can do about it anyway.” She scrunched up her face. “Also, I think he may be under the impression I still have feelings for him.”
“Ew,” Hadley said.
“So, what now?” Lennon asked.
“Now I need to find out who Declan has brought over to his side, because there is no way that he did this without recruiting some of the family in addition to the Reapers. He’d need both.” Maisie looked at Hadley. “Everyone at the family meeting couldn’t have been in on it. Or else they wouldn’t have come.”
