Bill whimpers underneath the King’s hand.
“I’m sorry, Bill.I always liked you.But our Queen doesn’t believe in second chances.”
And quick as a flash, the King pulls out a silver blade and rams it into Bill’s throat.
29
MADDOX
Blood gushes out of Bill’s throat in a crimson stream.The color slowly drains out of his face as the life leaves his eyes.
I immediately throw my hand over Alissa’s mouth.I don’t want her to scream.
But she doesn’t.A few tears well in her eyes, but she’s not going to give us away.
Fuck…Fuck.
We just witnessed a murder.
And as far as I know, we’re the only witnesses.
If the King sees us, he’ll kill us too.Of that I have no doubt.
I peer out from behind the dumpster.The King has tossed Bill’s lifeless body to the side and is walking out of the alleyway—thankfully, in the opposite direction from us.
Once he’s out of our sightline, I grab Alissa’s hand and we run out of the alley.
What do we do?What do we do?
Go back to Aces?Pretend we saw nothing?
Chet saw us leave.We told him we’d be right back.If we don’t return, that might arouse suspicion.
Rouge saw us there, too.
But I can’t take Alissa back in there.I won’t allow her to put her life in danger.
She’s my everything.
How does Bill factor into all of this?
I already figured out that we couldn’t trust him anymore.But I never thought that he might be in cahoots—or at leastwasin cahoots—with Rouge in some way.
The King mentioned a file.
A file…
Holy shit.
Not the file that I grabbed?The one confirming that my father died from poisoning, not from a heart attack?
It was right on top of his desk.And Bill knew we were coming by.
I have a feeling he didn’t just pull that file out for a simple stroll down memory lane.
Christ.My head hurts.Blood is pounding into every corner of my brain.
Thatmustbe the file the King was talking about.
