The doors slide shut.
Only then does he sag against the wall, eyes shutting tight.
First, civilians. Now Viper?
Those people trusted him. Kane trusted him.
Would his uncle have seen this coming?
He exhales. There’s no point asking questions only a dead man could answer.
Soon, Natural Order will have District Four. All the supplies in their hold. And whatever intel Viper’s already given up.That’s where Kane’s focus belongs.
His commlink buzzes as he steps onto the street.
“Boss?” Echo’s voice crackles in. “What the hell just happened? District Four’s going dark and—”
“Not now!” Kane snaps.
“Baron,” Coda interrupts. “We’re receiving reports of Natural Order flags going up all over Four—”
Kane kills the channel.
Everything else can wait.
His priority is the crew and getting to Rafael.
And Viper had better pray there isn’t a mark on him when Kane does.
39
Chapter 39 - Rafael
“Clouds.”
White puffs drift across the window against a flawless blue sky. Grass stretches beneath them without a single abandoned building or flickering neon in sight.
Rafael shakes his head. “No—switch to beach view.”
The clouds dissolve. Waves roll in over pale sand. Too perfect to exist anywhere in this country.
His breath catches.
“Scratch that,” he mutters. “Set screen to default, twenty percent opacity.”
In a flash of static, Shreveport bleeds in, abandoned buildings and row houses lining the street. Above the window, the glow of the Dragoon’s Rest logo washes the sidewalk in green.
Maybe Kane didn’t need to fix the window screen after all.
He turns from the glass and taps the control panel along the bed frame. Drone-powered arms slide out, tugging his green-and-yellow sheets smooth. While the tech handles the bed, his attention shifts to the shelf above, setting aside his belongings and a few of Kane’s. Once the surfaces are clear,he grabs his multi-tool from the wall mount.
Cleaning drones would be faster. But he doesn’t mind, wiping down the surface for what must be the second time this week. Stuck inside for the past five days, there’s not much else to do besides practice his cooking.
After what happened with Viper, the caution makes sense. He can still picture Kane storming into the marketplace and tackling the escort, a gun to her head. Whatever happened to the enforcer afterward, no one’s said a word.
Pushing the thought aside, he returns to cleaning, setting each item back in its spot. His hand freezes on the last of them: a single dog tag with the name Duke O’Conner etched in metal. It’s an antique relic he’s only seen in V-link films from before the Collapse. They’re useless with the VitaCorp chips in everyone’s palm since birth.
His finger brushes along the cold edges. Part of him wants to ask Kane if there’s something more he can do. Maybe assist Dr. Hayashi and Jamir or train new crew members in basic medical care.