Page 21 of Deadly Sins: Envy

Blunt and I argued, while Murphy ordered the man to drop to his knees. The man refused and waved his gun around in the air, shouting, “Back away from me, or one of you dies!”

“Drop your weapon,” Murphy shouted. “Now.”

“Orwhat?” the man said.

“We’ll have no choice but to shoot.”

“Shoot me, and you’ll never find her.”

The man placed his finger on the gun’s trigger, preparing to fire, but Murphy fired first.

The bullet tore through the man’s shoulder, and he dropped the gun. In seconds, Murphy’s men had him surrounded. A shocked Blunt loosened her grip on my arm just enough for me to free myself and race in Coop’s direction. She chased after me, slowing when we reached him.

He looked at me and muttered, “That asshole shot me.”

I turned toward Blunt. “He needs a medic.”

She nodded and said, “I ... right.”

She called it in.

I leaned over Coop. “Help’s on the way.”

He reached out to me. “I don’t need ... I just ... help me up.”

“I can’t. You need to remain still until you’re checked out. You’ve been shot.”

“So, what? Who cares? It’s a leg. It will heal.”

“Just hang on for a minute.” I shifted my attention to Blunt. “The kidnapper said Coop needed to get to 605.”

“I know,” she said. “We heard. Guessing it relates to a tomb in this place.”

“I need to know if Willow’s there.”

Blunt considered my request. “I flipping hate cemeteries.”

“Please,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere. We should be working together right now.”

“All right. Fine.”

Blunt yelled for someone to attend to Coop until the medic arrived.

“Any idea where 605 is located?” I asked.

She removed a flashlight from her pocket and a plot map of the cemetery. “Number 605 belongs to the Morial family. It’s white, shaped like a miniature cathedral, and has an iron gate around it. It’s this way, I think.”

I followed her to the next row, scanning each tomb to find the one she’d described.

“Here!” she said. “I found it.”

The tomb was as she’d described, but instead of Willow, we found something else—a yellow mylar balloon tied to the gate with a smiley face on it. We inspected the balloon, hoping a note or other relevant clue had been left behind. There wasn’t one. I dropped to my knees and buried my head in my hands.

Willow wasn’t here.

The entire night, everything we’d worked for had been for nothing.

“Hey,” Blunt said. “I know how it looks right now, but, ahh ... this doesn’t mean we won’t find her.”