His left hand stayed in his pocket.
His right hand hung loose.
He walked past two empty tables.
Maddox shifted the Marines behind him.
I stepped away from our table so the line between the man and Mason was no longer clean.
“Harper?” Mason said.
Small now.
Young.
I hated that it still worked on me.
“Back door,” I said.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“First smart thing you’ve said all night. But you’re still moving.”
The man in the hoodie smiled.
Not friendly.
Not angry.
Recognition.
“Ten,” he said.
The word slid through the room.
Maddox went pale again.
I turned my body slightly, giving him less target and giving myself the angle to the pool cue rack.
“Do I know you?” I asked.
The man stopped ten feet away.
“Not by this face.”
“Then you picked the wrong one.”
His smile widened.
“Cinder says hello.”
The bar noise thinned.
