But then I spotted him. Dead center of the floor, a spiral staircase winding behind him as he stood with another man and sipped his drink.

He wore his usual black suit but with a white shirt this time and no tie.

Will came over, and I clutched Winter’s hand.

“There’s too many fucking people,” he said.

I nodded. “I thought he’d be in a private dining room.”

We couldn’t do this in public.

“How do we get him alone?” he asked.

I didn’t know. I needed to think. I scanned the room, spotting his guards—three standing around the perimeter, and there were probably a couple more outside somewhere.

I knew we’d have to take down the guards, but I assumed it would be on the second or third floor. Less people. Less witnesses. If we started shit here, the cops would be inside in seconds.

“You get everyone else to leave,” Winter finally answered for me.

I looked down at her.

“How do we do that?” Will asked.

She pulled off her backpack and dug out a couple remaining smoke grenades.

“For once, everyone will be on an even keel with me,” she joked.

Meaning they’d be stumbling around blind in here. I smiled, taking them and giving them to Will.

“Man-to-man,” I told him.

He walked off, passing on the basketball defense strategy to the others to cover a guard when the shit hit.

I took off my mask, smoothing my hair and straightening my suit.

“Cover the door,” I mouthed to Lev who’d just walked in.

I briefly considered leaving Winter there for the moment, not wanting my father to see her, but that left her vulnerable to any of his men if they got to her.

I took her with me and walked over to my father, keeping her behind me.

Taking a drink off a tray, I approached, the man he was talking to seeing Gabriel’s eyes lock on me and taking the hint.

He excused himself, and I walked slowly over.

Gabriel regarded me and then the people around us, probably wondering where I thought I could take this. “What do you want?” he asked.

I stepped forward, stopping at his side and taking a sip of my drink.

“Thunder Bay,” I replied in a low voice.

“You can have so much more.”

“Leave,” I ordered, ignoring him. “Or I will make you leave.”

He just laughed and sipped his drink. “It would take a lot more than that to bring me down.” And then he looked at me, his long face adorned with a smirk. “You’re still a shit kid. Always tough with everyone but me.”

Winter gripped my jacket behind me, and I felt her forehead touch my back, reminding me that she was here.

But I stared at him, knowing he was right. Even when I finally started opening my mouth and talking to people as a kid, beating down whatever tried to beat me down, hurting others so I wouldn’t hurt, he was the one I feared, because I needed him. How much worse would it have been for me without his money and influence to protect me?

At a certain point, I started wondering—did I behave the way I did because I could? Or did I behave the way I did because it was the only thing keeping me alive in that house? Because eleven-year-olds shouldn’t be thinking about how to end their lives.

Commotion started filling the room as I held his eyes, and I knew without a doubt—with my friends back and Winter with me—that nothing he could threaten me with would change my course of action. I didn’t need him, his money, or his protection. I just wanted him gone.

Away from this town and away from us.

And if he didn’t leave willingly, I would not hesitate to use that little flash drive to send him away. It might not take him down, but I wouldn’t feel badly about trying.

Blue smoke drifted up around us, and I heard people start to exclaim as the room filled, the two cans Will covertly dumped pouring thick clouds into the small, tight space.

Our gazes stayed locked, guests shuffling and moving about, trying to get away from the mountains of smoke as they coughed and worried about staining their dresses.

A small smile curled his lips because he knew what was happening and I followed suit, smirking back.

The smoke consumed the entire room, like a cigarette in a jar, breezing between us, and suddenly, everyone moved, heading for the doors and running to get away from the polluted, closed space.

But just then, I lurched forward, someone crashing into Winter who fell into me, and I whipped around, seeing her fall to the ground, lost in the smoke.

Shooting down, I reached for her and pulled her back up as someone ran past, their knee knocking her in the head.

“You okay?” I put her on her feet and held her face.

She nodded, a little shaken. “Yeah.”

I looked around the room, trying to see if Will and everyone got to the guards and if Lev was still covering the door, but I couldn’t see shit.

I turned back to my father, but it was suddenly empty air. He was gone.

Taking Winter’s hand, I moved us through the crowd, finding Lev still positioned at the door as everyone poured out.

He lifted his mask up halfway. “He didn’t come through,” he told me.

I spun around, heading for the rear exit, but I heard a clank above me, and I peered up the narrow, spiral staircase and saw two men dressed in black climbing the stairs.

“He’s going up the stairs,” I shouted back to Lev. “Stay there!”

Heading toward the staircase, I put Winter’s hand on the rail. “Lots of steep steps.”

She gripped the rail and found the first step. “I got it.”

“You sure?”

“Go!” she barked.

And I didn’t need to be told twice. Running up the stairs, I glanced at Winter behind me, seeing her hold the railing tightly and jog up the steps as I held her other hand.

I tried to see up the staircase, but the smoke had filtered up there, clouding everything, and I had no idea where he went. He couldn’t leave. We needed to keep this in a public place, and I didn’t want him to have any time to regroup or dig in.

We reached the top of the stairs, Winter vaulting into my back, and I reached around, grabbing her thigh.

“Shhh…” I said.

I looked down the long hallway, seeing multiple rooms. He didn’t own this building. Only hosted here. He wouldn’t have back-up or anything tucked here, would he?

Will raced up behind us, coming to my side, and Michael, Alex, Rika, Banks, and Kai quickly followed.

“He’s in one of them,” I told them.

We started down the hallway, but Winter pulled me back.

“Wait,” she blurted out. “He wouldn’t box himself in. Is there a fire escape?”

Will and I exchanged a look.

“The roof,” he said.

I gritted my teeth and leaned over the railing, calling down to Lev.

“Go outside,” I yelled. “Guard the fire escape!”

“Okay!” His voice carried up.

I put Winter’s hand on my arm and ordered her, “Stay behind me.”

She nodded, and I bolted, everyone following as I took the small, dark staircase to the left.

“Steps,” I warned her.

She reached out for the railing, breathing hard, trying to keep up, but as soon as she found the first one, she made like a demon and climbed like her legs were on fire.

We darted up the staircase, pushed through the doors, all of us spilling onto the roof, and I looked up, immediately spotting my father with one of his men heading for the edge and the fire escape.

They whipped around, the guard reaching for his weapon, but all of a sudden, something flew past us through the air and slammed right into his forehead, making his neck snap back, his knees give out, and his body crumple to the floor of the roof.

What the hell?

A dagger clanked to the ground next to him, the butt of it having must’ve knocked him out.

I looked over at Rika. She stood in a lunging position with her arm outstretched.

Then she stood up, straightening and breathing hard.

Yeah, okay.

My father looked at his man on the ground, inhaling long and deep as he assessed his current situation.

Then he turned his eyes on me.

“You won’t do what it takes,” he said, the glow of the town’s lanterns and the trees from the park behind him.

Smoke still painted the air.

I took Winter’s hand off my jacket, touched her face, and pulled away, approaching him as everyone else stayed back.

“I did once,” I said, thinking of my mother. “Did you really think she’s just been lying on a beach this entire time?”

He thinned his eyes on me and cocked his head, almost looking impressed. He must’ve suspected my mother was dead. She hadn’t surfaced in years.

And he knew that if she didn’t stay away and leave me alone that I’d make her leave me alone.

“You let it happen,” I bit out, stepping forward again and then stopping. “You let her do those things to me.”

“Spare me your whines,” he retorted. “A little pussy is what every growing boy needs.”

I glared at him.

“So what did you do with her?” he asked. “Where is she?”

You mean, where’s the body?

I held his gaze and reached into my breast pocket, pulling out the dagger tucked there.

His eyes darted to it and then up to me as I fisted the handle.

“Close,” I taunted.

I tightened my grip, the leather of my gloves gritting together.

“You won’t,” he told me. “You can’t.”

You know I can. And I would.

“Leave,” I muttered.

But his eyes glanced behind me. “Is she pregnant with my grandchild yet?” he asked, looking Winter up and down. “As long as that blindness isn’t genetic, breed with her as much as you want. I expected bastards from you at some point.”

I shot forward.

“I wouldn’t lose control if I were you,” he said quickly. “You have to keep me alive. How else will I change my will to include you again?”