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Major didn't even bother to change out of his uniform before driving to Liv's. He called Ravi on the way, barely hiding his anger as his roommate confirmed that Liv was off work and thus likely to be home. He didn't blame Ravi—it didn't seem likely that he could have known Major was going to be on patrol at the safe house last night, and Liv at best could have only guessed, using her one contact to try to save her friend. It might be time to move the hide-a-key, though, and make sure Liv didn't have any other keys to his place. This could never happen again.
He rapped on the door, hard, and burst in past Liv the moment she opened it.
"Hey, Major."
"Don't you 'hey, Major' me. I know what you did, and I can't believe you. I really can't."
"What do you mean?" But she had her guilty look on, as if he had needed the confirmation.
"You know exactly what I mean, Liv. You put a tracker in my pocket? You could have gotten me killed!" Chase Graves was fully angry enough to kill or seriously injure whoever had been responsible—even Major might not have escaped unscathed if that tracker had been discovered. "Did you even consider that?" He waved the tracker at Liv for emphasis.
She gave up the pretense of innocence. "You're too close to Fillmore Graves, Major. You're a true believer. You wouldn't understand."
"How the hell are you even involved with a coyote? A coyote who works for the biggest human smuggler in the city, no less." Liv didn't answer, and Major kept going. "Look, I know that you smuggled a kid out of the city, but I had—"
From behind him, a guy's voice called out, "Hey. Buddy." When Major turned to look at him, some dark-haired guy who looked vaguely familiar told him, "I think you need to leave." There was a girl there, too, the young one Major had seen in the morgue the other day.
"Levon—" Liv began, but Major didn't let her finish.
"Who are you?" he demanded of the stranger. No one was going to tell him when he needed to leave Liv's place, not when she still didn't understand the position, the danger, she had put him in.
The girl spoke up. "He's one of the good guys. That's who he is."
"Isobel! I've got this," Liv said firmly. "Okay?"
Ignoring Liv, Major pointed at the girl. "I remember you. From the morgue." Then he looked at the guy, remembering now where he had seen him. "And you were at the execution." He turned back to Liv, starting to piece together what had been going on here since he and Liv had stopped speaking. "You two huddled up, and I watched you, and I thought 'what are they doing?' And you know the word that popped into my head?" He remembered all this now, when at the time it had barely registered. "Conspiring. That's what they're doing. Conspiring. Isn't that weird?"
All three of them were silent. Major looked at Liv, and she glanced at the guy. Major looked at the dark-haired guy and he dropped his eyes for a moment before looking up at Major. And suddenly the pieces fell into place. Liv wasn't just a friend of the captured coyote. Liv was his leader.
"You're her, aren't you?" he asked her. "You're Renegade." She didn't move, didn't react, didn't confirm. But she didn't need to. He should have known it already, and felt stupid that he hadn't guessed. "Of course you are. Seattle needed a hero, and guess who volunteered. The girl who can't find meaning in her life any other way."
A tiny part of him, the part that was still in love with her and always would be, was so proud of her for stepping up, for doing something so hard and so dangerous. The rest of him was angry beyond measure at her for being so stupid, for not seeing how much harder she was making things for everyone in New Seattle. And all of him was terrified for her. "This is going to get you killed, Liv. But hey, you were willing to get me killed, too. And for who? For that guy Curtis? Huh? Who is he to you? Was he worth risking my life?"
Major had forgotten they weren't alone until he suddenly felt the dark-haired guy's hand on the back of his uniform. "It's time for you to go, buddy."
Whirling, Major caught the guy by the arm, shoving him up against the wall face-first with his arm twisted behind his back. The girl from the morgue screamed, and Major slammed himself up against the guy, making the point that he would go when he was good and ready, and not until then, before letting him go.
Liv was angry now, too, and she glared at him. "Get out! Just go! Go!"
Major turned and went, because he really didn't trust himself to stay any longer. Outside the building, he stopped and took a long breath. Liv was Renegade. What the hell was he going to do about that?
