Page 103 of Fool Me Twice

“Yeah?” Cyrus answered, sounding distracted.

“I need information on Sarah Whitlock,” Cane said, not bothering with small talk or too much intro.

“Cane?” Cyrus asked, more than alert now. “What the fuck are you doing with a cursebreaker’s phone?”

“I called you,” Fix said, and Cane wondered how he managed to sound placating when his world was falling to pieces around him and his face clearly showed it. “It’s to do with a case.”

“Just do your fucking job!” Cane growled.

“I am currently, which doesn’t include taking orders from you,” Cyrus fired back. “Fix, this is highly—”

“Hart is cursed and we think it’s to do with that list we sent you,” Fix cut him off. “We need the information because we think it’ll help us break the curse.”

“Cursebreakers can’t be cursed,” Cyrus retorted, and Fix sighed, shaking his head.

“We thought so too,” he said. “But here we are.”

Cyrus swore loudly. “You don’t like to do things the easy way, do you? Figures I’d have the most fucking dysfunctional cursebreaker team operating in my city.”

It sounded like he was moving, the rising and falling sounds of voices indicating he was passing people by.

“Pull up anything you can about Sarah Whitlock,” Cyrus said to someone unknown, before speaking to them again. “Anything in particular?”

Fix raised an eyebrow at Cane and Cane shook his head, not really sure where they could start.

“Anything you can find,” Fix said finally, and they settled in for a wait while the sound of a keyboard clicking filled the silence.

Cane tapped his fingers on the countertop, half ready to crawl into the phone and shake the information he needed out of whoever was on the other side with Cyrus.

“Okay,” Cyrus said after an eternity.

“Fucking finally,” Cane said.

“I can cut this call and not give you anything,” Cyrus bit back, and Fix shook his head at Cane before taking over again.

“That won’t be necessary,” Fix said. “We’re grateful you’re doing this for Hart. What did you find?”

Cane scowled, but it seemed like the saying about catching more flies with honey was true. For a split second his mind reminded him that that was something Hart would say, and the anger and anxiety came back full force.

“I’ll start with the most interesting fact first,” Cyrus said. “Sarah Whitlock didn’t exist until twenty years ago.”

“What the fuck?” Cane asked, and Fix’s expression mirrored his.

“The first records of her that we managed to dig up are from the age of seventeen,” Cyrus continued. “Ran away from a foster home she was in and foster parents reported her missing. She was gone until she turned eighteen, before reporting to the police that she was safe and did not wish to be bothered as she was an adult by then.”

“And they just let her go?” Fix asked.

“She was legally an adult and had no record before that,” Cyrus said. “Apparently they thought she was just a troubled teen and didn’t bother further.”

“God forbid they did their jobs,” Cane hissed through his teeth.

“Well they did just five years later,” Cyrus said. “By catching her partner in crime and putting him in jail. Interesting how not-aboveboard you were back then.”

“Fuck you,” Cane said. “I did my time.”

“You sure it was enough?” Cyrus asked.

Fix spoke before Cane could snap again. “Anything else on her?”

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