Page 17 of Fatal Attraction

“Spike?” Charlotte said worriedly, and I turned, taking in the fear crossing her puffy face.

“Stay here,” I demanded. “Hang back and talk to Carter.”

“Is that Crow?” she asked when I began to walk away, stopping me. “The guy Phoenix told me about?”

“It is,” I nodded, my throat tight. “Please, Charlotte, just stay here. We’ll be back in a minute.”

Or so I fucking hoped.

Again, what the hell was Crow doing here?

And most importantly,how the fuck did he know where to find us?

Phoenix was asking the same question the closer I approached, and all Crow could do was release a dark chuckle and offer me an acknowledging nod when I paused at my partners’ side.

“Do you pigs not watch the news?” he asked, tilting his head in a smartass manner. “That poor woman’s death is being broadcasted everywhere.”

“What do you want, Crow? Why are you here?”

“Well,” Crow started, looking away long enough to swipe cigarette ash off his jacket sleeve. “Tell me something, Phoenix. Did you bother checking out the tip I gave you about the Rohypnol?”

“No,” he replied through clenched teeth. “We’ve been busy.”

Crow tsked. “That’s a shame. I imagine Blaire’s death could’ve been avoided if you’d taken my advice.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I asked, cocking my head at him. “Is that a confession?”

“Of course not,” Crow taunted through a wide grin. “I was just simply pointing out a fact.”

He finished off his cigarette, then placed the stubbed filter inside the cigarette pack he’d fetched from his jacket pocket.

“I was only asking because it’s like I said, Blaire’s murder is all over the news, along with every single detail of what happened to her, the baby too. I know Harley and your bosses are convinced the father is the killer. As for me, I’m fairly certain it’s the same guy responsible for those rapes you were telling me about. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was among the crowd rallied together for the funeral.”

Phoenix twisted around and carefully scoped the now depleted crowd, as did I. Everyone was gone except for Harley, Chief, and Captain Burgess, who were each talking with Carter and Charlotte.

“If you know something,” Phoenix voiced in a deadly whisper, “then stop playing games and just fucking tell us.”

“I may know something,” Crow admitted with a smug bob of his head. “But it’ll cost you. After all, Phoenix, you owe me.”

“I don’t owe youshit.”

Crow tsked again. “Oh, but you do. You see, I didn’t have totalk to you the day you decided to come prancing your pig ass inside ofmybar,trying to siphon information frommy daughter. I should’ve put a fucking bullet in your skull instead.”

My hand met Phoenix’s chest, pushing him back when he made to take a dangerous step closer to Crow, his eyes flitting with rage.

“However,” Crow continued. “Killing you would’ve hurt Kendall. My sister and I may not be on speaking terms, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love her or care about her feelings.”

“Get to the fucking point,” Phoenix snapped, his chest heaving.

“Like I said,you owe me. I gave you what you needed to help solve your cases, and you were the one who neglected to listen. That’s not on me, Phoenix. That’s onyou. Do you remember me telling you about that new shipment of Rohypnol coming in?”

“What about it?” I asked.

“I have it on good authority it’ll be here within two weeks.”

“And let me guess,” Phoenix said with a scoff. “You want me to help you intercept it.”

Crow offered us another smug grin. “You do this for me, then all the bad blood between us will be wiped clean. It’ll be like old times. You remember what that was like, right,Bonecrusher?”

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