Page 14 of The Last Shadow

Frankie

The next morning, I’m still shaken by the dream and my focus is shot to hell. Every blink brings with it that haunting image of Damien with his eyes stabbed out and his guts spilling out of his lifeless body. Damien held me all night, whispering reassuring words in my ear until I fell asleep in his arms.

“Come on, DeMarco. We’re going on a field trip.” Jay’s wearing one of his shit-eating grins, which means he’s got something.

My brows shoot up at the similarities from the dream. “It’s not a crime scene, is it?”

“Hell no,” he scoffs. “I managed to track down a very important witness who might give us some valuable information.”

I frown, thinking about another thought I had in the nightmare. “That’s properly vague. Why?”

His brows dip and he stares at me. “Why do you sound so suspicious? You used to like it when I surprised you withimportant case information.” He laughs. “Now that you got that big rock on your finger, us plebs no longer amuse you?”

“Plebs?” I bark out a laugh. “What in the hell does that mean?”

“It means that you’re about to be Mrs. Billionaire and suddenly you’re suspicious.” His lips pinch together as we weave through traffic. “You don’t trust me now?”

I could let it go, but now is as good a time as any to clear the air. “It’s not that I don’t trust you I mean geez, you’re my partner. it’s because you’ve been acting weird lately.”

“How so?”

“Well, you run off at the most inopportune times, like when Laurel Kinney was at the precinct. You haven’t seen Cassandra in weeks, and I just think something’s going on. That’s all.”

“Hang on, now. I’m entitled to my secrets.”

“You are,” I agree. “Of course you are, but if you’re sick or dying, I don’t want to find out after you’re already dead. I can’t deal with that shit again, Jay.”

He’s quiet for a long time before he lays one of his hands on top of mine. “I’d never do that to you, Frankie. Not in a million years.”

“Good.” We finish the ride in silence before pulling up to what looks like a seaside college town. “Serenity House. Why are we here?”

“Because while you were busy living out your fairy tale life, I was doing actual work.” His eyes are full of amusement, which is the only thing that stops me from giving him a smart-ass comment. “While you were busy tracking down the other boys in thosephotos, I figured I might look into more of the girls, see what they remember.”

I shake my head. “I knew you were chasing down leads without me.”

He shrugs off my annoyance. “You were busy doing your thing and you know, dealing with your entire life burning to the fucking ground. Figured you wouldn’t want the case to go the same route.”

He’s right. “Okay, and who’s are we seeing here?”

He blinks rapidly and slowly his expression shifts to shock. “Seriously?”

My brows tug down. “Should I know? Laurel says she lives in Santa Monica, so I know it’s not her. Who lives here?”

“OliviaJaneWolfe. Your soon to be sister-in-law.” The weight of his stare should piss me off, but I’m embarrassed because I’m marrying Damien, and I don’t know where his sister lives.

Because he didn’t tell me. “Right.”

“You didn’t know?” There’s no judgment in his tone, which only makes it worse.

“No. I didn’t know. I haven’t met her yet.”

“Yeah well,” he says and pushes the driver’s side door open and steps out with an exaggerated grunt. “Things with you and Damien have moved pretty fast.”

“You think I’m making a mistake?” I step out of the car and stare at him over the roof. “Everyone else has an opinion yet I haven’t heard yours.”

His shoulders rise and fall, his expression is thoughtfully bland. “Anything I say gonna change your mind?”

“Probably not, but when have you ever held your tongue?”

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