Page 35 of The Phantom's Vice

I clear my throat. “Good, sir. Just wrapping things up.”

“Good,” he murmurs, gazing back and forth between the two of us skeptically. “Well, keep up the good work, you two. Glad we got this Phantom business all sorted out.”

“Yes, sir.”Jim and I exchange glances as we parrot each other at the same time. I clear my throat once more, and say, “Absolutely, sir. Have a good one.”

“And you.” He nods, then takes his leave, his left foot shuffling slightly with each step.

I look back at Jim, who has decided he can’t even look at me now. “Jim. What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head, a muscle in the side of his jaw twitching. “You just don’t know when to leave it the hell alone, do you?”

I jerk back, shocked at his outburst. “Jim, I told you, I dropped the Phantom thing. He’s been caught—end of story.”

“Then why the hell are you lurking around the archives? Explain that to me.”

Well, shit.“Personal research. I told you already.”

Jim scoffs. “I talked to Marge, Brett. She said you’ve been down there for hours poring over oldPhantom files. Asking if she knows anything about the Sanctum.”

“So?” I grumble. “Like I said, it’s personal research.”

“Research that will get youkilled,” Jim says, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes dart nervously around the room before he leans in, his lips hovering just above my ear. “Drop it, Brett—I mean it. Especially this Sanctum bullshit. Just… drop it, okay?”

When he pulls back, his hazel eyes have a worried look. A look that has my stomach flipping. “Okay, Jim.” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’ll drop it. For you.”

“Thank you, Brett.” He smiles, some of that worry from earlier dissipating from his face. “It’s for your own good. You’ll thank me later.”

I smile despite the unease in my gut as Jim turns and heads back to his desk.

He doesn’t realize that I’ve never been good at doing things that are good for me. I’m not going to start now.

The rest of the workday goes by without incident. I refrain from looking at Jim and asking questionsabout the Sanctum, and in turn, he pretends I cease to exist. I’m not sure why he’s so angry that I’ve been looking into things. After all, he was the one who taught me to always look deeper.

At around six, I pack up and head out to my car. I’m often the last one to leave the office—especially when we’re not working on an active case—so I’m used to watching my surroundings when I walk to my car. The headquarters are not stationed in the nicest part of the city, and even if the sun weren’t starting to set, I would be wary of my surroundings.

Except today, I’m distracted. I can’t stop thinking about the Sanctum, and why everyone refuses to talk about it. With the way people have been acting, I’m starting to think this organization is actually real—that all the things I’ve heard are real. And if that’s the case…

I suck in a deep breath, my knees going weak at the thought of what they've been doing in Moriton for the past century. Horrible, disgusting, evil things. And no one seems to want to stop them except for me.

I’m brought out of my thoughts as a scuffing sound breaks out close behind me. I wheel around, my hand circling my service weapons holstered at my hip. I scan the dimly lit parking garage but seenothing. I start to turn back when, again, that samescccrapesounds behind me. Like someone is dragging a tire iron across the ground.

“Who’s there?” I demand, pulling the weapon from the holster and flicking off the safety. “Come out with your hands in the air!”

A high-pitched, cackling laugh reverberates off the concrete walls. “Hear that, Tate? She wants us tosurrender ourselves.”His voice rises in pitch as he says the last part, mocking my voice. I take a step back, holding my gun in front of me.

“Fucking asswipe,” I grumble, scanning the shadows for the two figures. At least, I hope there are only two.

“I don’t know, Xander, she seems pretty serious. Maybe we should—I’m scared.”

Their laughter peels out, making me clench my weapon that much tighter. “I’m done playing around. Show yourselves.”

“Show yourselves.”

I whip around, my heart hammering in my ears.That was right over my shoulder.“Where the fuck are you?” I demand, backing up another step and making a wide arc with the tip of my gun. “I swear to God, if you come close, I will?—”

“You’llwhat?”

I whirl around, my chest heaving with panicked breaths. That voice… it sounded like a fuckingdemon. No man sounds like that. Not unless he has… My eyes go wide.Not unless he has a voice mod like the Phantom.A laugh sounds out close behind me, and I whirl around once more.

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