Page 60 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

She stuck her nose in the air and stalked out of the Cathouse, annoyed with me as usual. Didn’t she understand that people like me kept her in a job? A very well-paid job, if the rumours were to be believed, and by rumours, I meant Echo, who knew all sorts of things she wasn’t supposed to know.

T-Rex was tucked away in the basement, and thanks to the ketamine Valeria had used, he hadn’t woken up yet. Maybe I could grab lunch before I questioned him? I’d barely touched breakfast.

“You aresucha coward,” Dice said, finger pointed as she faced me in the hallway. “I can’t believe you just left.”

It was over. Done. Finito.

While Valeria and her team were removing T-Rex from the ladies’ room, I’d slipped away through the crowd that had gathered to watch.

The cover-up had been simple. T-Rex hadn’t been the first patron to somehow get confused between the egg and the sausage, and wasn’t it unfortunate that a previous user of the facilities had splashed water on the floor? T-Rex had been the victim of a tragic accident. As he was wheeled out the front door, an enterprising lawyer had tucked his business card under the strap on the gurney, just in case T-Rex wanted to sue the restaurant’s owner. Echo worked fast. She’d already redirected the asshole’s website to a porn star’s fan page.

“I basically did exactly what I said all along I would do, except two days earlier,” I told Dice.

“But he seems so nice.”

“Exactly. Heisnice, and I’m not. It could never work.”

“You’re notun-nice, not most of the time, anyway. You have a job that requires you to do unpalatable things, same as we all do, but aren’t we great at compartmentalising? Nobody’s saying you have to marry the guy.”

“But he deserves a woman whowillmarry him if he asks. A woman who’ll support him in every way. Did you know Cole works a job he hates so other people don’t lose theirs? He’s worthy of more than I can offer.”

“So that’s it? You just block his number and carry on?”

I should have blocked his number, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to take that final step. He’d sent seven text messages that I hadn’t read. Left three voicemails.

“It’s for the best.”

We’d caught one of the men behind the attacks—alive—and once I’d made him talk, we’d be able to put an end to the threat against Cole. Wasn’t that what I’d wanted?

Dice rolled her eyes, and I prayed for divine intervention, but it was Tulsa who saved me from further lectures.

“Diner dude’s awake. Do you want to pull out his fingernails, or should I?”

I cracked my knuckles, a habit everyone hated. “The pleasure will beallmine.”

CHAPTER 20

JEZEBEL

This wasn’t my first interrogation, and it wouldn’t be my last. But it might be my most satisfying.

While T-Rex was still groggy, Tulsa and I had shackled him to a St. Andrew’s cross left behind by the previous occupants of the Cathouse, and just for fun, I’d stripped him down to his underwear. I’d considered removing the boxers too, but I figured I might be there for a while, and I didn’t need to see his spaghetti noodle and meatballs bobbing around in my line of sight.

He gave a low groan, and I couldn’t blame him for that. His nose was a mess. I’d kicked him hard enough to crack my cast—which meant another visit to Doc Martinsson tomorrow morning—and the bridge was decidedly bent. It wouldn’t stop bleeding, so we’d shoved a couple of light-flow tampons into his nostrils to prevent him from making a mess on the floor.

“Wakey, wakey. Rise and shine.”

Now I sat on a wooden chair and stretched out my legs as his eyes flickered open.

“How are you feeling?”

He sucked in air through his mouth and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Fuckin’ bish.”

Good. He wasn’t too badly concussed.

“Here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to ask you some questions about the circumstances that led you to put your hands on me in a bathroom stall at the Sunrise Diner earlier today, and you’re going to answer them.”

“Fuck you,” he spat. Literally spat. The glob landed woefully short.

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