Page 112 of Amber Gambler

Down the road, in the direction opposite Bonaventure, I spied a blonde head ducking under an old Coke sign our nearest neighbor had tacked to the side of their barnlike supply business building. I watched for a minute, but I lost sight of whoever it had been. Though I had a guess.

Footsteps thundered behind me as Carter took the steps two at a time. “Harrow called.”

Twisting around, I rested an elbow on the metal tread. “And?”

“The house where Ian and the others were squatting burned to the ground last night.”

“The same night we solved the mystery of the missing Audrey.”

With the fingers of my right hand, I made a gesture toward the last place I spotted the blonde.

A wrinkle gathered across Carter’s brow and then smoothed as she grasped my meaning.

“I doubt Ian would torch a place he could fall back on later,” she murmured. “What do you think?”

That the timing stank to high heaven. That Audrey might have double-crossed us. That Harrow might not have the first clue what she was capable of or whose side she was on. Despite Audrey painting herself as the victim, she stood to benefit greatly from usurping her best friend. Had she killed for security? For her place in Ian’s bed? Survival whittled us downto the bone. Some of us picked up the bone, sharpened the tip, then shanked the person next to us.

“Kids scatter after a scare like that,” I admitted. “Especially if they already know something’s hunting them.”

“True.” Carter thinned her lips. “Do you think they would take Little with them?”

“Audrey and Farah make it sound like Little is tolerated more than accepted.”

“With neither of them to protect her, she’s got a short shelf life unless she proves herself useful to Ian.”

“Hold on.” I hadn’t cottoned to it the first time. “Harrow told you about the fire?”

Harrow, who was on bereavement leave. Who shouldn’t have been looped in to any new reports, even ones pertaining to the case he had been working.

“He had the brilliant idea to drive out and surveil the house while there’s an active APB on him. It was an inferno by the time he got there. A house that old? It was a matchstick waiting to be struck. He called an anonymous tip in, after scouting for survivors, then left before SFD or SPD arrived.”

“Call him back.” I swallowed hard. “Verify that Audrey is all right.”

Carter did just that, but I could tell before she got a word in edgewise things had gone sideways.

“Fuck.” She met my gaze. “She’s gone.”

“Can he tell if she was taken or if she got scared and ran?”

As soon as I said it, I dismissed it. The way she had looked at him? Trusted him?

“He says she wouldn’t have run.” Carter snarled into the phone. “Get your ass over here.”

“Someone must have followed me to Wormsloe.” I stalled her protest. “Think about it.”

“If they had known where Audrey was, they would have already moved against her.”

“They must have switched to Harrowafterthey saw he had Audrey.”

“Then all they had to do was wait for him to leave her home alone to make their move.”

“She was the target all along.” I gripped the rail. “Now that they have her, they have what they wanted.” I pulled myself to my feet. “They’re going to cut and run.” I bent to scoop up Badb. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have torched Ian’s tiny kingdom.”

“They don’t expect to be around long enough for him to retaliate.”

“Which means our window to find Audrey before the killer strikes again is closing fast.”

The killer, which very well might be a nine- or ten-year-old girl.

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