Page 26 of Amber Gambler

“Not sure that’s how babies work, but congratulations?”

Halfway to her landing, my phone rang, and I risked putting it on speaker. “Hello.”

“Hey,” a low voice rumbled in greeting.

“Harrow?” Josie glanced over her shoulder. “Where did you come from?”

“He’s on the phone,” I explained, then told him, “I’ll call you right back.”

“He still has the hots for you.” Her head lolled back. “All the succubae were talking about it last night.”

“We have chemistry, I won’t deny it, but that’s all we have.”

“Just don’t have his babies, okay?” Her jaw cracked on a yawn. “They would just be cops.”

“I can see it now.” I stifled a laugh. “Dress blue onesies with black booties and little badge pacifiers.”

“Eww.”

“Yes,” I said dryly. “The horror of having law enforcement in the family.”

A wild laugh erupted from her, shaking her shoulders and almost tumbling us down the stairs.

“Now I’m getting worried.” I frowned at the back of her head. “It wasn’t that funny.”

“Not…that,” she wheezed through fits of giggles. “I pictured you…laying…anegg.”

Panicking that her blood alcohol level must be toxic, I gripped her tighter. “Why would I…?”

“Your birdfriend.” She couldn’t catch her breath. “Your kids…would be…eggs.”

Amusement tickled my lips as I escorted her into her apartment and tipped her onto her bed.

Pretty sure she was out cold before her head hit the pillow, which suited me fine.

Out on the landing, I sank onto the topmost step and redialed Harrow. “Sorry about that.”

“Josie stayed out late, huh?” He sounded like he already knew the answer. “Carter’s so carsick, we’re staying at the office today.”

“Probably a wise choice unless she wants her truck to smell like puke forever.”

“We had paperwork to catch up on anyway.”

A moment of silence lapsed where any number of things once fit but no longer did. “So.”

“So.” He exhaled as the seconds marched on. “Thanks to being stuck behind a desk since I went on duty, in addition to tidying my inbox, I had time to dig into your case. The five missing girls SPD has on record? We cross-referenced their names, dates of birth, and last-known addresses. They all have some paranormal ancestry. I’ve updated their information in the 514 database and flagged the grouping for Chief Leer.”

“Hold on.” I shoved my hair out of my face. “I didn’t mean for you to drag him into this.”

The small favor I asked was spinning out of control, and the tree situation wasn’t helping my anxiety.

“Frankie.” A car door slammed in the background. “These girls started disappearing around two weeks ago.”

A slow exhale parted my lips as the reason behind his urgency hit me. “They’re recent.”

As in, the trail was fresh enough to follow. As in, there would be more if we didn’t stop the killer.

“Unofficially, SPD is calling them cold cases.” He hesitated. “There’s not much information on the girls.” I heard his fumblefor tact. “Unhoused teens are notoriously difficult to track. Most don’t survive long on their own. They disappear without a trace all the time. Without leads, the SPD has hit a dead-end.”

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