Page 93 of Amber Gambler

“That’s why, before anyone other than the two of us sees this, I’m going to sit down and talk to him.”

Handing off the laptop, I got to my feet. I couldn’t sit there. I had to move. To think.

“I understand if you don’t want to back me up on this, after what he did to you, but he’ll talk more freely with you than with me. You were friends.Morethan that. He and I didn’t get that far. But your history might apply enough pressure on a fault line to break him.”

“I’ll go with you.” I had to give him a chance to defend himself. To explain. “Kierce will come too.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“Until we know Harrow’s role in all this, I can’t trust him not to play you and me against each other.”

I might be open to hearing his side of the story, but I had already almost died enough for one week.

One drop of my blood in the air, and Carter would be stuck fighting a battle on two fronts.

Against him.

And herself.

“That’s fair.” She clenched her jaw. “Kierce will have to conceal himself, though.”

“Yes.” I had been thinking along the same lines. “Harrow can’t see him, or things will get ugly.”

Uglier.

“Where do you want to meet?” Carter amended her statement. “Where would you feel safe?”

There was one place, aside from the shop, that always made me happy. “Bonaventure.”

During the day, I couldn’t count on the spirits to help me, but there would be humans. Tourists loved the cemetery, and it was an unspoken rule of paranormal society we conceal our existence from them. They would provide me with a buffer.

The outdoor location, paired with Kierce’s familiarity of the place, would provide him with infinite hiding spots. Badb could still be his eyes in the sky. With a surplus of oaks and monuments at her disposal, she could stand watch without making herself a target.

“He’ll know you’re coming too if I tell him that,” she warned. “Do you want to tip our hand?”

There was a chance thinner than a single strand of hair Audrey might still be alive, and we had to take it.

“He may be on leave, but it’s voluntary. He’s still got access to the 514’s files and his friends at SPD.” I let it sink in, that we might already be too late. “When he finds out we tossed Armie’s restaurant, and if those recordings are mentioned, he’s going to come for them. We have to act fast if we want to get answers before he switches to damage control mode.”

“I’m sorry, Frankie, truly.” She glanced toward the door. “I know this is hard.”

Not as difficult as it would have been a few hours earlier. “Tell me the truth. I’m not enacting some ex-girlfriend revenge fantasy, am I?”

“From where I’m sitting, no.” She put away the laptop. “That you’re worried it could be speaks volumes. Your brain is spinning, trying to justify or explain his behavior and any possible involvement to yourself.”

“This sounds plausible to you?” I dragged my fingers through my flat hair, wishing for an elastic. “That he could do something like this? Harrow?SamuelHarrow? That Harrow?”

“You’re conflicted because you two have history. I haven’t known him long, and he hasn’t liked me much during that time. That he shot his uncle to save my life didn’t do much for our partnership either.” There was a pause, like she had to organize or soften the blow of her thoughts. “He’s a damn fine cop. He does his job well. He cares. Those things don’t always go handin hand. But he’s got hang-ups about who he is,whathe is, and where his loyalties should lie. He has anusversusthemmentality that’ll get him killed if he's not more careful.” She shuttered her gaze. “He’s a lot like Lyle in that sense.”

“He came back different.” I heard the plea in my tone and hated it. “He’s been using magic.”

“Not since Lyle died.”

“Not once?”

“Not once.” She shrugged. “That I’ve seen anyway.”

Used to his allergy to magic, I didn’t track his usage. It surprised me every time he whipped out a spell. It wasn’t much. Just a bare-bonesgetthejobdonefastfastfastgrudging use of his talents. I never expected a show of power, but now it slapped me upside the head how I almost died.Twice.Carter had been there. It was as easy as asking her to verify, but I didn’t have to because I knew. Deep down, I knew.

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