Page 43 of Bonded in Death

“If we used your unregistered, we could maybe find out.”

“And still more interesting. We can do that, of course. I’d like you to fill me in first, as it would give me better direction. You can do that while we have a meal.”

“I want fries,” she decided. “I want lots of fries. Like a mountain of fries.”

“All right then.”

“Jake’s moving in with Nadine. Jesus, Jesus on ’roids! Why is that stuck in my head?”

“Is he? That’s happy news, isn’t it?”

“I guess. Sure. Why not? Feeney and Whitney both did stuff during the Urbans. You had to figure that—plus, I knew Feeney did. They had code names.”

“Those I must know.” He handed her a glass of wine.

“Hound and Lightning. Guess which is which?”

“That’s no challenge, darling. Feeney would be Hound—he’d have the scent. So Lightning falls to your commander.”

“Apparently he used to be really fast. It was a long time ago, Roarke. But I think Rossi died because of something that happened back then.”

“How did he die?”

“Toxic gas piped into the back of a limo. Do you know what phosphine is?”

“I do, yes. A very unpleasant death.”

“Yeah. Very.”

“They found a stockpile—it had already been banned—when I was a boy in Dublin. There was a leak, and several died, others were sickened. I think I was six or seven, but I remember it.”

“He used a canister dated 2024.”

Rising, she walked to the board with her wine. “I think Rossi was a good man, a loyal friend, and a spy. My victim. His killer put a card with my name on it between his index and middle fingers, fingers that had been broken in the past. And in the spring of ’26. I’ve asked to have DeWinter date the breaks. He had more of them.”

“Your card, yes, I see.”

When he turned to her, she didn’t need the Marriage Rules to know to take his hand.

“It’s not about me. He wants me to hunt him, but it’s not about me. Read the message.”

“I have.”

“It’s about them. And until I figure out who the hell they are, the seven left, he’s got a clear field. He wants them dead. I don’t.”

“I’ll get the meal, and we’ll sit. You’ll start at the beginning.”

“Roarke.” She set her glass down, slid her arms around him.

Yeah, she was a hard case, and here he was, loving her anyway.

“There was a rainbow.”

“During the Urbans?”

She laughed, and loved him for keeping his mind on her case. “No, when I got home. It rained on the way, then it stopped, and there was a rainbow right over the house.”

She pulled out her ’link, swiped it up, showed him.

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