Page 86 of Spades

Shit.

I put the phone back in my pocket, and it rustles up against something.

I wrinkle my forehead. I don’t keep anything in my jacket pocket except my phone. It looks bulky otherwise.

Maybe it’s a receipt from the bar.

Except no. Aces charges all my drink orders directly to my account, and I’m billed for whatever my father’s estate doesn’t cover.

I pull it out of my pocket. It’s a piece of notepaper folded neatly into quarters. I unfold it. At the top is a phone number with the wordsCall me when you’re there, and then a message scrawled below it in ornate handwriting.

A figure of black, with points to its rank

Was lost near a henge of cascading wet banks.

In fields where the grasses grow wild and unkempt,

Its crown was interred—placed perhaps with contempt.

Search not for the heart, nor the diamond or club,

For their sister lies still beneath flower and shrub.

Where wings take to sky, and landings draw nearly,

You’ll find what was hidden, its fate mirrored clearly.

What the actual fuck?

29

ALISSA

My Uber dropsme off at my apartment. I get out, bracing against the chilly winter air.

I don’t know what I was thinking, storming out of that club in the black of night when just twenty-fours ago I was being cornered by those goons.

But I lucked out this evening. I called an Uber while I was walking out of the club, and within a minute, one had pulled up on the corner of Randolph and State. I made a beeline for the back seat and locked the door behind me. My driver, thankfully a woman, didn’t speak the entire drive.

Five bloody stars for her.

My phone rings. I pull it out of my purse and look at the screen. It’s Dinah.

Good grief. Does the hospital need me to come in?

I could ignore it. Send it to voicemail. I’m not on call tonight, so they can’t force me to come in.

But if they need me, they need me. Someone’s life could be on the line.

I accept the call and bring the phone to my ear. “What’s up?”

“Liss! I’ve got some great news.”

I sit down on my couch. “I could use some good news.”

My phone buzzes again. A text from Maddox. Probably asking me why the hell I left in such a hurry for the second night in a row. I’ll check it once I’m off the phone with Dinah.

“Carol got the lungs she needed.”

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