Page 15 of Devil's Due

They settled into mutual glaring, jaws tight, teeth set. Lucia let a few seconds of silence go by, and then cleared her throat. “If I may continue,” she said carefully. “Evidently, the Cross Society decided you weren’t of use to them any longer. Was that because you moved to save Jazz when you did?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m out. I’m not taking orders from those creepy sons of bitches anymore, and neither should you. Either of you.” McCarthy turned a glare toward Borden, who was slumped against the wall by the broad windows. “And you should get rid of him. You’re sleeping with the enemy, Jazz. Watch what you say around him.”

“Hey!” Borden said sharply, and straightened up. “Watch your mouth.”

“Why? You’re not sleeping with my partner?” McCarthy showed teeth. “Or do you just not want to admit to it? Ashamed?”

Borden’s eyes turned dark and cold. “I mean it, man. Shut up.”

“Jazz wants me to shut up, she can say something about it.”

Jazz didn’t seem inclined to say much about it either way, Lucia noticed. Her mouth was closed, her jawline tight. Her hands were fisted on her thighs, knuckles white.

Borden towered over McCarthy when McCarthy walked toward him, but it seemed obvious to Lucia that it wouldn’t matter. McCarthy was the dangerous one here. Borden was tall and rangy and could probably hold his own in most situations, but McCarthy had done two years of hard time, and he’d gone in hard to start with.

And Lucia didn’t like the flat look in his eyes.

“Gentlemen,” she said, her voice pitched low and calm. Standing up with deliberate grace, she moved to form the third point of a triangle—not between them, but pulling their focus away from each other. Jazz, still seated behind her, would have done it differently; she would have waded in, shoving and shouting. That would work, but it would take time to sort out.

This worked instantly.

McCarthy stepped back. “Sorry,” he said. “You’re right. Your house. You want to have amoral bastards in it, that’s not my business.”

“Borden stays,” Lucia said. “He’s proved himself to us. You haven’t, Ben.”

“Hey, wait a second!” Jazz snapped.

“Jazz, shut up.” Lucia gave her voice an edge of steel.

Jazz pressed her lips together, eyes blazing.

“I’m talking to you, Ben,” Lucia continued. “The three of us, we’ve been through a lot together. You’re new to this agency. You don’t just walk in here and throw doubt on Borden, do you understand? And you don’t try to pull me and Jazz apart by playing on old loyalties. If you do, you can walk out the door and find your own way.”

Jazz badly wanted to speak, but somehow she controlled herself; Lucia watched the battle on her face. The outcome was a lowering of her blond head, deep breaths and silence.

Lucia transferred her attention back to Ben.

“I’m not working for the Cross Society again,” he said. “Get that straight right now.”

“Fine. If you want to work for us, you do straight-up work,” she agreed, “Straightforward investigation. You don’t deal with Cross at all.”

He thrust a thumb over his shoulder toward Borden. “Do I have to deal withhim?”

“You have to deal withmeif you disrespect him,” she said. “Are we clear?”

He nodded—one sharp movement, nothing more. After a few seconds, he said, “Thanks for the suit.”

He meant it to be embarrassing, as if he’d conned her out of something. She gave him a cool smile. “You’re representing us now. Can’t have you looking like a lowlife excon.”

Borden glanced from one to the other. “Did I miss something? Youhiredhim?”

“Over breakfast,” Lucia said. “Jazz? Will that be a problem?”

Jazz didn’t answer. She was watching McCarthy, waiting for something.

He walked over to her, took her fists in his hands and slowly smoothed her fingers out. He wasn’t looking at her face. Borden had stiffened at the touch, Lucia noticed in her peripheral vision.

“Jazz,” Ben said quietly. “I couldn’t tell you any of it. Don’t you think that was hell for me? I was almost glad they set me up. At least then I didn’t have to face you every morning and lie to you. Look, I know you can’t forgive me for it, but—”

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