Page 78 of Deceive Me
If only those damn words didn’t echo in her mind every time she thought of him. “God, I love you.”
She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.
“You okay?”
Dain pulled out a chair and sat. Elliot forced herself to look at him, to not hide what she was feeling like she’d tried to do all her life. She needed him to see the truth.
“Can’t I do this back at JCL?”
“Alvarez said they needed us here to tie up loose ends with them.”
Right. Sure. “This delay tactic isn’t going to work, Dain.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
His confusion could’ve fooled anyone else, but not Elliot. She knew him too well. Leaning in close, she dropped her voice until only the two of them could hear her words. “Look…I hurt all over. I’ve faced about as many of my mistakes as I can tonight. I can’t take much more; I need to get the fuck out of here.”
And he knew why; she could read it in his eyes. He’d opened his mouth to respond when the door behind them opened.
Elliot’s muscles went rigid. Only when she saw Alvarez and Trapper from the corner of her eye and realized they were alone was she able to relax.
Dain ignored her tension. “Commander.”
Alvarez gave a hearty bellow as Elliot stood with the rest of her team. “There’s the woman that saved the day.” Crossing the room, he held out a stack of papers. “Here.”
Elliot stared, disbelieving, at the pile. You have got to be kidding me. “This is the thanks I get?” Hopefully the man never discovered her birth date; she’d hate to see what he gave her then.
Alvarez chuckled. “Test results, Smith. Just test results.” He gestured to the table and waited while they all took seats, then sat next to Elliot. She forced herself not to scoot toward Dain. “We figured out at least one riddle. The white substance Kivuli left at Deacon’s place. It’s the same stuff that was in the pouch you poured on him at Mansa’s.”
Elliot shuddered at the memory.
“Knowing the man was likely a native, we called in an expert.” Alvarez reached a hand out, and Elliot passed him the papers gratefully. He shuffled through until a particular page caught his eye, then passed it around. “It’s a substance called a muthi, made of herbs and animal parts. Usually for medicinal purposes, but some criminals obtain them from so-called witches for the purpose of black magic. This particular mixture is supposed to render the user invisible to the people he targets.”
“So you’re saying he lined the fence with the powder, and that’s why we couldn’t see him on surveillance?” Dain asked, eyes wide.
“Bullshit,” King barked. Saint looked thoughtful.
Alvarez shrugged. “I’m just passing along what our expert told us; I can’t attest to its viability. If you have a better explanation, I’m all ears.”
Elliot wanted to scoff like King did, but she couldn’t, not when she remembered the look on Kivuli’s face when the powder had hit him, remembered him sucking it into his mouth with his last breaths, seizing, choking. Another shudder went through her, and from the looks on the faces around the table, she didn’t think she was the only one.
More shuffling through the papers. “The woman Mansa was holding was able to give us her name,” Alvarez said. “She’ll be sent back to her family after she’s stabilized.”
“Were her injuries extensive?” Elliot asked.
Trapper spoke for the first time. “From the fight, no. Those were minor, some bangs and bruises.” His hand flexed against the table. “There were other long-term issues though.” He didn’t say what those were, and Elliot found herself grateful. She didn’t think she could deal with any more guilt right now, any more if only’s. There was no possible way she could’ve gotten to Mansa’s hideout sooner, and she had to live with that. It was far easier than living with the knowledge that her mother’s killer had been walking around free.
Alvarez tapped the edge of a paper against the table. “We’ve made sure she’s getting top-notch care, and we’ve found a group that has agreed to take over follow-up and counseling when she arrives back in Spain, where she’s from. Everything we can do to help her, we will.”
“Thank you.” There was really nothing else Elliot could say. Memories of her mother waking with nightmares, screaming, uncontrollably crying, crowded in. Hopefully with help, this woman would be able to heal in a way Nora had not. No one deserved to live with that kind of pain.
“Absolutely. We wouldn’t—”
The door burst open, jerking everyone’s attention toward the noise as Fionn rushed through, eyes wild, hair and clothes a ragged mess. “Where’s Deacon? We’ve got to be getti—”
“Whoa, whoa!” Alvarez was on his feet and crossing the room before the rest of them could stand up. “What happened, Irish?”
Fionn opened his mouth but was interrupted by Alvarez’s phone going off, then Trapper’s. The commander answered his cell, his look grim.
