Page 71 of Deadly Deception
“Henson responded. He’s going to meet us at the address. Alone.”
Boone stared up at me, eyes wide. “Alone?I thought… No backup?” Boone chewed on his bottom lip. “Franklin, that’s not what I thought would happen. I mean, Vanja didn’t threaten the hostages if others showed up. I just assumed Henson would bring the whole damn police department.” Boone shook his head. “It will just be the three of us. We can’t count on Aurelia helping out. This is a bad idea.”
Boone opened his mouth a couple of times, swallowing down the words each time. He was building up to something, and I had a feeling I wasn’t about to like it and decided to nip Boone’s thoughts in the bud. “Don’t you dare ask me to stay behind.”
Head tilted down, Boone’s bangs covered his eyes. With a sad shake, he said, “Don’t think I don’t want to, but I know it would be futile. I considered using one of Pops’s charms on you, but I’m not sure you’d forgive me if I did that. I was just mentally debating if it would be worth making you angry enough to walk away from me if it would mean you stayed alive.”
I pulled Boone into my arms, tucking his head into my neck. I heard Boone inhale deeply before his stiff body eased into the embrace. I tugged him a little tighter when I felt his arms wrap around me.
Neither one of us had showered since this morning. Stress sweat was a thing, and we were both covered in its odor. None of that mattered. We breathed each other in and stood there. I wasn’t exactly certain what was going through Boone’s mind, but as for me, I simply wished time would hold still. I wished we could stay in this moment. But if there was one certainty in the world, it was that time marched on. Time was, perhaps, the most unbiased of all constants.
Words were difficult to find, but when they finally came, I whispered them onto the crown of Boone’s head. “I cannot even begin to fathom what you could do to drive me away. No doubt I’d be pissed if you tried to keep me out of this fight, but leaving would hurt far worse than anything Warlock Holland could conjure up. I told you before, Erasmus, you’re stuck with me. Get used to my stink.”
Boone’s body shook with warm laughter. “Oh, Gaia. That was wonderful, but you lost it at the end.”
“Story of my life.” I kissed the top of Boone’s head before releasing him. “Listen, I don’t think bringing more people in will be helpful. Vanja more than implied she isn’t scared of numbers. Besides, given what’s going on at the department, Henson doesn’t know who he can and can’t trust.”
“Gaia, that’s depressing.”
“I call it like I see it, and every instinct in me is screaming that the more people we bring to this shindig, the more likely blood is to be spilled.” When Boone cringed, I said, “I’m going to give Captain Cicely a call on the way. I’ve got an idea.”
“At least one of us has a plan.” Boone skeptically eyed me. “At least I think you’ve got a plan. Or maybe I hope you do because, beyond storming the castle, I’ve got nothing.” Boone deeply inhaled before letting that huge breath out in slow degrees. “I suppose the sooner we get started, the sooner this will be over. Hell, at this rate, Aurelia’s going to pop up again and ask where we are.”
“True that,” I agreed.
Boone opened the door, and we headed down the hall. The elevator arrived quickly, and we rode it down to the lobby. Our rental SUV quietly sat in the parking lot, soaking up the cold. My cell rang as I climbed into the driver’s seat. I recognized the ringtone as someone from my precinct. It looked like I wouldn’tneed to call Captain Cicely after all. I answered with a clipped, “O’Hare.”
“I’ve got some information. Is this a good time?” Becks answered instead of the captain.
“As good as any.” I started up the SUV and said, “Boone’s with me. Is it okay to place you on speaker?”
“Considering this isn’t one of our official cases, I think that would be okay,” Becks said.
“Okay, you’re on speaker. What have you got?” I put the SUV in reverse and started out of the lot. I had a general idea where we were headed, and didn’t need the GPS yet.
“Hey, Erasmus,” Becks greeted him. “How’s Yankee territory treating you?”
Boone chuckled. “It’s a wee bit chilly up here. How is it back home?”
“It was a sunny seventy-five today,” Becks answered, and Boone groaned.
“You’re killing me here.”
Becks’s laughter sang through the vehicle. “Sorry, Erasmus. Hopefully you’ll be back soon.”
“From your lips to Gaia’s ears.”
While their back-and-forth was entertaining, we were on borrowed time. “Sorry to interrupt, but what have you got for me?”
Becks’s sigh was long and deep. “I’m not sure. There was a lot to weed through. Good news is that Daisy Vasquez was decently organized. She grouped ideas into folders. The difficult part wasn’t getting into Daisy’s mind. It was reading through everything she’d gathered. The short of it is that Daisy did believe this Vanja person is a woman. Daisy found a couple of informants, and before you ask, she didn’t give their names so I can’t verify anything. Daisy Vasquez was very careful aboutprotecting her sources. Given what happened to the woman, I think we can all agree she had reason for concern.”
“No argument here,” Boone said.
“Right. So, anyway, after reading through Daisy’s notes, thoughts, and connecting more than a few sketchy dots, I’d say Daisy was closing in the person behind the Vanja mask. She mentions a few names as possibilities but there’s one that stands out to me, especially in light of what happened to the bodies in the morgue and to Dr. Emily Scott.”
I glanced Boone’s direction and we shared an understanding look. Not wanting to taint Becks’s thoughts, I asked, “Who would that be?”
“It looks like there’s a female police officer, a woman who was injured in the line of duty a few years ago. Someone by the name of Sara Tompkins. Do you know who that is?”
