Page 54 of A Breath of Life
I ground my teeth and forced the echo of the Consigliere’s words out of my head.
Tallus… good god, not Tallus.
“Focus,” I said under my breath.
Based on what I knew, Clarence—whoever he was—had been targeted by Ace. He was meant to die in the alley before Tallus and I had interrupted the killer—the Bishop. With a fast-swelling throat and obstructed airway, Clarence must have understood his predicament.
Closing my eyes, I returned to that fated night and recalled telling the dying man that help was on the way. Instead of relief, Clarence’s only concern had been getting rid of that goddamn card. He’d expended all his energy ensuring we understood the request.Find it, he’d said.Throw it away.
Why?
I opened my eyes and focused on the leather pouch around my wrist, feeling the weight of the object within. “Because it was fucking tracking his position. That was how the Bishop knew where to find him.”
It was how the Consigliere knew where I was at all times afterward because I’d kept the fucking thing in my pocket to keep it away from Tallus.
Echo lifted her head at my comment and made a questioning sound like she was asking what I meant.
“Nothing, girl. I’m talking to myself. Go back to sleep.”
She chuffed and lowered her head again, closing her eyes.
I bounced my knee and continued dissecting the night in the alley. Why did Clarence carry the card if he knew it was tracking him? Especially if there was bad blood between him and Ace. Maybe he didn’t know it was on him. Maybe he only suspected it had been planted after he was attacked. Maybe he, too, had been threatened and told not to remove it from his person.
“Find it,”he’d said.
Clarence wanted to unload the card because he knew Ace had targeted him and wanted him dead. He knew that if he lived through the ordeal, his killer would find him again and finish the job.
So, he convinced us to take it and demanded that we throw it away.
Except we hadn’t, and Ace and his cronies had come after us instead.
Clarence had gotten away.
Ace was pissed.
“And that’s where I come in. Fuck my life.”
Echo whined but didn’t lift her head or open her eyes.
Clarence had obviously recovered from his injuries—the Consigliere confirmed as much—and he’d gone underground. If he was smart, he would skip the country.
Part of me wondered what the man had done to piss off Ace, but another part of me understood that it didn’t matter. It was none of my business. Finding Clarence was the key to getting out of this mess.What happened to him after I delivered him on a silver platter wasn’t my fucking problem.
I snagged my cell and drew up contact information for a man who might be able to help. Jaxon Buren worked in the medical field as a mortuary assistant and had hospital privileges. He also had a profound drug problem and usually did whatever I wanted for quick cash, even at the risk of his career. How he’d managed to not get canned was beyond my understanding.
The phone rang once before an automated voice announced the line had been disconnected.
“For fuck’s sake.”
I slammed a fist against the desk, disturbing Echo again, who came to check on me. She rested a paw on my bouncing knee as though knowing it was a sign of agitation and wanting to make it stop.
I absently petted her for a few minutes before drawing up a map of Toronto on the laptop. Over half a dozen hospitals in the city provided emergency care. I had to assume the ambulance had taken Clarence to the one nearest where he was found, which turned out to be the Toronto Western Hospital. Although the General and St. Joseph’s weren’t out of the question, either, since they were near enough to the vicinity to be possibilities.
I muttered another curse and unthinkingly scrubbed a hand over my face, hissing when sharp pain radiated through my nose and cheekbones, making my eyes water.
“Fuck.” I growled and hammered the desk three more times to mitigate the sting.
Echo whimpered and leaned against my leg.
