Page 26 of Queen of Anarchy (Dirty Broken Savages 2)

“Yeah,” I agree with the agent. “I guess it’s good whoever it was didn’t hang on to his body any longer, then. Lessens the nightmares for everyone who had to see it all hacked up at the gala.”

As if any of us are bothered by dead bodies anymore.

The blank looking man nods vaguely in response, then sweeps his gaze over all of us. “What were you all doing the night Ivan died?”

He rattles off the exact date of Ivan's death, proving that his forensics team really does know their stuff.

It’s a good thing, in times like this, that my brothers and I know each other so well. We’re used to lying on command, to spinning stories that grow between us, picking up details without having to consult each other or talk privately. It’s second nature by now.

I can tell from the look on River’s face that he hasn’t asked her this question yet, and I know the guys will back me up, so I just start talking.

“We were having a meeting at the club that night,” I say.

“All four of you?”

“Yes. We’ve been running out of liquor faster than usual, so we were discussing whether or not to switch suppliers and try to get a better deal for more.”

“Which I said was dumb because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, you know?” Ash puts in.

Priest rolls his eyes with the practiced exasperation of someone who’s had to deal with this attitude before. “But it clearlyisbroken, Ash, if we’re out of gin before Thursday.”

“So make ’em drink vodka,” Knox says. “I don’t see the issue.”

I roll my eyes and look back to Carter. It’s a good act, like we’ve had this argument before. There’s a little furrow in his brow, as if he’s unsatisfied with what we’re telling him but can’t call us out on it.

“And you, Ms. Simone?” he asks, looking to River.

“I was with them,” she answers smoothly. “I usually hang out in the back room when I have time. I like it when they argue, and once you get them going about supplies, they never shut up. Really sets the mood.”

That makes him frown harder, and I wonder what River told him before we got here.

“I see,” he says, and doesn’t write anything down for that. He shifts his attention back to me. “Prior to the event, you weren’t acquainted with any of the other guests, were you?”

I shake my head. “Again, only by reputation. We knew that a lot of them are rich and powerful. Some names, a few faces. But nothing more than that.”

“It makes me wonder why you chose to attend the gala in the first place,” Carter comments, tapping his pen against his pad of paper. “If you didn’t already have friends who would be there.”

“Networking,” I tell him. “People with that kind of money are always looking to invest it. I’ve got a business to run that could use more funds all the time. If someone wanted to invest in the club, I wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity.”

He studies me for a second or two, again with that air of being not satisfied, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just scribbles a bit more and then pushes his chair away from the table, getting to his feet.

“Well, thank you for your help, gentlemen. Ms. Simone.” He nods to us, and then to her. “I’ll be in touch if I think of any other questions I might have for you. As you can imagine, getting to the bottom of this is a high priority for us. A lot of people are very shaken up.”

“Sure,” Knox says, stepping forward to walk Carter to the door. “Someone going around doing fucked up shit like that needs to be caught. We’ll all sleep better at night.”

He flashes a grin that I know has made a lot of people not sleep well at night as he leads him out of the room. I know he’ll make sure the agent goes right out the door and to his car, not poking around in anything he shouldn’t be.

Once they’re both gone, and I hear the front door shut behind them, I look to Priest and Ash. “We’ll need to fabricate a trail that backs up our alibi. I don’t think he’s going to just blindly accept it.”

Priest nods. “I actually did make a note a week or so ago that we were running low on stuff. If he wants to pull records, we’ve got them. And we can talk to the dancers too. Tell them if anyone asks, we were in a meeting that night.”

I nod. It’s a solid plan, and it’s good that the liquor supply was actually an issue to begin with. If Carter wants to question the dancers or the bartenders at Sin and Salvation, I know they’ll back us up. We keep them out of our business for the most part, but they’re loyal, and there’s peace of mind in that.

Knox comes back in a moment later, and nods to confirm that Carter is gone. As if that’s the signal we’ve been waiting for, we all turn to River.

“What did he ask you?” Priest demands, voicing what we all want to know.

“Mostly the same stuff he asked you guys. Whether I knew Ivan personally. Whether I knew anyone at the gala. I told him no and no.” River glances away from us for a second, twisting a lock of silver hair around her fingers. “There’s nothing to trace Ivan back to me, or any proof that we ever met at all, so don’t worry. He won’t find anything on that front.”

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