“Rich isn’t answering his calls or text messages. I drove by Kane’s offices. I don’t see that FBI agent’s car or Rich’s there. Have you talked to either?”
“No,” I say. “And I tried Rich and was sent to voice mail, but I can tell you that Kane wouldn’t have allowed them to stay in his building for any period of time. Certainly not this long.”
“Then they must have taken him in for questioning.”
“They would have taken him to your location,” I argue.
“Not if they were planning to arrest him,” he counters.
“Unless they have something on Kane that we don’t know about, there is no evidence against him. You know that. Taking him in, removing him from his office building, would be harassment.”
“And you’ve never seen the FBI harass anyone? They’re squeezing him.”
“They didn’t arrest him, Andrew, but call NYC and ask if it makes you feel better.”
“I tried. I failed. The ball’s in your court.”
“I’m not calling my boss,” I say.
“He’s pissed that you walked into trouble tonight, right?”
“Yes. So I repeat, I’m not—”
“I need you to call Murphy, Lilah.”
“Andrew—”
“For me, sister.”
“Fuck, Andrew. I hate when you pull that brother shit.”
“Yeah, well, back at ya, sister. Because I’ve heard the sister card about a hundred times in this lifetime.”
My lips tighten, right along with my fingers around the steering wheel. “I’ll call.” I hang up and dial Murphy.
“Agent Love,” he greets, my name quite precise on his tongue. “Do we have yet another problem I don’t expect that you’ve created?”
Bastard, I think. And I hope the fuck not. “Has Kane been arrested or taken in for questioning?” I ask, sounding calm and almost sweet. Okay, probably not sweet.
“What do the locals say?” he asks.
“Rich went with the NYC assholes to talk to Kane, and we can’t reach him now. And I don’t think I have to tell you the issues of Rich and Kane together, let alone Rich, Kane, and two assholes from New York who want the jurisdiction we’re about to take.”
“How the hell did Rich end up in the middle of that situation?”
“With two feet and a smile,” I say. “He doesn’t belong in the field.”
Murphy makes sort of a grunting sound that brings to mind things I don’t want to think about. “I’ll call you back,” he says, and disconnects.
As if I’m single-handedly trying to prove that saying, “Don’t keep trying the same things and expecting different results,” I dial Rich again, and I get no better results than before. My phone buzzes with a call almost instantly, but any hope that it’s Rich is dashed by my brother’s name. I answer to hear, “Did you—?”
“Seriously?” I demand, cutting him off. “You gave me five minutes?”
“Ten. Did you call your—?”
“Yes. He’s trying to find out what’s going on. I’ll call you back when I know something. Don’t call me in five minutes that you will call ten. Don’t call me in ten minutes that you will call fifteen. I won’t answer if I don’t have news. And you had better call me if you hear something, too, or I swear—”
“You just told me you won’t answer.”
“Okay, smart-ass. Don’t call me without news and we’re in good shape.”
“You really are a bitch, Lilah.”
“I know,” I say. “But you love it.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course. I’m your sister.” My phone beeps. “That will be him. Hold on.” I confirm the caller ID and click over. “Director.”
“Why do you keep putting me on speaker?”
“Right this very moment, I’m driving in a cheap car with no other option.”
“It’s called Bluetooth or a headset. I don’t like speakerphones. Get a headset.” He moves on. “Kane wasn’t arrested or taken in for questioning. That’s all my insider can tell me right now. But I’ve been instructed to be on a conference call with my boss and my counterpart from NYC tomorrow in the morning to discuss jurisdiction.”
“So tonight was a setup for that call,” I assume.
“That’s how it seems. Any word from Rich or Kane?”
“No,” I say, “but I won’t hear from Kane. Like I said, he’s no fool. He won’t pull me in and lose me as a potential ally later, and anything that would be considered inappropriately timed contact could do that.” Did I really just say that? I think before I continue. “And Rich,” I add, “must still be with the enemy, playing his game. He’s in over his head, Director.”
“You’ve said that,” he comments dryly. “Kane isn’t a fool and I’m not stupid. I don’t need things repeated over and over, and I don’t do things without a reason.”
My line beeps. “Is that him?” Murphy asks.
I glance at the screen. “It’s my brother, who I’ve apparently just hung up on.”
“Update him. Keep up this new communication thing you’re doing. It works for me.”
He ends the call, and I answer the line. “Kane wasn’t arrested or taken in for questioning.”
“Then where is Rich and why isn’t he answering?”
“I have no clue,” I say. “I’ll be back there at about nine. If he’s not there by then, I’ll go hunting for him.”
“I’ll be here when you get here. I’m not leaving the station until I hear from him.”
“I’ll come to you.”
We disconnect, and my phone rings immediately, but it’s still not Rich.
It’s Greg, and this call can be about only one thing. “News travels fast, and you’re not even on the inside anymore,” I say.
“Yeah,” Greg agrees. “It does, and I’m still connected. You know how that works. But that aside, Holy Mother of Jesus. Rick Suthers is dead?”
“Hung himself just like his sister.”
“Damn. Did he know you were coming? Was that the trigger?”
Fuck me. And fuck him. I want to reach through the phone and punch him in the mouth. “You’re an asshole, Greg,” I say. “And I really can’t deal with one more asshole today. Go away.” I hang up.
He doesn’t call back. He knows me. I won’t answer. Bastard hit the same raw nerve Murphy did a few minutes ago, their joint effort dragging that nerve from outside my Otherworld before I was ready to chew on it, rather than it chew on me. But now I’m in a car alone, on the road, and suddenly my crazy ringing phone isn’t ringing anymore. The silence is inescapable, the implications of Greg’s words with it. My mind goes to the book left with the body. The message behind it that makes a few points brutally clear: Laney died because I got too close to someone. Rick died because I’m close again. And my decision to go there tonight isn’t one I can change.
Someone wanted me back here. Kane and I have established that fact. And now they’re taunting me, punishing me, like they did the night I was raped. Maybe I’m next on the assassin’s list, but that’s just fine by me. I’ll be waiting, and I’m going to be really fucking pissed off when we finally meet.
I’m almost to the police station when my brother calls. “Rich just called me. He’s about to pull into the parking lot now.”
“I’m three minutes away. What did he say?”
“Nothing yet. I’m going to meet him outside and find out.”
He ends the call, and I turn right, driving a few blocks until I pull into the station parking lot. Rich and my brother are standing beside Rich’s rental car, Rich leaning on the door and my brother standing tall and stiff in front of him, obviously as irritated as I am. I pull up right beside them, place my car in Park, but don’t kill the engine. I get out, leave the door open, and walk to stand in front of Rich and beside my brother, my wrath aimed at Rich. “Glad to know that you aren’t dead or bleeding out somewhere.”