“I’ll handle it.”
“Fingerprints?” I ask, since he’s not offering.
“None that we can’t identify. Not even in the car.”
“Of course not,” I say dryly. “She was wearing gloves. Anything else?”
“Nothing yet. You?”
“Other than watch what you put in your mouth, Andrew. It might kill you.”
“You loved saying that to me, didn’t you?” he accuses.
“So very much,” I assure him and hang up.
I immediately check my messages to find nothing from Kane. He has an empire to run, I remind myself, but I also know Kane. He puts me first. He has always put me first, especially in high-risk situations. And he decides what’s important, and when. That damn jar of blood with my name on it flashes through my mind and so does Fake Naomi inside our house.
What the hell is going on?
I dial Tic Tac, who is now officially on Director Murphy’s cold case task force that is really about the Society.
“Lilah,” he greets tartly.
“Okay, why do you sound like you’re sucking something sour right now? I didn’t call you yesterday.”
“No, but having Director Murphy call me is the same thing. That was low, Lilah. I couldn’t say no.”
“I didn’t have Murphy call you. He called me yesterday. But whatever. What do you have for me?”
“Officer North,” he says.
“I see Director Murphy talked to you. What about him?”
“I found a connection to your old partner, Greg Harrison.”
An answer I don’t expect. “What connection?”
“North worked a private security job with Greg a few years back.”
My lips press together. Greg’s been working with a security company that pulled him into trouble. He told me that was fresh. I suddenly wonder. “Which private security company?”
“It’s called Cops Off Duty. Looks like that’s the only job either of them ever did for that service.”
I consider this new information for a moment and I reconsider this connection. It’s just not reading right. The Society is too clever to allow me to find something this easily and they knew I would. Unless North isn’t dirty, or there was a reason they wanted me to connect him to Greg. It feels like I have a million smokescreens coming at me. “What was the job?” I ask.
“The former Secretary of State was giving a speech. Obviously, it was a high-profile job. And it paid well.”
It’s still an odd connection to me, I think. “Find out if that former Secretary of State has a connection to Ted Pocher,” I say.
“Should we be saying his name on an open line?”
“No, but I don’t really care right now. I’m not calling that bastard ‘our friend’ like Director Murphy. And as for Pocher, I hope he’s listening, and just in case, fuck you, Pocher. Now back to what I was saying. I’m going to send you a list of names. I need you to connect them to Pocher if you can. And pull their phone numbers. You’ll need them.”
“I’m not calling witnesses, Lilah,” he snaps. “I’m a tech guy. I’m not—”
“I hope you aren’t this bitchy with your boyfriend or you won’t last long.”
“Do you always have to go there, Lilah?”
His voice is tight, a tiny crack in the center. “Oh shit. You broke up.”
“We’re,” I can almost see him pursing his lips, “taking a break.”
“What happened?”
“Like you care?” he challenges.
“I’m a bitch, but I have a heart. Of course, I care. What happened?”
“He got upset over my work yesterday. We exploded, almost literally, I swear. And then he left.”
“You know, Tic Tac—”
“If you’re about to tell me to quit my job—”
“I’m not,” I say, thinking of my job and Kane’s family, that will always represent a job he does not want. I punished him for that. I won’t anymore. “You need to do what makes you happy. If that’s the job and he can’t understand that, he’s the wrong guy. If it’s not the job, then yeah, quit. I’ll still call you, but sure. Do that.”
He laughs. “You would, too.”
“Yes. I would. And I need more stuff.”
“And right now, I need to work, so command me, fair maiden.”
“Fair maiden?”
“Okay speak, bitch.”
“That’s better.” I hesitate just long enough to think of Kane’s warning about Lucas being too close to this case before I duplicate their work. “I need you to get onto a game called Banking the Billionaire.”
“You do know that no one has actually told me what this case is about, right?”
“Obviously Murphy talked to you.”
“Quickly and as incompletely as you are right now. I’m a tech guy not a mind reader.”
“Find out who is behind the game,” I continue. “Then take those phone numbers and plug them into Banking the Billionaire. That’s how you register there. See if you can get any hits. In fact, do that with Officer North as well.”
“Lilah, I still need—”
“I need. Tell me about Danica Day.”
“She looks legit,” he says.
“Define legit. How deep did you dig?” I challenge.