“Please?”
He sighed. Why did he even bother? “Fine.”
You really are a big softy at heart, aren’t you? Amelia said teasingly.
Yeah, or something.
A sound in the background clicked and the quality of the line changed to a more open tone, with more interference.
Sure enough, her next words were, “And I’ve got a sudden visit from a special guest. My very longtime listeners will know exactly who I’m talking about. It’s my great pleasure to introduce sometime bounty hunter and man of mystery, Cormac. Cormac, welcome!”
He ought to just hang up on her. “Norville. Make it quick.”
“Right. So, Cormac, what have you been up to since the last time we talked?”
He didn’t say a word. Not necessarily because he was trying to be difficult. He just couldn’t think of anything he’d want to say to Kitty’s nationwide audience.
Kitty only let the dead air linger for a second or two. “I think I’ve mentioned that Cormac is the strong and silent type, yes? Maybe he’ll be up for a game of twenty questions. Cormac, twenty questions, yes or no.”
“No,” he stated.
“Are you on a job right now?”
He wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that. Or if he should. “Yes. And I need to talk to you about it. Privately.”
“I can’t believe this, I’m being coerced on my own show. You know you’re one of the few people who could get away with this,” she muttered. “All right, don’t go anywhere, because after a short break for local messages, we’ll get right back to your calls on The Midnight Hour.”
He listened closely for the click and change in tone that meant they were off the air. Not that he didn’t trust her, but the reassurance was nice.
“Cormac, what are you doing?” she said.
“If something happens to me, if something goes wrong, you need to go to Judi and Frida and tell them you know how Milo Kuzniak killed Crane. It’s a spell attached to some kind of Maltese cross amulet. Tell them that, and get them to help you with Amy Scanlon’s book.”
“What do you mean, if something happens to you? Why can’t you tell them yourself?”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong. I’m going after that amulet and I have to go through some not-very-nice people to get it. It’ll be fine.”
“Except, just in case, you had to tell me? Because you’re meeting not-very-nice people at midnight? There is nothing about this situation that sounds not-dangerous.”
“Amelia’s looking out for me.”
“No offense, but that doesn’t reassure me.”
“You trust me or not?”
She didn’t say anything, which he supposed was the best he could expect in response to that question.
“You know I’m going to call Ben right after this, right?”
“Better it comes from you than me.”
“That’s so dysfunctional. Do you even listen to the show? You know how many problems come from people not telling each other things?”
“Kitty—”
“Call me when it’s all over. Let me know everything’s fine.”
“I’ll call.” He hung up before she could say anything else.