“Yes,” Terric said. I didn’t know if he was watching me or watching her, because I refused to take my eyes off her.
She shook her head, as if she didn’t want to deal with what was right in front of her. “And magic. They’re spells, aren’t they? The only one I recognize is Binding there.” She pointed to a Celtic-knot-looking design carved between the Death and Pain symbols.
“They’re spells,” Terric said.
“And they killed him?” She finally looked up. Not at me, at Terric.
Terric’s body language shifted. He was measuring her just the same as I had. And he’d come to the same conclusion. She knew something about this. Something that was causing her sadness.
“My brother was found like this,” she said. “Dead. With spells carved into his chest. Just like these.”
“You never said that,” I said.
“I was going to show you, remember?”
“Who’s your brother?” Davy asked.
“He was a Closer,” I said.
Davy nodded. We’d had so many threats against Closers over the years, the death rate was in a much higher percentage than other magic users.
“His name was Thomas Leeds,” she said. “He worked in Seattle.”
Terric frowned, searching his memory. “I think I met Tommy once, briefly. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Then he pulled the sheet up to Joshua’s chin and slid his body back into that endless cold.
“What can you tell us about your brother’s killer?” he asked.
“Not a lot,” she said. “He used to be a part of the Authority. That’s all I know, other than he may be in this area.”
Since they’d found Joshua’s body in a parking garage downtown, yeah, I’d say Eli was in the area.
“And about the government looking for Soul Complements?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you what I know if you help me find who did this.” She pointed toward the drawer.
“I am not in a position to guarantee you anything along those lines,” he said.
Funny, that’s pretty much exactly what I’d told her. I tilted a told-you-so look her way.
“Well, I’m going to be looking for the killer. Which means I’ll probably be getting in your way. I might even take my story to the police, or to the media. Blow the whole secret about magic being used to kill people right out of the water. I’m sure the citizens of Portland would be thrilled to find out all their fears about magic, and the mysterious Authority, are true.”
“Blackmail, darling?” I said. “Really? How will that help your hunt? I don’t think having cops and reporters crawling over every move is going to give you time to find anything except a good lawyer.”
“Either I’m in on finding the man who killed my brother and your friend there, or I’m going to make sure that we’re all out.” An ultimatum. Gutsy move.
I opened my mouth to tell her she was out of luck.
“Then you’re in,” Terric said.
I kept my surprise to myself. “Wonderful,” I muttered.
“Good,” she said, looking surprised at his decision too. “Good. Where do we start?”
“We’ll need to see if there are records on your brother we can pull,” Terric said. “Did you drive here?”
“Yes.”
“You can follow us downtown to the office.” He locked the drawer, then started toward the door, pausing only to take her guns and shove them in his pockets.
“Those are my guns,” she said.
“Not while we’re working together, they aren’t,” he said without looking back.
Have I mentioned there are moments when I really, really like that guy?
“They’re not my only guns,” she said.
“Then you can give me the rest at the office,” Terric said.
Davy just shook his head. “You have no idea what you’re getting into, Leeds.”
“Don’t I?” she asked as she followed Terric. “All right. How about you fill me in?”
“I think you’ll find out soon enough.”
He followed behind her. I noticed Davy did not put his gun away.
Me? I paused next to the door. Let them all get a distance down the hall. Then I said a prayer for Joshua. Hell, said a prayer for the rest of us while I was at it.
I had a bad feeling we’d need all the help we could get.
Chapter 11
Davy was gone before any of the rest of us, slipping down the street and rumbling away in that big old truck. I figured he was going to report Joshua and Dessa and everything else to the Overseer.
We had maybe fifteen minutes tops before Clyde Turner found out and locked us out of the records, and any- and everything else he thought we shouldn’t be digging around in.
I swung into the passenger seat of Terric’s car.
“Fifteen minutes?” I said.
“Until?” he asked.
“The Overseer tells Clyde to lock us out of this case.”
“Clyde might say no.”
We were headed to the office. I noted it was still dark out, and checked the dashboard clock. Four in the morning. Jesus, I hated going to work this early. Or at least, I assumed I did. I didn’t think I’d ever gone into work this early.
“ . . . for me would you?”
“What?”
“Dash. Call him. Tell him to meet us down there.”
“At the office,” I said, taking Terric’s cell phone.
“Yes. Don’t you ever listen to me?”
“Every word.”
I dialed. Dash, that overachiever, answered before the first ring was done.
“Spade,” he said.
“Hey, Dash, this is Shame. Terric wants you to meet us at the office as soon as possible.”
“Trouble?”
“You could say that.”
“I’ll be there in five.” He hung up.
“Be there in five,” I said. “Where does that kid live?”
“Loft space just a few streets down. So, she poisoned you?”
“Well, yes. I let her poison me.”
“Uh-huh. Then what happened?”
“Nothing. Nothing happened.”
“Shame, I just told her she could be a part of this hunt. I want to know everything that happened, everything you know about her. I’m giving you three minutes to cover it.”
“Why three?”
“Because if I guessed wrong and she’s not what I think she is, I’m going to turn right and head straight to the police. When she follows us, I’ll knock her out and lock her up.”
“Brutal. Effective. Very double-crossy of you, Terric. Why are you suddenly playing by the dark side of the rule book?”
“Joshua is dead.”
He let that sit for a second or two. “He’s not going to be the last friend of ours we bury if we don’t stop Collins.”
