Lauren made a small noise of disbelief. “I’m not sure of the efficacy of that plan, Nicole. Just look at what happened to your mother.”
I glared at Lauren. She held her hands up in a gesture of defeat.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she ordered. “I offered to summarize it for you. Besides, now is not the time to get emotional. Excess emotion leads to poor strategic choices. It’s already ten o’clock. We have two hours if we want to offer this trade to Flynn. Did you get the locket?”
I lifted the necklace from where it lay beneath my shirt and dangled the locket for Lauren to see. “I want to meet Flynn,” I said as Lauren inspected the piece of jewelry. “In person. Get her to meet me in person.”
“And if we can actually get Flynn to show up, what do you want to do with her?”
I tucked the necklace away again. “I have a plan.”
I left it to Lauren to contact Catherine Flynn. She had still been playing the role of a double agent, feeding the Raptors false information on my whereabouts. It was why I had managed to go the whole day without being discovered by the Raptors. It was easy to forget how deeply Lauren was connected with the society. It could’ve been a detriment to our purpose, but fortunately this time, Lauren’s contact with the Raptors worked to our advantage. In a matter of minutes, Lauren had arranged a time and a place to meet Flynn. I listened in on the phone call, shocked to hear Flynn agree to meet me without protest, and had to remind myself again of Lauren’s notoriety with the society.
I waited, alone and shivering, in the shadowy parking lot of an abandoned building in the next county over. We had chosen the location for two reasons. One: it was wide, empty space. When Flynn arrived, there would be nowhere for Donovan or her other bodyguards to hide. And two: there was a police station mere blocks away. Even better, this particular force was outside Waverly’s perimeter. The local cops at the university may have been corrupted by the Raptors, but the likeliness that the society’s reach extended this far was quite low. At least, I sure as hell hoped it was.
Before I arrived at the meeting place, Lauren had fitted me with a microphone. The battery pack was squished uncomfortably against my hip in the waistband of my jeans, and the wire threaded all the way up my shirt to the collar of my jacket. The plan was to lead the discussion to Flynn’s murders. It wouldn’t be that much of a challenge. In my experience, Flynn loved to boast about her conquests. If everything went smoothly, we could catch her confession on tape and report her to the police.
My pulse quickened as the sound of an engine reached my ears. A black SUV bounced into the parking lot. I squinted as the headlights swung past me, and the driver guided the vehicle to a stop, but when the engine cut off and two figures emerged from either side of the car, I groaned out loud.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked, not bothering to keep my voice down. “I asked to meet Flynn, not you morons.”
Donovan Davenport smirked as he shut the car door and waltzed toward me. Behind him, another BRS member followed. He was roughly the same height as Donovan, his floppy brown hair neatly combed away from his face. Like all respectful Raptors, they were exceedingly overdressed. Both wore pressed collared shirts, black slacks, and long overcoats as though they were on their way to a night at the opera rather than a covert discussion with the girlfriend of a man they planned to kill.
“Nicole, may I introduce my associate?” Donovan gestured to the other Raptor. “This is Logan Wickes. We’ve had the pleasure of keeping an eye on your oh-so-charming boyfriend for most of the day.”
“Where’s Flynn?” I demanded, ignoring Donovan’s obvious attempt to emotionally bait me. If Catherine didn’t show, our plan was toast. “She agreed to meet me in person, though at this point, I should no longer be surprised if a Raptor isn’t a man or woman of their word.”
“The Morrigan is currently preoccupied,” replied Donovan. “She’s off deciding the best way to dispose of Officer McAllen’s body.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You wouldn’t have killed him yet.”
“And why not?”
“Because I have something that Flynn wants.”
“Ah, yes, the locket,” said Donovan. “I have to admit, the Morrigan was ecstatic to know that not only were you aware of the key’s existence, but you also had it in your possession. If only you had come forward a little earlier, perhaps you could have saved Officer McAllen from several hardships.”
“How’s your buddy?” I asked in a light tone. “The one that tried to accost me at my apartment not so long ago?”
“Ugly,” answered Wickes unexpectedly. So far, he had done nothing but loom in the background, but I knew why he was there. In the past, I’d presented a unique challenge for the Raptors. Multiple times, I had escaped from their possession no worse for wear, but when it was two monstrous fraternity boys against one petite college dropout, the odds were slightly more skewed against me.
“Yeah, your boyfriend fucked Hastings’s nose up pretty badly,” added Donovan, “but the mace really took it to another level.” He whistled and shook his head at Hastings’s bad luck, but otherwise seemed unconcerned.
“Wes was the one who broke his nose?” I asked, pleased that Wes had at least done a little damage to the Raptors’ pride.
“Don’t look so excited,” warned Donovan. “Hastings got his revenge. But enough about your boyfriend.” He took a cell phone from his pocket and waggled it in front of me. “The Morrigan awaits your call.”
I scowled as Donovan dialed and handed the phone to me. I pressed it to my ear, contemplating my options. If there was still a chance that I could
