I shifted on my feet and winced. “Well… I mean, your husband had some part in this too….”
Millie stomped her foot. “Why do you think I framed him for killing Zo, that harlot?!” Her expression held an unhinged fury. Her wand trembled, and she leveled her wild gaze on me. “But I’ll kill the right woman this time….”
“Wait!” I waved my hands. “How are you going to explain this one away?” I nodded and blew out shaky breaths. “Peter—I mean Officer Flint will figure it out.”
“Peter, huh?” Millie lifted a brow, though cruelty still glazed her features. “Pretty cozy, you two.” She dropped her smirk and shrugged. “But no explaining needed. You’re a street urchin, a fake pet psychic who got her hands on some money for solving the case and ran with it before the landlady could take the rest.”
My eyes widened in surprise.
“You were complaining about it the night I killed Bim, remember?” She raised her brows, lips tight. “You were very vocal about how you were only doing this for the money.” She sniffed. “I’ll make your body disappear. No one’s going to go looking for you.”
My heart sank all the way down to the stained, threadbare carpet. The neon lights continued to flash across Millie’s face and the tops of the desks. I’d clawed my way out of the slums of the Darkmoon District, fought to become a top lawyer, and even survived losing it all, including my magic.
Yet, after all that, I was about to die in this bleak office building at the hands of a housewife in a bathrobe.
And I had to admit, she was right. Peter had paid me—if he ever came back looking for me (which was already doubtful), he’d probably assume I skipped town. Same with Will and Heidi. Something painful twisted in my core.
Shell, I acted so apathetic all the time, everybody probably expected me to skip out without saying goodbye, even. Man, if I survived this (again, doubtful) I needed to get my life together.
It didn’t escape me either, the irony of getting killed because I’d decided to care about getting justice more than making money. Only to miss out on getting justice for my own death, because everyone I knew would assume I’d only care about making money.
Sigh.
Millie leveled her wand at me, brow furrowed in concentration, and began to mutter a spell.
36
TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
I squeezed my eyes shut tight and half turned away. To my utter surprise, Peter’s face flashed through my mind, with that smile of his. Even as I stood there in that horrible office, waiting for Mille’s death blow, my lips quirked toward a smile as I thought of him.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose as the air filled with magical tension. This was it. My heart pounded in my chest and my breath caught.
Footsteps sounded, muffled, to my right. Footsteps? Was someone coming to help me?
I opened my eyes as Peter and Daisy burst through the door from the storeroom. I could have peed myself, I was so happy to see them, even the mutt—or was that from the stress?
Peter’s eyes swept the room, and in one fluid movement he drew his wand and leveled it at Millie. “Let it go and back away.”
Between his deep voice and the danger that limned it, a little shudder ran down my spine. Who knew Peter could do bad cop… and so well?
Millie’s wand hit the carpet with a quiet thud, and she whimpered as she raised her hands overhead.
Daisy trotted over, collected the wand, and brought it back to Peter. He took it and turned to me. “Jolene. Are you alright?”
As I opened my mouth to tell him that’d been sexy as shell, my knees buckled, and the world went black.
I SAT in a wood swivel chair by the window. Peter had cracked it open to let in some cooler air, and I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath.
“Here.”
I opened my eyes and took the glass of water he handed me.
“Drink it all.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Dad.” I took a sip, then cupped the glass in both hands and leveled him a serious look. “But for real… thanks.”
Peter grabbed a chair from a nearby desk and rolled it over beside me. Half a dozen other uniformed officers milled about the office space. It looked almost exactly as it had that first night, when Bim died. Only this time, a couple of them escorted Millie out the back, her hands bound by glowing magical handcuffs.
I watched until the door shut behind her, then turned to Peter. “She was going to kill me.” I raised my brows. “Like, actually kill me.”
He settled into the chair beside me and stared down at his clasped hands. “I know.” He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. “I’d been thinking more about what you said—about continuing the investigation.”
He licked his lips and his eyes flitted to mine. “I knew you were right. I knew we had the wrong guy—I could feel it in my gut. Daisy and I headed back to your place—I wanted to talk over your theories. But you didn’t answer… and then I noticed the sign was on.” He tipped his head toward the window. “And decided to check it out.” He shuddered. “I hate to think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t had the sense to take you seriously.”
“Yeah, what the shell took you so long to come
