I thought of the one Eve had out against me. Guess we were both members of the restraining order club. Yippee.
I arched a brow. “Nanka said she saw you and Dylan arguing.”
She swiveled her dark eyes toward me, and I leaned closer.
“It must’ve been infuriating to see him show up with her at the ball.”
The singer hugged her arms tighter around her middle. “It wasn’t fun.” She bounced her foot. “But I have an alibi. I was performing the whole time—everyone saw me on stage.”
“Not the whole time.” I leveled her a serious look. “I saw you run crying into the bathroom.”
Her blush deepened, and I actually wished Daisy was with us to tell if she was lying or not. Missing Daisy—now that was a first.
“And you had time to argue with Davies.” Peter raised his brows.
Amarina jumped to her feet, her heavy-looking, glittering dress pooling around them. She held herself tall and lifted her chin. “I have an alibi, and I dragged the no-good bottom feeder out of the sea—doesn’t that count for something?” She sniffed. “I guess I still had some feelings left for the creep. Unless you have further questions, I have another set to get ready for.”
She leveled Peter with an arch look, but he held up his palms and shook his head. “That’s all for now, thank you.”
She took a step, then backtracked. “If you’re looking for someone who’d want to kill him, check out the Golden Tide.”
She swished off through the crowd into the next room, and Peter resumed his seat.
“Touchy,” Heidi murmured around her straw.
Peter frowned. “What do you think she meant by the Golden Tide? Who’d want him dead there?”
I shrugged. “Maybe he owes somebody money.”
Peter looked between Heidi and me. “You know of the place?”
Heidi flashed her eyes at me, and I turned toward the cop. “It’s invitation only, very underground and secret. You’d definitely need a warrant to get into that place.”
Heidi sipped from her drink. “One of my uncle’s best friend’s brothers bounces there—I could get us in.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
Peter clapped his hands together. “That’s great! I’ll just have a look around and ask—”
Heidi and I whirled on him. “No!”
He blinked at us. “What?”
I scoffed. “You are the most cop-looking cop I’ve ever met. They’ll eat you alive the moment you step in.”
His shoulders slumped. “Who are we going to send in then?”
I grinned at the “we” in there. He really thought of us as a team. I raised my hand. “I’ll go.”
Heidi winked. “Me, too.”
We grinned at each other. “We’ll play some games, see what we can suss out.”
Her mouth split into a wide grin as she bit her straw. “Mm-hmm. I might need a per diem—strictly for investigative purposes.”
I nodded, grinning.
Peter gulped.
20
THE GOLDEN TIDE
After Heidi charmed her way past the uncle’s cousin’s friend, or whoever the bouncer was, she and I stepped through the curtained off lobby and into the main room of the gambling hall. Compared to some of the fancier places on the upper tier, where we’d entertained clients a few times at the law firm, it was small.
Heidi held out a plastic cup she’d brought from home. “I need some discretionary funds. You know—so I can blend in.” She winked and rocked on her heels, which sent her side pony bouncing.
I rolled my eyes, but grinned and dug around in my jeans pocket for the merkles Peter had given us to spend. I dropped a handful into her cup, and the gold coins clinked together.
I reached back into my pocket and handed her the gumball-sized communication device Peter had given me in case we got into trouble. We’d left him, Will, and Daisy on the main street around the corner from the dark alley the Golden Tide was tucked down. Seeing as I had no magic and no way of using the device, I figured it was more useful in Heidi’s hands. She took it and popped it into her ear.
“This is so exciting!”
I grinned in spite of myself. I guess I’d already gotten used to the police work, but she was right, it was actually pretty sweet. Sure beat talking to Fido about his bowel issues or diagnosing a guinea pig’s sense of malaise.
I winked at her. “Yes. But play it cool.”
She winked back. “The coolest.” She pointed a finger with a bright pink nail to my left. “I’ll be at the slots if you need me. Sussing out information, of course.”
I shook my head. “Of course.”
She skipped off, the coins in her cup rattling, and hopped onto a stool in front of a big metal slot machine with a lever. That side of the room flashed with bright lights and mind-numbingly loud ding ding dings. I had no doubt Heidi would be fine on her own—she seemed to know everyone in the Darkmoon District and could handle herself.
I scanned the room. Straight in front of me, a few stairs led down to the pit with a big oval of table games. Dealers stood in golden vests and bow ties and dealt cards, while patrons hunched over their hands at tall stools. Chips clinked, the slots dinged, and some tinny music played, barely audible over the din.
Though the place was crowded, almost no one spoke to each other. Everyone kept their eyes down or shiftily glanced side to side. I rolled my shoulders and headed to the right, toward the bar. There was an edge of danger to the place, and I needed a drink to calm my nerves.
Smoke hung in a thick haze at the yellowed ceiling, and I scrunched my nose at the sickly sweet smell of stale pipe tobacco. I groaned. Just what my mess of hair needed—to smell like smoke. I leaned against the long bar and ordered a beer. Once I’d gotten it, I spun my back to the bar and continued to watch
