I raised my brows and kept my eyes down on my steaming noodles. “Whatever you say.”
“What’d I miss?” Heidi plopped her bowl down on the table and settled onto the bench across from us. She broke her wooden chopsticks apart and swirled her noodles around in the broth.
“Nothing,” Will grumbled.
A thumping bass beat sounded from a nearby club. Heidi leaned in, her eyes alight and a conspiratorial expression on her face. “Good. Tell me everything.”
“You know,” I waved a hand, “I’m not sure that’s necessary.” I shoved a mouthful of oily noodles and beef into my mouth and spoke around my food. “I got Will his money back and information on Davies and really, that’s all that matters here, right?”
Will cursed under his breath. “You almost lost it all, didn’t you?”
Heidi grimaced. “That bad, huh?”
I sighed and thought back to the all-out brawl. “Let’s just say I’m probably not welcome back at the Golden Tide.”
“Oh, shell.” Will groaned and reached for the money in his pocket.
I slapped his hairy hand away. “Stop touching it!”
He scowled at me.
Heidi slurped up some noodles, a long braid over one shoulder. “So what’d you learn about Davies?” She waited intently, an eager grin on her face.
After I finished another bite, I lowered my voice and the three of us leaned forward, our heads close together.
“Get this—Dylan Davies owed Bora Kang a ton of money, but a few months ago was able to pay her half of it back.”
Will frowned. “Where’d he get that kind of money? On a cop’s salary? Ha.” Crunch! He took a bite of his hard taco.
I nodded. “I’m wondering the same thing.” I held up a finger. “Also, he promised Ms. Kang that he’d pay her the rest of what he owed last weekend.”
Will frowned around his mouthful. “Last weekend?”
Heidi bounced in her seat, a spoonful of pho halfway to her mouth. “After the ball!”
I nodded, grinning. “I have a theory that he was going to get the rest of the money from someone at the policeman’s ball.”
Will narrowed his eyes. “From another cop? Again—they don’t make enough.”
I pointed my chopsticks at him. “Agreed. But cops weren’t the only ones there.”
“Ooh!” Heidi leaned forward. “Who are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking, Emerson Watts paid Davies off a few months ago to kill Gregor Caron, who would’ve testified against Emerson’s son, Jacob.” I leaned forward. “Maybe Davies tried to extort more money out him, and instead of paying, Emerson pushed him overboard to keep him quiet.”
Will snorted. “Sounds like your old boss.”
I lifted a brow and shoved more stir-fry into my mouth. True enough. I couldn’t believe I used to work for that guy, much less wanted to impress him.
I’d known back then that some of the clients I defended were guilty—some of the ones I got off scott free. I’d told myself it was just a game, and I and the firm were just playing our part. I had a pretty different view of justice these days.
“How are you going to prove it?” Will licked his enormous fingers.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure… maybe get back on the ship? There could’ve been a seagull or fish who saw what happened.” I shrugged. “But to do that, I’d need Peter’s help.”
Heidi slurped up some noodles. “You’re going to talk to him?” She shimmied her shoulders. “Ooh.”
I heaved a great sigh. “If he’ll still speak to me.” I felt badly about the way I’d handled things the other day.
Heidi gave me an encouraging smile. “Of course he will. You asked for space, and he was just giving it to you. He’ll appreciate the lengths you went to for this information.”
I nodded. “Speaking of which, you know that dog you re-homed?”
Heidi nodded. “Rufio?”
“That’s the one. You’re gonna need to break him out for a date in an alley tomorrow night.”
Heidi’s eyes widened.
I polished off my stir-fry and stood. “Wish me luck. I’m going up to the station to talk to Peter.”
32
SUSPENDED
Edna, the office manager, sat on a tall stool behind her desk. She was the first person anyone coming into the police station saw, and I booked it straight to her. Well, “booked it” may have been an exaggeration. I clutched the stitch in my side and grumbled to myself as I limped over.
Bijou Mer was, after all, a mountain, and the jail sat at the very tippy top. When I still had my powers, I’d have just shifted into an owl and winged it up here. As it was, I’d exhausted myself hiking all the way up the winding cobblestone streets, through the tunnel of thorn bushes, and finally into the main lobby.
I threw both arms over the edge of the polished wood desk and plunked my head down on them. “Hey, Edna.” I glanced up.
The older woman looked at me over the rim of her purple cat glasses and smirked. “Hey doll. Rough night?”
She waited a beat for me to answer, then pressed a finger to her ear. “What’s that? No! I said interrogation room four, three’s occupied.” She rolled her eyes at me and mouthed, “They never listen.”
She nodded along as an officer, I assumed, spoke to her through the gumball-sized communication device in her ear. “Yeah, yeah. You speak to your mother with that mouth?” She pressed her ear again, her fingernail painted with a glittery leopard print, then turned her full attention to me.
“You looking for Peter?”
I still struggled for breath—man, I was out of shape—but managed a nod. My messy bun flopped on top of my head.
Edna blew out a big gust of air and leaned close to me. “Aw, doll, sorry to be the breaker of bad news, but Peter’s been suspended.”
I jerked my head up off my arms like she’d just zapped me with a spell. “What? When? Why?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “That’s outrageous!”
She patted the air and darted her eyes around the bustling room. Rows of desks where officers worked lined the
