The cleaners would handle identifying the remains and notifying the families, so there wasn’t much for me to do on that front but wait for the results and see what dots they connected for us later.
“We’re almost through the list of Choco-Loco employees.” Anca rustled papers on her desk. “All the alibis we’ve been given have checked out so far, but this changes things. Under the circumstances, I doubt we’re dealing with an employee.”
“Send me half of what’s left.” Lisbeth vanished from the screen then returned with a mug. “I can help.”
“Thank you,” Anca said warmly. “I appreciate it.”
“Once we eliminate Choco-Loco’s staff, we’ll get started on the bar workers.” Lisbeth shrugged. “Probably a waste of time, given the second location, but better safe than sorry, right?”
“Right.” I sloshed my drink, which had gone cold. “You ladies have my thanks.”
“What about the origins?” Milo drummed his fingers. “Any commonality there?”
“Both the fire and the bomb were set in the women’s bathrooms.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re dealing with a woman.” Lisbeth hummed. “It’s not like there are bathroom police, and the stalls are private.”
“We can speculate the arsonist entered the ladies’ room at Choco-Loco out of habit and at the bar out of necessity,” Anca said, “but we can’t afford to eliminate half our suspect pool based on conjecture.”
“Neither establishment uploaded their security footage to a cloud,” Reece added, annoyance in his tone. “They kept their backups on site. Needless to say, any evidence on the recordings was destroyed along with the equipment.”
“Are we sure we’re not dealing with two bombs?” Bishop rocked back, his chair squeaking on its wonky caster. “The first might have been a dud.”
“I’m looking into it,” Reece assured us. “The fact Choco-Loco was on fire prior to Hadley’s arrival might indicate its timer was faulty. That could mean it failed to ignite as intended, but the result was the same thanks to its magical components.”
“If that’s so, I’m grateful the bomber is inept,” Lisbeth tossed in then frowned at me. “We could have lost you.”
“The ineptitude is what bothers me.” Anca leaned forward, fingers in front of her mouth. “The coven is a ruthless and merciless enemy. They’ve proven they’re well trained, organized, and intelligent. Why, then, are they fumbling now?”
Until she mentioned it, I hadn’t framed it that way in my head. “You’re right.”
Milo leaned back in his chair. “Are we sure it’s the coven?”
“The chemical and magical signatures are identical to the samples we gathered after Hadley’s apartment was bombed.” Reece clicked more keys to pull up a graph for us all to see. “Either the bomber is a coven member, or they had access to the coven’s blueprints and materials.”
“I don’t trust this.” I sloshed the cup in my hand, and it drew Ambrose’s attention. “Any of it.”
Twining around my ankles, the shadow hammed it up for a hit of sugar.
Careful to hide my actions from the others, I dropped the cup into the void to give him his treat.
“Remember this the next time I get thrown across the pavement,” I muttered, but he ignored me.
“Ford mentioned you have family visiting,” Lisbeth said shyly. “How do we keep them safe?”
That she offered without me asking meant a lot, but I had been wondering the same exact thing.
“They’re here to view an art installation.” I waved an absent hand. “Addie can tell us which one.”
The reminder I didn’t know, that I hadn’t even asked, burned me with shame. Once Addie confirmed my mother’s interest, some internal switch flipped in my head, and I ceased to care. It was callous and thoughtless to pin the outcome of the whole trip on Addie, and she deserved better from me.
Matron Pritchard was a stone around her neck, and I had to teach her how to swim before she drowned.
“A new Dale Chihuly at the botanical garden is my guess,” Anca said. “It’s the latest big draw.”
“Can they do that safely?” I pulled on my bottom lip. “Or is it too risky?”
An outdoors location would provide them with some protection. The crowd and media coverage of an opening night would also go a long way toward insulating them. Then again, the coven had proven they were willing to take out innocent bystanders to hit their target. They might not mind if their efforts landed them on the news. But would they act if I wasn’t in attendance? That was the real question.
After flicking a brief on the event on the screen for us, Reece declared, “The risk level is moderate.”
“So far the coven is targeting you.” Bishop rolled his neck. “They have eyes on you. Or ears. Or both.”
“A compromised enforcer makes sense,” Anca murmured. “Who else has that level of access to you?”
The thread of suspicion winding through my chest as she cast blame onto the pack made me ill. I hated what the coven was doing to us, making us doubt one another. They were tearing us apart from the inside, whether they had infiltrated us or not.
Leaving the kit with Bishop after I tested him ripped out my heart and stomped it flat as a pancake. I had trust issues aplenty. I didn’t need the coven pouring more insidious whispers in my ears. I tasted acid in the back of my throat when I ordered him to test the others. Worse, I had the gall to be grateful Bishop had to handle it since I didn’t know who they were or how to find them.
“Midas, Remy, and you guys are my social circle.” I leaned against the wall. “Tisdale could find out what I have on my schedule through Midas, but the only danger there is her penciling in more family dinners.” I thought about it. “That’s about it. I don’t get into the day-to-day with Boaz or Addie. I don’t much talk to anyone else.”
As far as social circles go, mine
