AS I WALKED with the men back to the car, my mind spun through the possibilities. I couldn’t tell whether I’d gained any real trust by abandoning my stash of stolen jewelry. Julius was stonewalling any attempt I made to find out more about their potential suspects, which to be fair was probably what his job required. I’d hoped he’d be more flexible on that policy like he had with certain others, but it’d hardly been a guarantee.
For now, I also had a little more freedom than when I was shut up in their basement apartment, which was where I had to assume we’d head right back to if I didn’t come up with another idea quick.
What would I want to do with this freedom? Where would I want to go?
My thoughts drifted to the few contacts Noelle had introduced me to during various assignments—people she’d told me I could turn to for supplies or a little assistance, though she’d warned me never to reveal too much to them. The main ones weren’t located anywhere near this suburb, and I couldn’t see any easy excuses that might let me get to them without drawing too much attention from the cops around me. But there was one about a half hour’s walk from here.
If I couldn’t drag any information out of the guys, I might as well turn to my own sources. I might have gone to this one in the first place if it hadn’t been the middle of the night. I only knew where to find him when he was at work.
It was mid-afternoon now. I could make this work. I’d better make it work, or what the fuck had all my training been for?
I rubbed my mouth as if I was thinking hard and then spoke up. “I don’t know if what I saw around the house was helpful, but if it was at all, we could try retracing the route I took to get to the house the other night. Maybe something else will jump out at me that could be connected.”
Garrison’s head whipped toward me. “Awfully confident already, aren’t you? We didn’t sign up for a walking tour. What are you going to want next—your own badge?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. It was obvious that out of the four men, this one was going to be the least likely to ever warm up to me.
“A little less snark from you would be great,” I replied.
Garrison let out a huff. “It comes with the package, sweetheart.”
Julius had tipped his head to the side, considering. “We’re already out here,” he said. “I don’t see how it could hurt. We wouldn’t want to leave any stone unturned, would we, Garrison?” He shot the younger guy a pointed look over the top of his sunglasses.
Garrison grumbled under his breath, but Blaze piped up from behind me too. “It might also be good to know where Dess was coming from, in case the murderers figure out she was involved and try to track her down.”
There was something odd about his tone even though he was technically supporting me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. And it didn’t really matter, because Talon nodded, and Garrison shut up with a resigned sigh.
“You’re at the wheel,” Julius said to me.
“Okay, take the next right.”
We wandered along the sidewalks, turning here and there, with me making a show of stopping to “remember” which way I’d come or to examine an occasional signpost or front yard. After several blocks, Julius deemed it safe enough for me to step right into the lead, relying only on my cap and my sunglasses to hide me. I hadn’t spotted any more illicit cameras since we’d left the mansion behind, so I wasn’t particularly worried.
If we ran into the murderers, I’d be happy to show them just how sorry they should be.
When the stretch of small shops I’d been watching for came into sight up ahead, I slowed down. I stopped a few doors down from my intended destination and looked around with my hands on my hips, blowing out a frustrated breath.
“No luck, huh?” Garrison just had to say.
“I’m sorry,” I said, biting back the sharper words I’d have liked to aim at him. “I really thought there might be a chance… but then maybe the pricks responsible never came anywhere near here.”
“This is where you live?” Blaze asked, coming up beside me. His thumb kept flicking over the screen of his phone even while he was gazing at the buildings around us.
“Not quite. I figured if I haven’t seen anything yet, we’re out of luck. I don’t want to get too close in case my boyfriend—if he saw me—” I hugged myself, hating playing a wimp but knowing it’d work in my favor.
“We’d make short work of that prick,” Talon muttered in an unexpected show of protectiveness.
“I’d still rather not have to deal with him.” I winced and looked around, pretending to notice the bakery for the first time. “I could try to make it up to you for wasting your time. Moe’s has the best cookies. I don’t know about you, but I could really use a pick-me-up right now.”
The guys exchanged a glance. “We don’t need anything,” Julius said, “but you can grab something for yourself. You’re not going alone, of course, so if you were thinking about making a run for it—we’re sticking with you until we know exactly what and who we’re dealing with.”
I rolled my eyes as if it didn’t matter to me. “You made that clear already. Fine, come in and enjoy the heavenly sweetness. No skin off my back. You can protect me from any murderous psychos who might be lurking between the donut racks.”
Blaze snorted and ignored Garrison’s glare.
We ambled over to where we could see through the bakery’s window. It was a popular spot, with several customers already squeezed into the small space.
Julius motioned to Talon. “Watch the back door. I’ll go in with her. You two loiter outside like you do so well.” He aimed a slightly wry look at the two younger men and then moved to open the bakery door for me.
When we were inside, he stationed himself next to the entrance. Perfect. He thought he had to worry about me taking off—it’d never occurred to him that I might be looking for something inside this place.
The smell really was heavenly, a mix of buttery pastry and dusted sugar. I licked my lips automatically. Weaving through the browsing shoppers, I scanned the area behind the counter and display cases for a familiar bearded face.
My heart sank. I’d just assumed he’d be here today, but of course he didn’t work every shift. The only employee behind the counter was a heavy-set woman I’d never met.
Well, I still had to put on a show of going through with my story for being here. I got into the line of people who were ready to place their orders, tapping my pocket with its roll of cash. I didn’t really want to waste any of my limited money on cookies if I wasn’t getting a meeting with the contact out of it, but I might be able to spin this at least a little to my advantage. Noelle had let me get a cookie here the few times we’d stopped by—to keep up our appearance as customers—and I hadn’t been lying about them being damn good. The only thing better was pure chocolate.
As the woman right in front of me paid for her order, another figure strode out of the back, carrying a large tray of fresh cookies. Relief washed over me at the sight of his round face with its scruffy beard. He was here after all.
I restrained a smile that would have given away that I was pleased about more than the baked goods and stepped to the side as if I wanted to check out the cookie offerings more closely.
The guy glanced up and froze at the sight of me. He looked as if he nearly dropped the cookie tray. Setting it down behind the display case quickly, he shook his head as if to clear it and met my eyes again.
The tag on his uniform said Jay, but I’d be willing to bet that was at least as much of an alias as Dess was, if not totally separate from his real identity. People who worked on the underground side of things had to be careful.
“Hey, Jay,” I said quietly, leaning against the glass. “Those are some great looking cookies there.”
“Let me know what you’d like, and I’ll box them up for you,” he said in a professional tone, and then dropped his voice so no one would hear it through the chatter of the store except me. “Are you okay? I heard—I wasn’t sure if you—it’s awful. I’m so sorry.”
The condolences made my stomach wobble in a strange way. He was the first person I’d talked to in almost forty-eight hours who had some idea of who I was and what I’d really gone through. But I couldn’t afford to get emotional with Julius watching over me.
For an instant, I wanted to blurt out everything—Anna dying in my arms, the crash, the cops. Maybe Jay could help me get away from Julius and the others. But as soon as the impulse rose up, I had to quash it.
What were the chances that this guy, who was barely out of his teens, could fend off four highly skilled cops? I’d only be getting him in deep shit. I had to stick to what I’d come for—and maybe I’d still get something more out of the undercover detectives if I had some patience. If I blew their cover right now, I could be screwing myself over too.
Jay’s comments told me that even if the cops were keeping the murders quiet, news had already spread through underground channels. I dipped my head in acknowledgment and held up my arm with the wrist brace. “Thank you. I got out, but it was… Let’s not talk about it.” I pointed at the chocolate chip cookies with their blobs of cocoa-y goodness. “Five of those. Pack them slow. Have you heard anything about who was responsible? I didn’t see them.”
Jay grabbed a fresh pair of gloves and tugged one and then the other over his hands to buy time. “No idea. Sorry about that too. People are talking about how bad it was, but no one’s mentioned anyone taking credit so far.”
Damn it. I guessed that’d been a lot to hope for. “Does anyone seem particularly happy about all those people being gone, even if they’re not claiming responsibility.”
“Not that I’ve noticed.” He paused as he folded the box he was going to put the cookies in. “I did hear through the grapevine that someone’s looking for you.”
My spine stiffened. “Me? Who’s looking?”
“I mean, they didn’t give your name. Or theirs.” He cut a sly glance my way. He didn’t know any of my names either. “But word went out through one of the more private channels that if anyone ran into you, they should pass on a message.”
My heartbeat sped up. Now we were getting somewhere. “And what was that message?”
He made a face as he stacked the cookies in the box. “It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. The whole thing was that ‘the woman with the red polka dots wants Noelle’s black-winged sparrow to visit her.’ I knew that had to mean you.” He nodded to my dark hair.
The woman with the red polka dots. My spirits lifted alongside my thumping pulse. I knew who that was—one of the other contacts Noelle had introduced me to. She must know something.
Now I’d just need to figure out a way to get to her that my current jailors would accept.
“Thank you,” I said to Jay again, and moved to the cash register for him to check me out. The exhilaration of the progress I’d made took away any sting out of handing over the money.
I strode out of the shop without glancing at Julius, figuring he wouldn’t necessarily want people knowing we were together anyway. Outside, I quickly ambled several feet from the bakery so Jay wouldn’t be able to see my companions through the window. I didn’t want him passing on strange stories about the new company I was keeping.
If I’d had any dreams about breaking for freedom, the cops would have banished them in a snap. Julius came up right behind me, Blaze and Garrison converging on me in the same second. Talon prowled out of the alley to round out the squad that was either my protective duty or my captors, depending on how you looked at it.
“There,” I said breezily. “We all survived, didn’t we? And I bought cookies for all of you anyway. You really do need to try them. I promise you’ll thank me.”
I popped open the box as if I wanted nothing more than to share my treat. My buoyant attitude came easily with the news I’d just gotten, even if I didn’t know how I was going to take my next steps yet.
I wasn’t surprised that Blaze grabbed his cookie first. He sank his teeth into it, and his eyes widened. “That’s fucking fantastic! I think the walking tour was worth it.”
Garrison picked up his and sniffed it before looking at it skeptically. “It smells like a goddamned waste of time to me.”
“If you don’t want it, I’m happy to have two,” I said, holding out my hand, but he jerked it back and took a bite, if only just to spite me.
When I held out the box toward Talon, he hesitated, looking almost startled by the tiny gesture of kindness. He picked one up gingerly and looked from me to the cookie and back. Not the same as Garrison’s skepticism, but a wariness nonetheless. Something about it made my gut twist despite my good mood.
Julius accepted his without any sign of how he felt about it, which I guessed was better than a refusal. I picked up the last cookie and pushed the edge into my mouth.
The buttery, chewy dough flooded my mouth alongside a punch of chocolate. A satisfied hum escaped me, maybe close to a moan. When I opened my eyes, Talon was still studying me, though the flash of heat I caught in his gaze stirred my emotions for a totally different reason.
“It’s just a cookie,” Garrison muttered, but I noticed he’d already polished his off and was trying to surreptitiously lick the crumbs off his fingers. Ha.
I didn’t have many tools to work with here, but I’d milk what I had for as much as I could. Who knew? Maybe a little literal sweetness would soften these jaded cops enough to give me the opening I needed.
