Page 116 of Reckless Devotion

“But your sister is too soft, refusing to steal money or do anything more than expose people. She’s not fit to be our headpiece, and I, for one, have had enough.”

Headpiece?

The small woman prowls toward me, sparks flying from her ears as she pierces me with magma-level contempt. “Men like you need to have everything taken away from them.”

I muster up the best arrogance I can, playing into her energy and giving her exactly what she expects. “So tell me, Rosie. How exactly do you plan on doing that?”

I address her with no more interest than a spider might a fat fly, already tangled in its web and suffocating. It does exactly what I intend for it to do, incensing her even further.

“I’ve been stealing from you for months, right under your nose and you didn’t even realize it,” she hisses, just inches away. “And all that money I’ve taken right out of your pocket is stashed away somewhere no one will ever find it.”

She appears to be smug, like she’s delivered the final blow in a death match. I rock back on my heels, letting out a contemplative hum.

“Did you get all that, Miles?” I throw over her shoulder casually.

The man shakes his newspaper straight, folding it and strolling unhurriedly toward us.

“Who are you?” Rosie demands as Elizabeth’s hand leaps to her mouth at the sight of Miles. “What do you mean?” the short blonde woman demands, rushing her attention back to me.

I simply nod in Miles’ direction and he slips out his phone from behind the paper, showing her the red light to indicate it’s recording.

“Give that here!” She snatches for it, but Miles is too quick, lifting it out of her reach. Considering she’s knee height with a grasshopper, it’s not that hard a task.

“No, I don’t think I will. And what’s more,” Miles drawls in an admirably apathetic tone, “if you don’t want this recording to end up in the hands of the DA’s office, I suggest you returnthe illegal proceeds to Mr. Walker and turn in the names of any accomplices you were working with within his company.”

The woman’s face trembles, her mouth clamped shut and cheeks turning mottled as though she’s holding in geyser-like pressure. After a few fraught seconds, her shoulders slump.

My phone vibrates in my hand, and I glance down to see Landau’s name flash on the screen.

“Have you got this from here?” I turn to Evelyn and catch her staring at Miles with eyes that could almost qualify as love hearts.

“What? Oh! Yes, of course.” She nods, the tips of her ears turning pink.

“And can you please take Sunny back to the office with you?”

“Yeah, of course.” She raises her eyebrows, her sky-blue gaze resting on the teenage girl who remains too engrossed to notice.

I nod my thanks and answer the call.

“Walker.”

“Where are you? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for an hour,” Landau’s grizzly voice barks down the line.

“What is it?” My heart pounds in my chest, residual adrenaline resurfacing and blooming into something else altogether.

“Detective Morris is leaving now. If you still want to go with them, you need to go right now.”

“I’m on my way.”

Chapter 42

PEPPER

It’s been over twenty-four hours since I’ve been able to get a hold of Chase, and I’m sitting here chewing what is left of my nail beds and catastrophizing.

I’m talking Chernobyl-meltdown-level freaking out. I’ll be radioactive for at least seventy-six years and I’ll never be able to live in my own head again. The only things that will reside in there will be fish with six eyes, and perhaps a cat with two tails.

The echoing sound of a heavy steel door being mechanically released somewhere outside the small boxy cell that I’m stuffed in with five other women fills the air.