Page 66 of Fatal Pattern

She pointed her chip at Blade like a weapon. “But if this goes sideways, if this blows up in our faces, I will deny this conversation ever happened. I will throw you both under the bus so fast it’ll leave skid marks. Are we clear?”

Blade nodded. “Crystal.”

“Good.” Janice crunched on her chip. “I’ll check my calendar and see when I can make the trip.”

Tori swallowed the bite she’d been chewing. “That’s the other thing. It’s going to take up your entire day. Eight hours round trip, not to mention the time you’d spend inside.”

Janice swirled the ice in her margarita. “I don’t know when I could do it. My calendar’s packed solid through next month.”

Carlos appeared with a fresh basket of chips and pulled out his order pad.

Blade jumped at the interruption. The smell of those fajitas had been torturing him for the past twenty minutes. “I’ll take the chicken fajitas. Extra guacamole.”

Tori studied the menu like she hadn’t been demolishing chips for the past half hour. “Wow, I’m not even sure if I’m hungry.”

Blade pressed his molars into the inside of his cheek, holding back the grin that wanted out. She ordered the ceviche anyway and handed her menu to Carlos. Janice ordered tacos, then changed her mind at the last second.

“Fajitas sound perfect,” she said. “Same as Detective St. James.”

Carlos scribbled their orders and disappeared back toward the kitchen. The moment he was out of earshot, Tori cut her eyes to Blade. Her look said she wanted him to take over and make this happen.

“I appreciate you taking this on,” Blade said. “I wanted to make this easy for you, so I’ve lined up a private plane to shave down the hours.”

Janice’s margarita stopped halfway to her lips.

Tori’s eyes widened for a split second. He hadn’t told her about the plane. He must’ve arranged it while she was out of the room. A backup move he expected they’d need.

Janice set down her drink. “It must be really important if you arranged a plane.”

“It is,” Blade said. “A car will be waiting at the airport to take you to the prison. Tori and I will wait at a nearby diner.”

Janice picked up a chip and studied it like it held the secrets of the universe. “When do you want to go?”

“The plane is ready and waiting.”

Blade’s shoulders locked still. Janice didn’t speak for a full thirty seconds. Her gaze flicked to her phone. The screen glowed with a color-coded column of stacked obligations. Days full of what he assumed were hearings, meetings, and client calls all crammed one on top of the other.

She lifted her glass and wet her lips with the margarita. Then she set it down, punched a number, and pressed the phone to her ear.

“Maria? It’s Janice. I need you to rearrange my schedule. Cancel everything for the rest of today.”

Blade’s shoulders loosened. Janice was clearing the deck. She was doing it.

“I don’t care what you have to move. Reschedule the Bailey deposition for next week. Push the Lawson meeting to Friday. And call Judge Patterson’s clerk. Tell them I need a continuance on the Silva hearing. No, I can’t tell you where I’ll be. Just handle it.” Janice ended the call and laid her phone face down on the table. “There. My afternoon just freed up.”

She raised her margarita in a mock toast. “To justice. And to hoping we don’t all end up in prison for whatever we’re about to do.”

Blade lifted his water glass. “To finding the truth.” He looked at Tori, not Janice.

She met his gaze, and for a split second, the noise of the restaurant faded away. He saw the exhaustion, the worry, but underneath it, a flicker of something else. Gratitude. Trust. It was a silent acknowledgment of the massive risk he was taking, not just for the case, but for her.

The ice clinked as their glasses met across the table. Around them, the restaurant hummed with families sharing meals, couples on dates, and friends catching up over drinks.

None of them noticed they were sitting feet away from a conversation that might crack open a conspiracy and a killer decades in the making.

19

The bright lights in the Waffle House cast everything in a warm, welcoming glow. Tori stared at the slice of triple chocolate pie in front of her, the fork suspended halfway to her mouth.