I raised a brow. “Does that mean you have a theory as to who put Gray Wolf on the streets?”
Bane chuckled. “Naturally, but I’ll keep my theories to myself for now. Suffice it to say, I pray the responsible party will be caught and punished harshly.”
Eldritch stood as though he’d heard enough. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Bane. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”
“As you wish,” Bane said. “Say good-bye, Harry.”
“Good-bye,” the younger Bane parroted. Then he closed the phone, gathered the laptop, and nodded before exiting. Eldritch and I stood in silence, watching the white-haired wizard make his way back through the station. Finally, once he’d disappeared, Eldritch whistled low.
“What the hell do you think that was about?”
I chewed on my lip. “My best guess? He either believes or knows one of his enemies is behind this. Ramses Bane doesn’t help anyone unless there’s something in it for himself.”
Eldritch sighed and nodded. “I’ll call Gardner and let her know what just happened.”
I glanced over at him. “What are you going to do with the footage from last night?”
“Relax, Prospero. I plan on handing it over to the shoot team. It might still take some time to wrap up the red tape, but you’ll be cleared.” He turned and looked me in the eyes. “Not that I ever doubted,” he added quickly.
“Thanks, sir.”
He nodded, all magnanimous. “Just remember to keep me in the loop on the MEA’s progress.”
It hit me then. Eldritch didn’t go to bat for me because he thought I was the right candidate. He did it because he knew how much I wanted the job, and he was betting that my gratitude would ensure I’d keep him in the loop on the MEA’s movements. Looked like Bane wasn’t the only one who only did favors because he expected to reap personal gain.
I sighed. “Sir, I don’t exactly love the idea of being a double agent.”
He waved away my concern. “Don’t think of it that way. Think of it as—helping out the BPD team.”
That was the problem, I thought, whose team was I on now, exactly? Eldritch wanted to use me, and Gardner didn’t seem too psyched to be saddled with me.
“The team,” I said. “Right.”
Chapter Seven
That night, Pen leaned back in the peeling Adirondack chair and took a swig of her beer. “You did what now?”
I shrugged and crossed my ankle over my knee. Danny’s light was still on. The throbbing bass line of his music seeped out from the shitty insulation around the basement window. Soon I’d have to go in there and tell him to turn off the music and get to sleep since it was a school night. But for the moment I didn’t have that excuse to avoid the interrogation by my best friend. She knew the perfect places to apply pressure until I cried mercy and spilled all the details she wanted to hear.
“I killed a guy and then talked my way onto a task force that’s taking on the most powerful wizards in the Cauldron,” I said, keeping my tone nonchalant. When I put it that way, I kind of understood the worry creasing her brows. Good thing I hadn’t mentioned my little field trip to Volos’s office. No doubt she would have put that under the category of psycho-ex-girlfriend behavior, instead of the strategic surveillance I’d convinced myself it was.
She blinked at me.
“What?” I looked away from the anticipation on her face, the one that always preceded a nice, long, tough-love therapy session.
“How did you feel after you shot him?”
I almost rolled my eyes. The problem with having a psychologist for a best friend was she always wanted to know about stupid things … like emotions. “Um,” I said, stalling, “I felt … shitty.”
It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Jesus, Katie. Way to use your big-girl words.”
I sighed and surrendered. The sooner I got this part over with, the sooner we could start gossiping about fun stuff like getting a pelvic exam or a root canal. “At first I was just scared—worried he’d kill me before I could stop him. But then, once it was over, I felt kind of relieved and … numb. I guess.” At the last second, I added in a small voice, “Maybe a little proud.”
She perked up. “Proud?”
I sighed and leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. “You didn’t see the woman he killed, Pen. Savaged is more like it. Killing him doesn’t bring her back, but it means he can’t ever do that to anyone else. I did what needed to be done and I’d do it again.”
She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to see lies embedded in my pores. I met her stare with a neutral expression. Finally, she blew out a breath. “Well, damn. You actually sound kind of healthy about it.”
I shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t exactly a party, you know?”
She nodded.
“But in a way, I guess it has a silver lining because if it hadn’t happened I never would have gotten a chance to be on this task force.”
“Tell me about it.”
I eased back in the seat to give myself time to gather my thoughts. “Don’t know much yet. They’re looking for the wizard who’s behind this new potion. Guess I’ll find out more tomorrow.”
“Wonder if there will be any fine-ass MEA agents on your team.” Now a different kind of instinct drove Pen. Not the need of a therapist to analyze behavior, but that of a best friend hot on the trail of juicy drama.
I frowned at her. “Trust me, even if there are I’m not interested. This is my big chance to prove myself and no ass is fine enough to wreck this opportunity.”
“Hmm.”
I rose to get another beer from the six-pack sitting on the table. The yard was already covered in a light blanket of fall leaves. Soon it would be too chilly to sit out here for our weekly Bitch ’n’ Beer sessions. I sighed and handed another cold one to Pen. “But I’m never opposed to a little eye candy.”
She tapped her can to mine. “Here’s to fine asses and eye candy.” She barely made it through the toast before the laughter began.
Pen had one of those laughs that came straight from her soul. She never tittered politely. She always opened up her whole being and shouted her amusement at the world. It got embarrassing in small restaurants, but on that night, with the first of autumn’s smoky chill surrounding us and the moon overhead sharing the joke, I grabbed onto the sound of my best friend’s laughter like a buoy.