“Go ahead,” Harry said, bravado stamped on his face. “They won’t find shit.”
“My agents found the trap in your car, Harry,” she shot back. “Do you really think they won’t find the hidey-holes in the house, too?”
Harry paled. Spalding cleared his throat, a not-so-subtle reminder for Harry to shut the fuck up. “What information do you need on Bane to make this deal happen?”
“Hey!” Harry protested.
Spalding slanted him a look but nodded for Stone to go ahead. Morales shot me a grin. I couldn’t see Gardner’s face from my vantage point, but I imagined inside she was high-fiving herself.
“We need to know where Ramses is cooking the potion and the location of the stash.”
“I don’t know that shit,” Harry said in a disgusted tone, but his words lacked conviction.
Spalding elbowed Harry. “If you could just give me a minute to discuss your offer with my client?”
Gardner, Eldritch, and Stone rose. “You have five minutes before this offer is off the table,” the attorney said. “I’d advise you to take this deal, son. If you say no, you’re going away for a very, very long, hard time.”
* * *
They joined us in the viewing room thirty seconds later.
“Think they’ll go for it?” Eldritch asked before Stone could even take a breath.
“I sure as hell hope so.” He raised his brows and sighed. “We’re running out of time. The longer this takes the more likely it’ll be for Bane to find out we’re on his trail and close up shop.”
“You didn’t ask him who is helping Bane,” I said.
Several pairs of eyes swiveled in my direction. “Why would we do that?” Eldritch snapped. “Bane is the big fish.”
“But we know he couldn’t have come up with Gray Wolf on his own. What if Volos—”
Eldritch waved a hand. “That again? Look, we know Bane is involved, we just need evidence linking him directly to the crime. Once we nab him, we can try to get him to confess who helped him come up with the formula, but most likely it was some desperate Votary wiz looking to make some quick cash.”
I opened my mouth to keep arguing, but Gardner cleared her throat and shot me a look. Pushing Eldritch on this might hurt our chances of continued cooperation. But damned if I didn’t feel like brushing Bane’s alchemical accomplice to the back burner didn’t worry the hell out of me.
Once I backed down, Gardner turned to Eldritch. “We need to have a team ready to go in.”
Eldritch nodded. “It’ll have to be in the morning.”
“Why not tonight?” Morales asked.
“The Arteries are too dangerous at night,” I explained. “Even for an army.”
“Which is what we’ll need,” Eldritch said. “Those tunnels are ambushes waiting to happen. I’ll call in a favor to the sheriff’s office to lend us some of their tactical wizards.”
“Once he gives us the location, I’ll get the paperwork started for the no-knock warrant.”
“How long will that take?” Mez asked.
“Usually not too long, but Judge Akins is on duty today.”
“Who is that?” Morales asked.
Stone frowned. “They call him Judge Dread. Likes to watch harried attorneys jump through hoops.”
“Just do what you can,” Gardner said. “Morales, you and Prospero will need to take lead on our strategy for the raid.”
“Now hold on,” Eldritch cut in. “This will be a BPD operation.”
Gardner raised a brow. “Bullshit. We brought you the evidence, the perp, and the deal that will secure the evidence we need to prove it’s Bane.”
Eldritch crossed his arms. “And you’ll need BPD and county personnel to pull it off.”
Gardner gritted her teeth. “I’ll let you make the statement at the press conference once Bane’s in custody.”
Eldritch’s mustache twitched as he considered the deal. Seeing the back-room negotiation for camera time left a bad taste in my mouth. “Fine,” the captain said finally. “I also get to do the perp walk.”
Gardner’s eye twitched. “No dice. My bosses will want the MEA to get some camera time.”
Eldritch shrugged. “Let’s just say whichever agency nabs him gets to do the walk.”
She nodded curtly. “Acceptable.”
Stone made a world-weary face. “Now that that’s settled, we just need to hope this little shit comes through.”
As if Stone’s words summoned him, Spalding rapped three times on the two-way mirror to indicate they were ready for us. Behind him, Harry slumped defeated at the table. Gardner smiled. “Shall we, gentlemen?”
* * *
Ten minutes later, Harry was in cuffs and being led out of the room. Eldritch, Gardner, and Stone all shook hands with Spalding and then with each other.
Stone nodded. “I need to get back to my office to get the paperwork rolling. In the meantime, you can put him in lockup.”
Morales, Mez, and I went into the hall to watch Harry be taken back to booking. “See ya around,” I said as soon as Hanson led him past.
“The game’s not over yet, bitch,” Harry spat back.
I laughed. “Maybe, but you lost this round.”
“True enough.” Harry tilted his head and looked me straight in the eye. “But when the final buzzer rings, you’ll be the one crying, bitch.”
Hanson jerked his arms and pulled him away. “Let’s go.” Even though Hanson and I didn’t get along as a rule, no cop liked to hear another one getting threatened.
As they walked away, Mez whistled under his breath. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a fan there.”
I shrugged. “Harry’s had it in for me since we were kids.”
“Why?” Morales asked.
“Who knows?” I said with a casual indifference. But I was lying. I knew from an early age that Harry resented the fact that Abe was grooming me to take over the Votaries eventually, while Bane treated Harry like a nuisance or an errand boy. His jealousy had oxidized over time and added to the insult of being forced to betray his coven.
“Anyway,” Morales said, not sounding very concerned or interested, “we need to get busy on a plan for tomorrow morning.”
I sighed and nodded with a glance at my watch. It had already been five hours since I dropped Danny off to hang with Baba. “Would you guys mind meeting at my place?”