“Shit, Macho,” LM said, sounding frantic as he tried to pat his sister’s arm. “Now you’ve upset her.”
“Mary, it’s okay,” I said quickly. “He didn’t mean to yell.”
Mary’s rocking became more frenzied. Her large hands came up to grip her oily hair and a high-pitched keening came from her slack jaw.
“Shhh,” LM soothed. “It’s okay, Mama. It’s okay. Baby’s here.”
Morales shot me a worried look. “Prospero, maybe—”
“LM, is she okay?”
Two mean, black eyes looked up at me from the infant’s face. “Get out of here,” he gritted out between clenched gums. “Fuck off!”
Morales grabbed my arms and pulled me away. I went along but kept my eyes on them. By that time Mary’s rocking was so violent, the legs of the bench squeaked in protest. Her hands tore large clumps of hair from her scalp. Little Man pulled something from his diaper. I couldn’t make out what, but it looked like an ampoule. With his tiny hand, he stabbed the attached needle into her fleshy forearm. Two seconds later, the rocking and the keening stopped altogether.
I could have gone back and arrested them for using a potion on public property. LM and Mary weren’t wizards, so there was no way they’d brewed that shit by themselves. But I didn’t bother. I was too freaked out by the suddenness of Mary’s episode and the gentle care LM took with her. Plus, I couldn’t afford to lose my best snitch.
I dragged my eyes from the pitiful pair on the park bench. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah, I’m wondering which freak show you raided to find those snitches.”
I rolled my eyes. “No, about the mole thing.”
“Do you trust the homunculus enough to tell Eldritch he might have a crooked cop on his staff?”
I shook my head and met his eyes over the roof of the car. The strain of the last few days pressed down with a sensation that bore a striking resemblance to hopelessness. “Let’s just go.”
Chapter Thirty
An hour later, Morales pulled up in front of my house. On the way, we’d called Gardner to tell her the bad news. Unfortunately, she had some of her own. The ASAC had given her and the team seventy-two hours to find Bane before he called them back to Detroit for reassignment. It was better than an immediate withdrawal, but it also added another layer of pressure. Especially since the entire team was showing the strain of burning it from both ends for the last few days.
As we pulled in, my phone buzzed to indicate an incoming text. It was from Pen, telling me I had the night off because she was at the hospital. “Shit,” I whispered.
My original plan had been to spend the night at the hospital, but Pen had beaten me to it. I shot back a quick text thanking her, but inside I wanted to cry. Probably she thought she was doing me a big favor, but the idea of another night alone in that too-quiet house made me want to claw off my skin.
“Everything okay?” Morales asked, shooting me a look.
No, it wasn’t. Not at all. “Yeah.”
“Well, there’s someone bothering me—well, there are lots of things, actually,” Morales said, putting the car in Park. “But the main thing is, the potion itself. You said early on he had to have help cooking a potion with those alchemical elements, right?”
I nodded. “He could have recruited some wizard from the Votaries to help him.”
He shook his head. “Or maybe we were too quick to clear Volos.”
I froze. Considering I was hiding the Volos visit from Morales, the conversation had just taken a turn into dangerous waters. I searched Drew’s face for some hint he knew I was withholding something, but his expression was curious, not accusing. “Look, I’m no Volos apologist, but that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Doesn’t it?” he said, raising a brow. “What if they worked together and staged Marvin’s murder to clear Volos of suspicion?”
“You’re forgetting one thing,” I said. “Volos is building that community center on Bane’s turf and with the botched tunnel raid, they’ve had to postpone the project. What’s in it for Volos to cooperate with Bane when Gray Wolf has done nothing but cause problems for him?”
Morales blew out a breath. “None of this adds up. Why would Bane go to such lengths over a stupid community center?”
Relieved to have the conversation centered on Bane again, I shrugged. “It’s not really about the community center at all.” I toyed with a frayed thread on my jeans. “It’s about principles … and turf.”
Morales snorted. “Spare me the street wisdom, Prospero. Sociopaths like Bane don’t have principles.”
“Sure they do,” I said, looking up. “It’s not conventional morality, but covens are guided by their own codes. The first of which being that a wizard’s turf is sacred. Volos isn’t just sending some guys to sell on the Sangs’ corners. He’s using the legitimacy he earned by lining the mayor’s pockets to drive Bane out of his territory altogether. That’s the ultimate insult.”
He pursed his lips and seemed to think it over. “If that’s true, then Volos knew exactly what he was doing.”
“He knew.” I nodded. “In fact, I’d bet he was counting on it.”
“So do you think he’s doing all this because he wanted Bane’s territory for himself?”
I nodded at him. “Maybe. Maybe not. But he definitely knew his plan would piss off Bane.”
“I just wish we had more time on this.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Or that LM had a location for Bane so we could end this today.”
“I think LM liked you,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, sure. Before you know it we’ll be trolling the titty bars together.” He shuddered at the thought. “I hear homunculi are real pussy magnets.”
I choked on a laugh. My head filled with an image of Mary hunkered on a stool sipping a Shirley Temple while LM played wingman to Morales. Beside me, Morales’s deep baritone echoed my own higher giggles. After the stress of the case, it was cathartic to laugh over something so ridiculous. Finally, I wiped the tears from my eyes and let out a contented sigh. “I needed that.” I looked at him. “Thanks.”
“I do what I can.” He smiled genuinely. It hit me then that without really meaning to, I’d started to actually like the ass. “You want some company? I could come in for a while.”