Page 131 of The Diamond in the Rough

The company phone rang, and I casually blocked out any possible thoughts before answering.

“Beyond the Veil Investigations. How may we help?”

The bellon the door chimed, and I looked up to see Hart come in, light blue sleeves rolled up around his forearms, probably because summer decided it was going to arrive, and it was quite warm outside.

“Hey, kid.”

“Hi, Hart,” I replied.

“Good news,” he said, coming over and sit-leaning on the corner of my desk.

I looked up at him. “Good news?” I asked.

“We arrested Garraway, Jennings,andDagget this morning.”

I sat up a little straighter. “Really?”

Hart nodded. “Yep. Got them all.”

I smiled. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Figured you might want to know,” he replied, smiling back. “Might help you sleep better at night, at any rate.”

I nodded.

“We’ll still need you to testify,” he said, then. “So it’s not over yet.”

“Okay,” I agreed. It hadn’t actually occurred to me that I’d have to go to court, but now that he’d said something, it made sense. “When?”

Hart snorted. “Fuck, months, probably. The wheels of justice turn fucking slowly.”

“Oh,” I replied. “Okay.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that—the fact that it was over, but it wasn’t over. The fact that I’d have to come back to this again. “Will—?” I frowned, thinking. Hart waited for me to come up with the words. “Will they ask me to read things?” I asked.

“On the stand, you mean?” he asked.

I nodded.

He looked thoughtful. “I don’t actually know,” came the answer. “I—I haven’t actually worked with a touch-psychic in a professional capacity on a case. You’re a rare bird.”

“Rare… bird?”

He flapped a hand. “It means that touch-psychics are unusual. I know there’s precedent for using them on cases,but I’ve never worked with one, and I’ve worked a lot of cases over the years.”

“Oh,” I replied. I wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

Hart shrugged. “Just means that I have no fucking clue what they’re going to ask of you,” he said. “Although with Garraway, one of the charges is kidnapping, so you’ll have to testify to what he did to you.”

I nodded. “I can do that,” I said, then frowned. “Did they also arrest Gennaro and…” I thought for a moment. “Edson?”

“You bet your ass they did,” Hart replied. “And Raj was none too polite about it, either, from what Cass said.”

I felt relief loosen tension in my chest that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding on to. “Thanks,” I said to Hart, really feeling grateful.

Hart offered a small smile. “That’s the job,” he said. “It’s nice when it actually works.”

I completely understood.

One would be forgivenfor thinking that after a day on which I proved my psychic abilitiesandfound out that the men who’d kidnapped me and had been responsible for the murder of Yvonne Gates-Adams had been arrested, that I’d be feeling good when I got home.