Page 57 of Death is Familiar

“Is this an intervention?” I asked, knowing the only reason they could be so smug was if they had something up their sleeve.

“We are just proving a point.” Jack and Todd shared a look.

“Which is?”

“You’re just as predictable as we are.”

Todd checked the time. “You owe me five dollars.”

“I’d be happy to oblige,” Jack patted his pockets, then aimed a pointed look at me, “but I don’t seem to have my wallet.”

Not daring to leave Jack’s wallet unattended in my hotel room—especially when I had the habit of being surrounded by people, like Mads, who had a penchant for breaking and entering—I’d brought it with me. Pulling the wallet out of my back pocket, I handed it to him with a flourish. Jack kept his eyes on me as he transferred Todd his winnings.

“Not going to count it?” I jabbed.

“Do we need to have a talk about manners?”

Oh god, he sounded so much like a parent it made my insides swell. Ignoring the heat flushing my cheeks, I shrugged. “Todd told me to be good.”

Todd huffed, raking a hand over his face, smug smile still in place. “I knew that was a mistake.”

“So really, it’s your fault.”

“Yes, blame the guy who told you not to cause trouble.”

See that was the problem. If I was as predictable as the agents said I was, then when Todd went out of his way to tell me to be good, he knew exactly what he was doing. But that explanation was far too many words to speak aloud this early in the morning.

“Heard all about your… troublemaking.” Todd ceased leaning on the car and stood to his full height.

“Impressed?”

Todd gave me the “so-so” gesture. But even in the dim light, I could tell the corners of his mouth were still ticked upwards. Yeah, he was impressed.

I elbowed him gently, meeting the solid resistance of his abdomen. I probably shouldn’t have paid as much attention to the feel of his body against mine, but I did, and I was.

“You two are going to be the death of me.” Chuckling, Jack shook his head. “You can play fight later, but we’ll need to get a move on if we want to get to the cemetery before the sun rises.”

†

Being driven by the agents was convenient. We were at the cemetery in less than ten minutes, and with Jack and Todd’s ability to flash their badges to gain us entry, accessing the space went a lot smoother than if I had to sneak my way in.

While I wasn’t able to test out how lax security was after hours, there were some advantages to working with the FBI, even if they had some boundary issues.

Like the agents having access to the contents of my phone and whereabouts at any time.

I wasn’t fooling myself. The only way Jack would have known I had planned on leaving before the Cincinnati sunrise was if he had seen my recent search history.

Once again, I thanked my lucky stars my more… revealing search history was on Botan’s phone, and not on my FBI ‘gifted’ devices. Though I’d noted neither agent had said anything about my hidden photo album, or the pictures of Mads and the mirror messages he’d left me, which made me think that Jack’s foray into checking my device activity was a result of yesterday’s pickpocketing demonstration, rather than a regular occurrence.

But better to be safe than sorry.

“Soooo, should I always expect you two to check out my search history?” I paced the cemetery lawn, the dark sky beginning to lighten, but not enough to get a good look at my surroundings.

“When you act out, so do we.” I didn’t miss the humor in Jack’s voice. “Care to tell us what you’re looking for?”

“Not sure.” I pressed my toes into the ground. The dew from the grass seeped through my shoes. Despite the moisture collected on the grass, the ground was hard, compacted, clay. Not the tacky soft loam I’d expected. This ground resisted. Which was likely why neither the police nor the agents had found footprints, drag marks, or whatever other forensic evidence the authorities were in the habit of collecting from the scene of the crime.

While no motion or movement or tracks were found by police, there was a large gothic chapel less than a hundred feet away. A reasonable dragging distance.