Page 91 of Five

“I looked him up. No criminal record—”

“He’s not a criminal,” I say.

“—in the US, that is. But the guy who runs the gang unit in Brooklyn, he’s a good friend of mine. We go way back. He loves your dad too. He told me that Five Aston is actually connected to the Chinese mob.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“But you grew up with him?”

“Look,” I say, trying not to lose my patience, but not doing a great job at holding in the explosion about to happen, “this isn’t about Five Aston. He doesn’t even know her.”

“No?” the officer says. “But he knows her brother.”

“It’s not Five,” I say. “That’s impossible. His grandfather just died and he went to the funeral—”

“His grandfather,” the officer says. And now I know I have really fucked this up. “You mean Damian Li? The head of an infamous Chinese Triad based in Hong Kong?”

I stare him straight in the eyes and say, “I’d like to call my lawyer.”

The officer laughs. “Don’t be silly. You’re not under suspicion, Miss Shrike. Mr. Fulbright has vouched for you already. I’m just trying to clear up any loose ends. And since you made that statement back there in front of other people about Tera Middleton’s suicide being suspicious, I felt it was necessary to let you know that we deal in evidence, not conjecture.” He stares down at me, his eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you getting this, Miss Shrike?”

I swallow hard and nod my head. I’m crystal clear on what’s happening here. He’s one of them. And he just threatened me. “Yes, sir,” I say. “I think I was mistaken.”

He smiles and places a hand on my shoulder, gives it a comforting squeeze. “Understandable, Miss Shrike. It’s an emotional moment. Finding out your friend was mentally ill and decided to take her own life is… trying. But I’m glad we could clear this up. Now, the bad news is—”

Is he fucking for real right now? The bad news is that my friend is dead!

“—that the entire second floor of the Palladium House east wing is now taped off.”

“What?”

“Evidence crew is in there now. In fact”—he points towards the front of the house, where flashing red lights are bouncing off the brick exterior—“the ambulance is here to take her body down to the morgue. You won’t be able to go back to your room.”

“But my phone,” I say. “I need to call people. Her family, for one.”

“Oh, the family has already been notified. They’re on their way down. I’m sure whatever condolences you have can wait until they’ve recovered from the shock. The good news is, Mr. Fulbright has offered to let you stay in his room until things are settled. Probably by tomorrow afternoon. I understand it’s Eat Meet this weekend? I wouldn’t want you to miss out on that, so I’ll make sure your room is accessible in time to get ready.”

This is fucking insane. But what else is new? Everything about my life since that text from Oliver has been one crazy revelation after another.

I just never expected Palladium House to have the local law enforcement on their payroll.

The officer leads me back inside where Frank conveniently waits. “Everything OK?” Frank asks.

The officer places his hand on my shoulder, gripping just a little bit too tight. “Miss Shrike has had a hard night, Mr. Fulbright. She was mistaken earlier. She didn’t know what she was saying. Isn’t that right?” he says, looking down at me.

I swallow hard and nod my head. “I’m so upset.” And it’s not a lie, either. “My best friend… is dead,” I stammer. “Can I please go up to my room and get my phone?” I ask the officer.

The officer directs his gaze to Frank, not to me. And I feel the explosion over that little misogynist move coming. Be calm, Rory. You’re playing a game against much better players. “Mr. Fulbright? Can you please go fetch Miss Shrike’s phone for her?”

“Why can’t I just get it myself?” I ask. “How is that different than—”

“Sure,” Frank says, cutting me off and walking up to me. He also places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Not as tight as the officer’s, but it’s not reassuring, either.

I fume. Silently, because I’m trying my best not to explode.

When Frank returns he hands me my phone. And it’s still locked.

“Do you mind showing me your text stream with Tera Middleton, Miss Shrike?”