“I know,” Charlotte said. “There will be retribution. In the meantime, I need you to handle things up there for me. I’ll call Giulia and Karen and tell them about Diana, but I need you to tell Anya. The details about how her body was found are being suppressed for now, while police investigate, so we’ll let Anya believe it was a mugging that went wrong.”
Sarabeth pushed her glasses up her nose. “I’ll do it in the morning.”
“Thank you. And for stepping up.”
“I’ll do her proud.”
Sarabeth sat for a long time in the dark after ending the call. She forgot about the dog. Tears ran down her cheeks and she tasted them on her lips.
If she was in charge up here, if she was to take on the mantle of Diana’s power, then she would clean house. And if the Order of St. Katherine was willing to be this brutal, then Sarabeth would be, too. A clean house meant a strong, efficient house.
She mulled over this until her tears had dried, then she remembered Hypatia and the outing she needed. They walked the dark streets until the dog whimpered to go home. Sarabeth picked her up and kissed her. By the time she let them both back into the house, she knew exactly where her housecleaning would start.
Anya Brown was an asset that needed protecting at all costs. Sarabeth was convinced that the combination of her visual memory and her academic brilliance was uniquely suited to the work they needed her to do. She was honored to take on the role of looking after her. She’d backed Diana one hundred percent when Diana hadsuggested hiring Anya, even when Magnus had pushed back. He hadn’t wanted to complicate his situation. He made Sarabeth sick to her stomach.
If the problem wasn’t the Order of St. Katherine, it was always men.
To protect Anya and the ambitions of the Fellowship, she could remove that particular obstacle. Their best operatives were already following Sid. As soon as he got back to St. Andrews, she would tell them to find a way to deal with him permanently.
Clio
The door of the evidence room swung open, startling Clio. DC Izzy Adefope came in, frowning.
“We have to leave,” she said. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“What? Why?”
“That was my boss calling. He told me not to do anything more on this case. Like, stop. Now.” She made a cutting motion across her neck. “I’m being transferred onto something else. My whole team is.”
“Transferred onto what?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Who’s taking over this case?”
“He is.”
“Did he say why?”
Izzy shook her head. “I should go.”
Clio hesitated; she couldn’t leave the embroidery. She said, “I can finish up here if you need to leave.” She moved slightly to her left, to obscure the embroidery from Izzy’s view, but Izzy caught it.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Clio decided to be bold; it was what Lillian would have done. “You never saw it.”
Izzy chewed her lip as she looked at the embroidery. Her expression was stony. Clio’s heart sank.Crap. It was just her luck to be in the room with a Goody Two-shoes. She decided to double down on Lillian’s brand of tough, anyway. “All I want is a photograph. It’ll still be here when your boss comes looking.”
“I hate him!” Izzy blurted out. “All he wants is to get in my pants. Since he found out he’s not going to be able to, he’s decided it’s fun to demean me in front of the team whenever he gets the chance.”
Clio swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “What’s his name?”
“Tony Axford.”
It was always good to know.
“Do what you want,” Izzy said. “Just make sure you leave it as we found it.”
