She shakes her head and looks at the file. “You were called to Shang’s office, but when officers asked you to reveal what you discussed, you said, and I quote, ‘I’m saving the good shit for the person who can give me a deal.’ Is that correct?”
“Two for two,” I say. “I assume you can give me the deal. You know, the one where I’m not charged for whatever it is the officers are trying to charge me with—”
“Illegal gambling, and probable cause for aiding and abetting a known violent criminal,” the man in the corner says.
I finger-gun him. “Right, which I wasn’t doing, so I definitely don’t want to be charged with that.”
“You had three thousand and fifty-eight dollars in marked bills in your jacket pocket,” Armhurts says.
“Which I won gambling illegally,” I say.
The woman closes the folder and sets it aside, then looks up at me with her dead eyes.
“Jayway, do you haveanythingof interest to tell us?”
“Yes, I do.”
It was a good thing they held me right outside Zhao’s office for twenty minutes while they rounded up the dangerous criminals. Gave meloadsof time to poke around in his astral shelves.
The pair look at me expectantly.
“Do you have any legal bargain of interest to me?” I ask.
The man steps away from the wall and puts his hands down on the table. “You’re looking at a Class A misdemeanor right now, and up to six months in jail.”
Ah, the old bad-cop, worse-cop scare tactics.
“But I’m sure if we dug a little deeper into your finances, we could find the evidence to give you a Class E felony, which would carry a much heftier prison sentence. Four years.”
A band slips around my ribs and starts to pull tight.
Four years in prison would force Ace to drop out of high school and get a job to support Nai Nai. Even one year in prison could mess up his life. I can’t burden him with that.
Those stupid cop shows didn’t prepare me for this.
So, I start dishing. I tell them where his hidden books are and what’s in them—lots of money changing places and hands without being taxed. Information about people who were “taken care of” and the contact name of the person who did it. Lots of great, incriminating stuff. Hopefully, it’ll save my ass.
“How do you know all this?” Armhurts asks.
I shrug. “Shang is like any man with a big ego in front of a pretty woman—I’m a lot prettier when I don’t have a black eye, okay?” I say, as the man makes a rude face. “Anyway, dudes talk.”
This is easy for them to swallow. A lot easier than the truth, which’ll end me up in a nuthouse.
“Now, how can you help me?” I ask.
They exchange a look. “Give us a moment.”
They leave and I do what I do, dropping my head to the table so I can project without showing off my creepy eyes. I float beyond the door and hover over Armhurts’s shoulder. Interestingly enough, her and her partner’s auras glow a bit. She’s a soft lilac and he’s a deeper maroon. Very interesting…maybe they would believe the truth? Or maybe they don’t even know they have magic.
“What do you think?” he asks.
Armhurts shakes her head. “She’s hiding something, but charging her won’t be worth the paperwork. Shang is our primary concern right now.”
He nods. “Agreed.”
Armhurts reaches for the door handle and I zip back into my body. They close the door and I lift my head, cracking open my undamaged eye.
“We won’t charge you with anything today,” the man says. “But you won’t be getting the marked bills back.”
