‘You poor sweet summer child,’ Ji-ho said. ‘Krieg doesn’t need a badge to make people speak to him.’
I winced. That was depressingly true. And Robbie was right. I didn’t want Channing getting into trouble on my behalf.
‘You go.’ I nodded to Robbie. ‘But asknicely.No broken skin or bones.’
‘You never let me have any fun,’ he pouted, eyes sparkling with mischief, but they hardened as he looked at Ji-ho and Channing. ‘A vampyr attacked her. You keep her safe in my absence.’ Because he knew me, he fixed his eyes on me too. ‘Andyoukeep yourself safe.’
I glared at him flatly. ‘I will. Now scoot. And come back with answers.’
He sent me a mock salute that was entirely too reminiscent of Elvira’s sass. Why did no one respect my authority?
He hadn’t been gone long when there was a knock at the door. Frowning, I opened it, and Laura bustled in.
‘Hey, boss,’ she said casually as she shut the door behind her and turned to Ji-ho. ‘I brought the file, just like you asked.’ She strode over and handed him a bulky folder.
I found my voice. ‘What the hell is this? Why are you here?’
‘Oh, I brought Jude Jingo’s folder over, the official one. That’s why I’m late to the party. It took me and Elvira ages to photocopy the whole thing. She was particular about not letting the real file leave the office.’
Ji-ho opened the mammoth manila folder and scanned it, eyes narrowing to slits as he read at an insane pace, hands blurring. When he finished, he looked pale. ‘Jude Jingo isnotsomeone to mess with.’
Channing snorted. ‘We all knew that.’
‘Yeah.’ Ji-ho shifted in his seat, looking at me. ‘But did you know you’re continuing a campaign your father started?’
A chill rushed over me. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There were numerous arrests in his file. No charges but a lot of arrests.’ Ji-ho placed his hand over the thick folder, his dark eyes concerned. ‘Stacy … all of them were by your father, Marcus Wise.’
Chapter Eleven
My mind was reeling. Dad had gone up against Jingo too? Was there more to Jingo’s fascination with me than I’d thought? A vendetta?
Unease stirred. What did that mean for the ‘evidence’ he’d given me?
Fuck. I was more sure than ever that Jingo was playing me. I just didn’t know what the game was.
I chewed on my lip and looked at Laura. ‘Ji-ho texted you?’
‘Don’t worry,’ Ji-ho said. ‘I’ve already deleted all evidence from her phone, my phone, and our respective networks. There is zero evidence that I ever asked her to bring the file here, not even in the cloud-based backup servers. Zero evidence. Zilch.’
Tension slid out of my shoulders, and I blew out a breath. ‘Okay. I’m glad you’re on our side.’
‘I’d better get back,’ Laura said. ‘I’m on my lunch break.’
‘It’s 10.30am!’
‘I took it early. Hope you “feel better soon”, Elliot,’ she said to Channing, using finger air quotes.
I blinked. I wasn’t sure I’d known that Channing’s first name was Elliot. It made me think of E.T.
‘Thanks for coming, Laura,’ I said. ‘I appreciate it.’
She looked at me fiercely. ‘I’ve got your back, boss. We all do.’ She gave me a one-armed hug with surprising strength and marched out.
You are loved,Loki murmured.
Not loved,I corrected.Respected.
