Sheila looked her over and clearly found her lacking. She slid her fingertip over a small metal cauldron and then looked at it like it had dirtied her pale skin. “I wanted to see you face to face, without the cameras or your flunkies. What Marina did was unforgivable, and I will be pressing charges. But I also wanted you to understand that your little protest did nothing. I have no intention of backing down. Iwilltear this building to pieces.”
River studied Black’s energy. She opened the gates of her mind she usually kept shuttered so she didn’t get overwhelmed, and she let the information from Black’s energy and ego flow her way. “I think you should have a tarot reading.”
Black scoffed. “I’m a grown-up. I don’t believe in that nonsense.”
River moved past her to the reading table. “Oh, but you do.” She picked up the deck and shuffled and saw the way Black’s eyes followed the cards. “And part of you wants to know what they have to say.” It was good that Audrey wasn’t there. She’d have disagreed with River using her gift this way, when it wasn’t going to do anything but hurt someone. But Marina had proven that sometimes you had to color outside the lines.
Like bullets, River slapped five cards onto the table without taking her eyes off Black, whose gaze was fixed on the cards.
“Leave,” Black snapped at the men behind her, who seemed only too happy to go stand out in the snow.
River finally looked at the cards and read the connections. “Oh. Wow. It’s worse than I thought it would be.” She looked up at Sheila. “You cheated on your wife. Repeatedly, it looks like. And what’s this?” She tapped a card hard, and she was as certain as she’d ever been about what it said. “You killed someone. A person to do with your ex.”
Black went white. She swallowed hard and lifted her chin. “That’s absurd.”
“Is it?” River considered the question and pulled two more cards. “In fact, you did it yourself. You didn’t even hire someone to do it. And you’re carrying that secret like an ankle monitor. It’s always with you, following you, tracking you.” River closed her eyes and let her senses flow wide open, her gifts in full force. “Susan?” she finally said. “No. Suzanne.” She opened her eyes to see Black looking like she might pass out.
“You can’t know that,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “No one knows that.”
“Ah, but I do. And you know what happens when I get this kind of information? I can pass it on. People may not believe in psychics, but when someone gets curious about what I’ve said and goes digging, do you think they’ll find a Suzanne that suddenly went missing out of your orbit? Or your ex’s orbit, anyway.”
Black took a step backward. Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.
“You seem like the kind of woman who likes to make deals.” River picked up the card that represented the dead woman and walked toward Black with it. “I’ll keep this knowledge to myself if you leave. And I don’t mean my shop. I mean Chicago. Get the hell out of here and leave us alone.”
Black’s throat worked and she finally said, “How do I know you’ll keep your end of the deal?”
“Because I’m not an asshole like you.” River shrugged. “And stay the fuck away from Marina. No charges. Just leave us all the fuck alone.” She held out her hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Black looked down at her hand, then slowly raised her own to shake it. “If you fail to keep your end, I will raze this neighborhood to the ground.”
“You could try.” River wiped her hand on her jeans to get the sticky energy off. “But I’ll hold my end up if you do.”
Black turned and walked out of the store without another word. The three lackeys hurried to catch up and get in the black SUV before Black drove off and left them.
River flapped the tarot card against her hand. The woman Black had choked to death had been in love with Black’s wife at the time, and when she’d found out she’d gone insane, despite the many affairs she’d had of her own. She’d hired someone to take the body away and taunted the ex that the woman wasn’t going to be sharing her bed again.
River cleaned up the reading, reshuffled them, and set them aside for smudging later. She sat down, closed her eyes, and smiled when Shamus jumped up and curled into a big ball on her lap. With clear intent, she closed the doors to her gift that made it too hard to live with otherwise. She didn’t need that kind of knowledge about people. She didn’t want it, and it had taken a long time to figure out how to shut that part of her away.
When she opened her eyes, she felt much better. Black had been dealt with, and River had no doubt she was gone for good. Eventually, one day, the truth about the woman she’d killed would come out. River could let the Universe deal with that part. That meant Marina was safe too, and that was the most important thing.
She loves me. The thought spread warmth throughout her body. Just like the reading had suggested what seemed like ages ago, every path led to Marina.
CHAPTER 33
Marina looked at Cari,who wore a thick sweater, a beanie, and chunky boots. She looked like a character out of a kids’ book, and it lightened the weight on Marina’s shoulders a little. Why she needed the beanie in the office, Marina didn’t know. But somehow, it added to the ludicrous situation she’d found herself in. River had offered to come with her, but this wasn’t a situation meant for people outside the office.
“Do you think he’ll throw me out the window?” Marina asked contemplatively, thinking about falling through the sky along with the snow.
“Nah.” Cari stared at the mirrored ceiling. “The glass is too thick. He might drag you up to the roof and throw you off that though.”
“What’s a few more stories? The end is the same. And hey, I could still hang out with River as a ghost.” Marina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The only thing that made what she was about to do okay was the fact that River loved her and would be there when this was over.
The elevator opened, and there was no mistaking the look of surprise on the assistant’s face when they stepped out together.Then it turned to one of sympathy, and Marina’s stomach dropped.
She picked up the phone and let him know Marina was there, then hung up and waved her through. “Cari, want a cup of coffee?” she asked, making it clear Marina was going in alone.
Cari squeezed her hand. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”
