“Holy shit,” I whisper as things start to fall into place. “Stop.” I don’t have to be loud for Gray to listen. He hits the brakes, and we screech to a halt in the middle of the deserted road.
“Wrong way?” Gray asks with his hand already on the shifter.
“No, it’s the right way.” I turn so I’m looking at Gray and can see into the backseat at the same time. “He’s been playing me this whole time.”
“Who? I don’t understand. Is it not working?” Felix is agitated.
“The tracker is working. It’s taking us to the Doby place.” I really don’t have time to tell them everything I figured out, but I need to warn them.
“What?” Gray scrunches up his face, and the lights from the dash make him look macabre.
“Eugene,” I spit. “At least his obsession with my dad makes more sense now.”
“Wait, Bursa is controlling Eugene?” Gray questions.
“No, I think Eugene has been Bursa this entire time. Think about it. It would explain why Aisling acted so strange and warned me away.” I don’t even delve into my spirit theory. It’s not relevant right now.
Gray rubs his hand on the back of his neck. “He did act like a woman beating fuck.”
“Do you want me to notify the team?” Nash takes my word as the truth.
“See if they can drop a no-slip net over the area. I don’t want him getting away again.” I start thinking of the best way to get Remy out of this. I have no idea what Bursa has done to him. He could be torturing his mind for all I know.
Nash is speaking to someone on the phone, but I can’t focus on her right now. I need this to end and for everyone to walk away—well, everyone but Bursa. I kind of want to strangle him with my bare hands right now.
“I sent our location. They need twenty minutes to assemble, slip, and set up the EMF disrupter.”
My leg starts to bounce. I don’t want to wait, even though I know it’s the right thing to do.
Felix sums up my feelings, commenting, “This is going to be the longest twenty minutes of our lives.”
“Let’s find a place to park so we’re not in the middle of the road,” I tell Gray. He flips off the automatic headlights and uses the parking lights to guide us to the side of the road before turning those off too. I don’t expect Eug—Bursa to happen upon us, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
As the seconds begin to tick by, I start to worry I’m wrong. What if I’m seeing something that isn’t there? But it makes too much sense. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. The ghost is probably the real Eugene, that’s why he could follow me. His death was too recent for him to be tied to any location.
“Poor Aisling,” I mutter.
“Do you think she was in on it?” Nash asks.
“No, I think Bursa killed her husband and stashed her away someplace so he could tell my dad she was missing again and lure him to the Dobys’ house.”
“Has it been twenty minutes yet?” Felix inquires.
“Close. I’ll get a text when we have the green light. How do you want to roll in, Bishop? I have a few of those invisible spells,” Nash offers.
For the first time all night, a smile lifts my lips. “I could kiss you.” I turn to see her in the backseat.
It’s too dark to see her answering grin, but I can hear it when she says, “I think you have enough lips. You don’t need to add more to the list.”
“You’re right, but damn, I need to be more prepared like you. I don’t carry anything other than my shields.” I reach up with my free hand and realize I don’t even have those tonight. All my charms are back at the house.
Nash tries to make me feel better. “Give it time. You’re always called in for special circumstances or fall into cases.” A light flashes, and she looks down at her phone. “We have the go-ahead. EMF disrupter is in place, and there are agents surrounding the property. He’s not slipping past us.”
“They all know about his ability?” I open my door, and the others follow me.
“Everyone has been made aware,” she confirms.
“Do you have any cuffs?” I wince.
