She thought of the yellow dress hanging in her closet. “What do you know about sacrificing your soul?”
“My father worked his way up through the Guard ranks and then on to the Concilium with a stellar record. I was expected to be a certain way, to want certain things. Yeah, I grew up with prestige, money, high-class parties. No one thought it was clever when I flew down the banister to make my entrance. Or Changed to a wolf and ran across the buffet table.
“I wanted to be Guard on my own terms. For a while it worked, but life smacked me down. I had to make a choice: conform or lose what was most important to me. Being a Vega was all I ever wanted. I sacrificed my personal life for it, and my nature. I see you fighting that same struggle. Don’t sell your soul, Vee. It strips everything away and leaves you empty and wanting something you can’t even name. Something you’ve forgotten was inside you, but it’s an ache that never goes away.” He continued toward the house, pulling his shirt down over his head.
She could only watch him while the heavy weight of his words sank into her chest. He’d shoved that playful, sexy guy deep inside him. Despite her words, she wanted him back. But what he’d said intrigued her in another way. Was he telling her to stand up to her family on her choice of boyfriend?
But he’s not your boyfriend! You’re pretending until you get to the bottom of this, or until he can convince his boss to have the Guard investigate. That’s all. She killed the lights and caught up to him. He’d given up serious romantic relationships, which meant he’d probably never loved a woman. Yet, he’d sounded so convincing with all of that waking up next to her in the morning stuff he’d told her.
As they approached her porch, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. She glimpsed the word Ferro on the screen before he stuffed it back in his pocket.
“I can give you privacy if you need to take that call?—”
His expression shadowed. “I’ll check in with him later.”
Violet led him down the hall, turned on the light in her office, and walked to the map. Somberly, she pulled another red tack from her drawer and put it in the August property. How many more would die?
“I saw a yellow and a red tack in August territory on your boss’s map.” She turned to him. “Were you able to find out what the yellow pins meant?”
“He didn’t want to discuss the case with me at all. But there were two red pins in August land. I thought you remembered it wrong.”
“I’m sure they were different colors.” She tapped her temple. “Photographic memory. Yellow changed to red. Red means dead. So yellow means a potential victim, like you said. There was also a yellow pin on Slade land. I want to know why he thinks a Slade might be a target. Their biggest enemy is the Stramaglia clan, and they haven’t been involved in any of this. Yet.”
Kade released a long breath. “Good questions, Vee—Violet.” He slid her a quick glance. “We’ve never bothered with your Fringe wars unless they affected non-Fringers or appeared to be something that might get out of control. Your clan wiped out another clan entirely, and it didn’t even warrant an investigation, as far as I know.”
She stared past Kade, feeling the shadow of those dark days. “I was only fourteen then. My father…killed for no apparent reason… Everyone was out for blood.” She’d wanted to go, too, in a rage of grief and anger. Hearing her family’s triumph, that they’d killed every Garza who was there, didn’t give her the satisfaction it seemed to give them.
“I have another question, one you’ll no doubt find uncomfortable,” Kade said. “I talked to the head of the Murphy clan. He claims he found one of your alligator claw key rings near his son’s body, proof that someone in your family was responsible. Is there any chance?—”
“None.” Her hand had gone to her chest though. She jerked the key ring out of her pocket. “Did it look like this?”
He backed up, a distasteful expression on his face. “That’s what he described. With your C on the metal disk.”
She squeezed the claw. “Someone left this at the Augusts’, hanging from a bush near the body. Leaving evidence so blatantly at the scene of a murder, whether on purpose or accident, just doesn’t happen. Especially twice.” She fisted her hands at her sides, fury suffusing her. “I want to kill somebody, too. I want the Murphys to pay for what they did.” She had to take a deep breath. “But I know they were only going by the code of the Fringe. It’s the person behind this who must pay. There’s only one thing to do.”
“Dare I ask?”
She jabbed her finger at the yellow tack. “I’m going to stake out the Slade land and wait for the murderer to show. And then I’m going to kill him.”
“You mean we’re going to stake out the property. Charade or not, we’re in this together.”
9
What the hell was Violet doing to him?
Kade tried and failed to process his reaction to this enigmatic woman while she prepared dinner. If someone had told him at the onset of the day that he’d find himself in her kitchen, he would’ve called them ten kinds of crazy.
The scent of lemon cream sauce and sautéing chicken filled the dining area where Kade sat at the table. She had shooed him out of her kitchen, telling him she was a control freak when it came to cooking. Since they had to wait until it got dark before prowling the woods, she’d offered to make them a hearty dinner.
He stared at the text his boss had sent: status.
It wasn’t a question but a demand for an answer.
in position. waiting.
A few seconds later: what’s the problem?
family together in mourning. not alone.
