Page 92 of East

He chuckles. “He looks slippery. And I mean that in more ways than one.”

I stick out my tongue. “Gross.”

“Ms. Montrose revealed to reporters that she and Dr. O’Rourke uncovered the harvesting operation a few days prior but were unwilling to take the case to authorities due to Montrose’s connections within the CPD,” Tip continues. “ChicagO2 investigators have confirmed multiple employees of Aces Underground and other clubs under its umbrella were killed for their hearts, lungs, and other vital organs. The organs were then trafficked through the now-defunct Shinzo Life Center, which operated out of the same building as Aces.”

I press a hand over my heart. This is absolutely insane.

We cover all the news in Chicago. Plenty gruesome murders make their way to Tip and Micaela’s desk. But this…

This is something else.

Glad I don’t have anything to do with any of those places. I’ll happily spend most evenings with Dodo.

Tip’s words reverberate through my brain. Aces Underground and other clubs under its umbrella.

“Oh, my God,” I murmur. “Rouge Montrose was the woman behind the organ harvesting ring. She owned Aces Underground, and…”

“And the Jade Sanctum,” Aus finishes for me. “Correct. She was my boss.”

“How could you work for someone like her?”

“I didn’t know… At least, I didn’t know everything. I’d have never guessed the people who were disappearing were being killed and chopped into bits.”

“People were disappearing?”

“They were. My friend Tim among them.” Aus sighs. “It’s a long story. Suffice to say I knew Rouge for years. We met while I was working as a magician in Las Vegas.”

“And she brought you over to Jade?”

He gazes into the distance. “Something like that, yeah.”

Aus isn’t telling me everything. I don’t think he was evil like Rouge Montrose, but for the first time since I met him, I’m wondering how clean his hands actually are.

“What happened?”

He gets to his feet. “Now really isn’t the time. It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”

“No, you don’t.” He holds up the red diamond. “Whoever killed Kin might have had this on him when he dropped the stone on him. That means he’s someone related to Rouge. We’ll start by looking into some of her old allies. We’ll figure out who killed Kin, and then you can get on with your life as normal.”

I sigh. Normal isn’t in the cards for me.

That much is clear from the last several days.

The last several years, honestly.

Since I was fifteen.

Because nothing has been normal since the day Bill Insworth came into my life.

The wedding went off without a hitch. Not many people showed up, but enough did. Emmy seemed happy. Bill seemed happy.

I broke my back the last few days getting the preparations together. I ended up sneaking some of Emmy’s prescription pain pills. I had to be careful because I know they’re easy to get addicted to, but I only took them when the pain was excruciating.

Of course, that was nearly the whole time, but I’ll deal with a possible opioid addiction later.

Bill hasn’t said anything about that interaction we had on the kitchen floor. He didn’t have to. I haven’t looked his way once since it happened. We’ve exchanged tepid pleasantries to keep up appearances in front of Emmy, but that’s it.