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“I don’t even know what she looks like,” Gabriela pointed out.
“You think there will be a lot of middle-aged ladies hanging out with a bunch of college students?” Raisa asked.
“Hey, we’re not ageists here.”
Raisa rolled her eyes. “She looks like Isabel.”
“Does she really?”
“Yeah.” Though even as she answered, Raisa almost walked that back. Before Raisa had known Delaney was her sister, she hadn’t seen the resemblance. Or maybe she hadn’t wanted to see it.
The rest of the day was devoted to prep work. Around dusk, they got Gabriela wired up and then drove as close to the beach party as they dared.
Gabriela sent them a grin. “You guys look like you think I’m about to go get murdered.”
Raisa tried to smile back. “Don’t do anything to antagonize her. She’s more dangerous than she looks.”
“As you’ve warned five billion times,” Gabriela said, with an eye roll before popping out of the SUV. “I’m not an idiot, I promise.”
And then she was gone into the night.
St. Ivany’s mouth pinched tight. They had three of her uniforms stationed around the party, and her partner in another SUV down the road on the other side so they’d be able to monitor everyone who came and went. But St. Ivany wasn’t going to relax until Gabriela returned to the back seat unharmed.
Raisa checked to make sure no one could overhear her before turning to St. Ivany. “Do you trust Gabriela?”
St. Ivany made a considering sound. “As much as I would trust any twenty-two-year-old civilian.”
“She’s obsessed with Isabel,” Raisa pointed out. “That could make her the copycat.”
“You said the copycat would be erratic, didn’t you?” St. Ivany asked. “Does she seem erratic?”
“No,” Raisa admitted, shifting to once again look out the windshield. The only reason Gabriela had let them in the apartment that first day was because she’d wanted to know what had happened to Isabel. She didn’t seem like some kind of protégé who’d had a rift with her beloved mentor.
Still, Raisa’d had to ask. Delaney was a blind spot for her. Raisa had to steer away from any theory involving her sister, because she was always already sliding toward thinking Delaney was guilty.
And right now, she was worried that she was missing something obvious because she’d been chasing Delaney all day.
St. Ivany was a steadying presence beside her, though. One who wouldn’t put up with Raisa’s bullshit.
“That’s the first time you really asked about Emily Logan in a way an impartial detective would,” St. Ivany had said. She wouldn’t hesitate to slap Raisa’s wrist again, either.
It took an hour before they heard Gabriela audibly inhale over the mic.
“She found her,” Raisa murmured.
“No one has cigarettes anymore,” Gabriela said to someone, her voice incredibly casual. She was a natural at this.
“They’re the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States,” Delaney replied, and Raisa almost laughed.
St. Ivany huffed out something approximating humor. “Does she always talk like that?”
“Yeah,” Raisa said, feeling fond. Kind of.
“She was like that in the bar, too,” St. Ivany murmured quickly so as not to speak over the conversation. “I thought she was trying to scare me off.”
“No,” Raisa said. “That’s just how she is.”
Gabriela was trying to get info from Delaney and failing. It wasn’t exactly poking the bear, but Raisa was tense as she listened to the efforts.