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“Back to this new evidence. If he didn’t have a second laptop, then there are probably some records that connect Delgado to the terrorist organization or his kills.”

Kim breaks in, voice quivering with excitement. “This might push him to accept a plea bargain deal and incriminate other people in the organization.”

“Look at that. Luck is on your side.” Reggie gives me a sideways smile, just a little one in case it breaks his face, I guess.

“Hey...Minegold?” Kim’s voice pokes a hole in the bubble of calm I was building.

“I see them.” His voice is still smooth and glacial. “I’ve noticed them for several minutes.”

“See who? Noticed what?” I ask.

“Well, weweren’tbeing followed—but we just picked up a tail.”

“God, I’m going to need a pacemaker after this,” I whimper, clutching my chest. My heartbeat gallops along. Is the guy going to shoot out our tires? Drag me out of the car? Do I end up like the tires? “If anything happens, it’s the little yellow flash drive inmy purse. In the inner pocket,” I hiss, fumbling for my bag. The strap is wrapped around my ankle in the car’s floorboards.

“Honey, no one is going to shoot anyone with me around,” Kim pats her hair, the other hand on her hip. I’m betting something deadly is concealed on her person.

“Delgado isn’t going to want you dead. That would look far too suspicious, especially after he learns you spoke to the police. If you turn up dead, they’ll look hardest at him and his connections. He’ll want to pressure you to change your story, say you were lying or drunk and confused.” Reggie speaks in a low, even voice as the highway turns into a smaller four-lane roadway. “Whoever is on our tail now is most likely from someone above Delgado in the organization, and they want to make sure that you’re not shooting your mouth off about anything but the murder. That’s small potatoes to them. Won’t impact their day-to-day operations for long.”

“I’m...oddly comforted.”

It’s funny, but I am. Matteo tended to talk down to me, that whole “Don’t worry your pretty little head” stuff. I admit, it was nice while it lasted, but it had begun to wear on my nerves. Reggie's calm, factual answers, combined with the fact that I believe he won’t let anything happen to me, are refreshing.

And attractive.

Why couldn’t I have met a guy like thatbeforeI met Matteo?

You wouldn’t have realized how great he was. Don’t trust first impressions, Therese. Look what happened the last time you let yourself get swept off your feet!

Chapter Five

How can I feel so happy, upset, and annoyed at once?

When I focus on Therese, my “radar” is broken. I should have sensed we were being followed long before the car was visible to Minegold, even if he does have vampiric vision.

It’s her fault. Near Therese, all my instincts to protect and comfort focus on her. It’s like she’s the moon and everything else is one tiny star in the distance.

What a foolish turn of events—allowing myself to feel anything soft and warm when I look at her, when I imagine shielding her in my arms or running away with her to keep her safe from anything even remotely evil.

And now I’m angry, too. Angry at myself and angry at what I see when Jakob pulls the Jag into a parking lot at Kim’s direction.

“What the hell is this?”

The church isn’t closed off for a wedding. The parking lot is half-full.

“There aren’t supposed to be guests, are there?”

Teri gives Kim a panic-stricken look. “You didn’t say anything about wedding guests! Who are these people?”

“I don’t know anything about it! Maybe there’s a funeral in the chapel. Or maybewe’rein the chapel. The Feds can control a lot, but not death.”

“That’s not comforting,” Therese whimpers.

Minegold parks in the lot of the Holy Redeemer Episcopal Church on Henry Street. The car tailing us continues past. Teri breathes a deep sigh and finally pulls her short, French-tip nails out of her thigh.

I shouldn’t be looking at her thigh.

But, as thighs go, that’s a nice one. It’s not plump, but it’s not skinny, either. I could easily cup my hands around it and— I mentally slap myself to get those thoughts out of my head.