Page 19

“Idon’t want to freak you out, but I’m going to cry—or barf.”

My new “bride” begins our married life with such tender, loverlike words. I sigh and look around Minegold’s Jag. He’s still standing outside the vehicle, eyes darting as he searches for danger. “Well, there’s nothing in here that would make a good bucket. As for the sobbing... here.” I pull off my tie. “Use this.”

Therese stares at me for a second before she takes the tie with her slender fingers. “Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? Crying after a big, stressful event is a perfectly normal reaction. You'd be surprised how many strong men—and even monsters—I’ve seen tossing their cookies after a hard night of fighting, of seeing death, even if it’s something evil in a kill-or-be-killed situation.”

“That's just it.” Therese dabs at her eyes using the back of her hand. My tie stays in a puddle in her lap. My mind briefly wonders what it would be like to put my head on such perfect thighs and have her stroke my brow while looking down at me with those beautiful, adoring eyes. “I am so sorry that I got you into this mess. I'm sorry that you have to stick with me for a week or two while they find out if I'll need to testify. I’m sorry that Kim is gone now and that I’m officially someone else’s problem.” She shudders. “I don’t ever want to retell my story again—and I’ll probably have to. I can't imagine getting on the witness stand in front of Matteo. Estrada has to have powerfullawyers. They'll rip me to shreds. I don't even know if my hard drive evidence will be admissible.”

One doesn’t live for decades serving justice (and servicing leaky pipes) without learning some things about the human court systems. “Oh, I imagine it will be. It was on your device, and you acquired it in good faith during the marriage. He specifically told you that he had photos for you on his computer. Did he ever show you anything else on that laptop? For instance, did he ever pull up a picture of a place you two might go out for dinner or ask you to look at a take-out menu, something non-work-related?”

“Sure, sometimes.” Therese shrugs. “That was the only laptop he ever used during our travels.

“Then you make the case that this was a computer you both used—even if you used it very sparingly. Since your pictures were on his hard drive, your case is even stronger. He had your property, and you had his. You were just sharing, like married people do.” My throat feels oddly tight around the words. I can't imagine this lady sharing anything with a demon-serving, murdering terrorist. “Can I ask you a question?”

Therese’s tone is a bit sharp. “I'm not just a pretty face and a nice pair of legs! I have a degree in computer science. It isn't hard for me to clone a laptop, and I knew Matteo's password.”

“That's another point in your favor if it comes to a trial. Somebody doesn't give you their password if you're not allowed to access their device. Also, I wasn’t going to ask about your abilities, more like your motivation. Why not just download the photos? Why take the entire hard drive?”

“Well, Matteo had multiple profiles on that computer, labeled ‘Matt Home’ and ‘Matt Away.’ We were traveling. So, even though he had business meetings in every city we went to, we still had lots of time to hit the beaches and do couple-y things. I wasn't sure where he put the photos because theywere personal photos—but they were taken while we were away.” Therese heaved a deep sigh. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I heard that growing up and never got it. There were lots of things I didn’t understand about Matteo, down to little things like not really knowing where the boundaries of married life and business crossed for him. I didn’t want to dig through his computer, so I figured I’d download the entire hard drive onto my USB, find the honeymoon pictures, and then delete everything else.”

The way Therese blushes when she says ‘honeymoon pictures’ makes me wonder if there were some pictures that were definitely meant for Matteo’s eyes only. It doesn’t help that I’m still in shock from the way she kissed me with a blend of softness and eagerness.

Stick to business, Reginald Gray. I use my full name in my head, scolding myself as I used to do when bombs were falling and children were screaming.Focus.“Okay. This situation is terrible, but it could be worse. We’re going to the ‘burbs, not a third-world country or a terrorist stronghold.”

“We need to move now,” Jakob suddenly springs into the driver’s seat. His fast movements don’t translate to the car. There are no peeling tires or burning rubber. The Jag pulls out and purrs away.

“What’s wrong?” Therese’s voice is choked.

“Nothing. I intend to keep it that way by staying one step ahead of them,” Minegold replies cheerfully.

I glance out the back window. I suspect we’ll still have a tail, but a little ways back. The car has some basic protections around it, but they still found it earlier—or was it Therese they honed in on across continents and oceans? It makes me wonder if something has been imprinted on Therese herself—a binding spell? A curse?

Certain spells don’t respect laws of the courts and pieces of paper. A divorce isn’t necessarily respected by magic—especially dark, possessive magic.

There are people in Pine Ridge who can easily help us detect such a spell. Even if our odd wedding didn’t break Matteo’s hold, maybe it will be enough to distract Therese’s tail long enough to put distance between us. After all, even if the wedding was unexpected by us, it had the right trappings for onlookers—a bunch of strangers in suits, the music, the flowers, and even rings.

Therese follows my gaze. “I don’t see them.”

“Good,” Jakob’s voice is jolly—but anyone who knows him would know he hasn’t dropped his guard.

“Do you think they bought it? The wedding?” Therese whispers as if we might be overheard.

“The wedding ceremony was a surprise, but having them witness it might actually be very helpful. Seeing is believing.” I cough. I saw it. I almost believed it.

Stop that.

“That touch with your hoop earrings was brilliant. You’d make a good field agent, Ms. Macgyver,” Minegold praises with a laugh.

“Right.” I slip the gold hoop off of my finger. “I don’t think this would stand up to a closer inspection. I’m sure I can find—”

Therese does a little hop in the seat next to me, looking genuinely excited and happy.

Something in me... sparks.

Sparkles.

No. It can’t be.