Page 47 of Gray Dawn

Maybe it had been dumb luck and not an indication of some grand plan.

“From here, we can lock Luca out of every single app, program, and database created for her.”

Awe surged through me, along with the urge to kiss her puckered brow. “You can do that?”

“Give me a few,” Colby mumbled, already deep into her process.

Fergal caught my eye, and I nodded at him to stay. He knew how to be quiet. Colby wouldn’t mind him. I didn’t care if she did mind, honestly. I might never leave that girl on her own ever again.

About the timeI was ready to crawl out of my skin, I got a call from the cleaners and gritted my teeth.

Had Asa been standing any closer to me, I would have handed my phone off to him.

“Director Hollis speaking.” I reined in my growl, tried again. “How can I help you?”

“It would be a greathelpif you didn’t lay siege then flee before our arrival.”

A snort shot out of Asa’s nose that he didn’t try to hide as he listened in on the conversation.

“Sorry about that.” A wince drew my shoulders toward my ears. “My hands are full these days.”

“We’re aware.” She let me squirm. “We’ve identified a peculiarity worth mentioning to you.”

That must be one heck of a peculiarity for them to call me direct. “Oh?”

“The victim, Nanette Bakersfield, had a lock of strawberry-blonde hair braided into hers.”

Nan’s hair was black, which meant… “You’re sure it wasn’t a dye job?”

Folks loved to get streaks in their hair, though they usually went for eye-popping colors.

A sigh blasted the other end of the phone. “There were roots, but they weren’t in her scalp.”

Roots made tracking spells stick better than cut hair. “Anything else odd about it?”

“A witch on our team says it’s saturated with magic that didn’t belong to the dead witch.”

“How so?”

“It’s fae magic.”

“Fae magic,” I repeated, my mind reeling with possibilities. “I see.”

“She’s seen it before when a perp wanted to hide their power signature beneath someone else’s.”

There was bitter irony for you.

We had been tracking Clay’s wig, not Clay, and the director had been tracking Luca’s braid, not Luca.

“That helps.” I wanted to bang my head against the wall. “More than you know.”

“The rest of the findings will be uploaded into the database, as usual. I’ve been in touch with the Kellies, and they’re ready to receive from us again. I wouldn’t have called, except these things tend to be time sensitive. Since this is evidence in an active case, I was doing my due diligence.”

Well, that answered my earlier question.

The call ended before I could express my gratitude.

“Every time we draw a step closer, we get punched in the face and stumble back a mile.” I thumped my phone against my forehead. “She has us chasing our tails.”