Page 44 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

Chapter Ten

DAISY

I t's a few days before the cops come to see me. When they finally do, I'm at Grinder working my shift with Janet. I haven’t been to the club since the day of the gala. The guys haven’t thought it safe to go there since that detective was killed right outside by the person who’s fixated on me.

They barely let me out of their sights. In fact, the only time one of them doesn’t have eyes on me is when I’m in the coffee shop and I have strict instructions not to leave, which I try not to bristle over every time I’m reminded that I’ve lost even more of my hard-won autonomy because of this murdering psycho.

At first, I don't know who the woman is, giving her a friendly smile as she comes up to the red Formica counter.

'What would you like?' I ask.

She flashes me a badge. 'A few minutes of your time.'

I blink and then glance around. 'Well, it's not too busy. We could chat now.’

'That would be great.’ Her eyes on me are hard. They bore into mine.

‘Would you like anything to drink?' I ask.

I try to keep my eyes on hers so that she doesn't think I'm being shifty. But it's really difficult.

'No, thanks,' she finally says, turning around and sitting at one of the tables.

I go around the counter, messaging Shade quickly, because, although I have nothing to hide if questioned about Detective Black's death, the fact that this woman has authority over me makes me antsy and nervous, which is the last thing I want to be exuding when I'm talking to a detective.

Plus, they told me not to speak with Black without a lawyer.

I sit down at the table slowly, my heart racing as I try to think of what I should say. Will I get into trouble if I don’t talk to her? Will she arrest me?

'You've come about Detective Black's death,' I say, deciding to be open and honest…to a point.

She sits back and regards me stonily. 'Where were you that afternoon? That night?'

'I was at the Forrests’ gala with my stepfather and stepbrother, the Novelles.'

She opens her mouth to speak again when a shadow falls over us, and I look up to see Shade. That was fast.

I let out a small, relieved breath.

'Detective Anders,' Shade says.

'Jack Novelle,’ she replies coolly.

‘Is there any particular reason you're harassing my stepsister?'

'I’m hardly harassing her, Jack. We're just having a quiet conversation,' she says, putting her hands on the table, her fingers interlocked as she gazes at him.

'We were both at the Forrests' gala. Our friends Eric Blake and Maverick Shaw were at the Kappa Iota Pi house.

There are many witnesses, as well as video evidence that can corroborate that.

Now, I meant what I said on the phone. We'll help you any way we can, and we'll give you whatever you need, Detective, once you have a warrant. '

The detective stands. 'I'll have it soon enough.'

She leaves without a backwards glance, and I give Shade a look.

'She's called me a couple of times,’ he murmurs, ‘and she stopped by the house the other day. Same rules as Black. Don’t talk to her without a lawyer, okay?’

‘Okay. She can’t arrest me for that?’

‘No.’ He shakes his head with a small smile at me and looks at his watch. 'Your shift is almost over.'

I nod. 'Five minutes.'

‘I’ll wait for you.’

I go back behind the counter and finish up. We leave together when the next shift gets there and he walks me back to the KIP house.

'There's something I wanted to give you,' he says as we turn onto the driveway that goes up to the house. 'I'm sorry...after everything that's been going on, it completely slipped my mind.'

He takes something out of his pocket. It’s wrapped in a piece of old tissue paper. I open it with a frown to find a small, orange, stuffed cat with yarn for whiskers and black sewn eyes. My mouth falls open as I grip it tightly.

'Mr. Mittens,' I whisper. ‘Where was he?’

‘In the box Stevens gave us. All the way at the very bottom. I remembered it as soon as I saw it,' Shade replies. 'You went with him everywhere.'

'My dad gave him to me when I was little. He was just from one of those grabbing machines, you know.' I smile as I remember the day that my dad won him for me. 'It was my birthday, and we went to the shore in New Jersey?—’

‘I’m sorry,’ he murmurs, and I snort, giving him a playful swat.

‘Shut up. I loved it. There was this place on the boardwalk that had all these games, and they had this grabby machine, and my dad spent like five bucks trying to get this little cat for me, and I was so excited when he did.

I think my mom said that it was the first day I'd spoken.

I didn't talk when I was little, and that day was the first time I said thank you. '

I hold the stuffed cat in my hand. 'I thought this was long gone,' I say.

'But she kept it. Of course she did,' Shade murmurs, taking my hand. 'Of course she did.'

I give him a watery smile, and I put the cat next to my nose, taking a long sniff. 'Smells a bit musty, but I can also smell a hint of her perfume. This must have been in her closet, too,' I say.

‘Anything interesting in the diary yet?’ he asks.

I huff. ‘I haven’t been able to read it. It’s at the club. When do you think we can go back? I need to get back into the lab.’

He grimaces. ‘Yeah, I know. We owe Sauvage another shipment. I’ll message Blake and see if he can find out if the cops are finally done with the scene. Once we reopen, our comings and goings won’t be so noticeable.’

We go back to the house and that night we go to Lu's Christmas show. They're doing Dickens’, A Christmas Carol at the dilapidated theater on campus. We sit in the front row.

The performance is great. I even get roses to throw on the stage for Lu at the end.

Some of her cousins are there, too, and the way they cheer for her makes me happy.

I get the impression from the burly men in her family, and the older man who must be her grandfather, that she’s a bit of a black sheep.

But they’ve all come to support her in her role of Scrooge’s housekeeper anyway, and I can see that she’s surprised they all showed up.

When I say to Shade, after most of the audience has left, that I’m going to go over to introduce myself to my best friend’s family, he opens his mouth to argue and I’m confused, but before I can ask what’s going on, a hush falls over the room.

I look up to see the man I assume is Lu’s grandpa. He’s standing in front of my seat.

‘You’re Marguerite Novelle?’ he asks, his voice low, but carrying a gravitas that echoes through the whole theatre.

‘Daisy Evans actually,’ I say, standing up.

My head only reaches to his chest, and I have to crane my neck to look at him.

He snorts, his eyes moving past me to look at Shade.

‘Lu tells me you’re her bestie ,’ he says.

I notice that all eyes are on me and I wonder what’s going on, but I nod anyway.

‘Yeah, BFFs. She’s great.’ I clasp my hands together. ‘And she was so good in the play! Didn’t you think?’

He blinks and I get the sense that he’s surprised by something.

‘My granddaughter is very talented. Much like her grandmother was.’ He looks toward the stage for a moment and when he looks back, his eyes seem glassy.

He nods at me and then at the guys behind me.

‘Novelle,’ he murmurs. Then turns away.

‘What was that about?’ I mutter.

I hear Blake swear behind me. ‘I think Pop Pop Garrett likes you, Daisy.’

I give him a questioning look and then frown when no one elaborates.

‘Jesus,’ Shade mutters. ‘They’re a crime family, Daisy.’

That’s news to me.

My eyes widen. ‘What? Lu’s not a criminal.’

‘Shade isn’t lying. The Garretts are powerful,’ Mav mutters, nodding. ‘And whatever test that just was, looks like you passed it, Tulip.’

The next few days pass without any more detectives visiting me, and no more stalker notes. I don’t do much besides go to class, keep on top of my school reading, my duties in the campus lab, and work in the coffee shop.

Lu and I are finally able to hang out now that her show is done, and we decide to watch one of Blake’s period dramas with mixed results. Lu falls asleep almost immediately and I decide these might be the perfect kind of chillout shows for relaxing after a long day.

The cops finally leave the crime scene the following Friday and we’re able to return to Wrath.

I get back into the lab to make Envy. I’m off schedule by almost a full week, though, so I end up spending all my days and nights there trying to catch up so that Sauvage can have his product, and we have enough to sell.

Late December comes around quickly. On Christmas morning, I wake in our bed in the club and can’t help my smile.

Last year on this day, I was up at normal time at The Heath and the heating broke, so we were freezing all day and night. I don’t even think we had a Christmas dinner. It was just cold sandwiches because the kitchen stoves wouldn’t work either.

No matter what, this one is going to be so much better!

'It's Christmas,' I whisper giddily, as I catch Mav looking at me.

‘You like Christmas, huh?’ he asks with a grin.

I smile. ‘Usually, even at The Heath, Christmas was nicer than all the other days. We got to have Christmas dinner, and there were crackers.'

'Crackers?'

'Yeah,’ I shift closer to him. ‘They're these kind of cardboard cylinders, and inside there's a dumb joke and a little toy, or something like a tiny magnifying glass or a puzzle, and a paper hat, and you each pull an end, and there's a little tiny firecracker inside, so it makes a pop and then you eat your dinner with your little hat on. '

He looks at me like I'm a little bit nuts, and I wave my hand. 'It's an English thing. Anyway, it was fun.'

I get up and take a shower, and when I get back, the guys are awake. They invite me to come back to bed, but I’m too excited for sex, and I tell them so.