Page 63 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse

“It’s Tom,” I said.

Rosalina’s eyes widened. Eric frowned. Damien sighed, sounding as if he was on the brink of falling asleep.

“Your detective friend?” Eric asked.

I nodded and pressed theanswerbutton. “Hey, Tom.”

“Hello, kiddo. How’s it going?”

I grunted noncommittally.

“That good, huh?” He paused for a beat, then continued. “Listen, I’m sorry to bother you, it’s about that girl you brought here last time.”

“Em? What about her? Is she all right?”

“Yeah, she’s all right, but she just had a very interesting story to tell me about being kidnapped by a witch and being rescued by you.”

Oh, shit!

“She claims,” Tom continued, “that she was held in a dark room and her only clue was Bach playing faintly beyond the walls.”

Silence stretched between us, and I was tempted to act as if we had a bad connection, as if I hadn’t heard what he’d said, but that wasn’t going to solve anything.

“Are you still there?” he asked.

“Y-yeah.”

“So, is this something you’d like to talk to me about?”

“Not really.”

He huffed.

“Well, you asked.”

“Toni, I think this game has lasted long enough, and it’s time for you to come clean with me.”

Em’s kidnapping and rescue had to do with the cure and the dead vampires and hybrids in front of my agency. Two things I couldn’t discuss.

I sighed. “I would like to but, like I said before, there’s stuff I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

“The werewolf stuff?”

“Uh-huh.”

“More illegal stuff?”

“Some of it,” I admitted reluctantly, then hurried to add, “but it was all in the interest of defending innocent people.”

He hummed doubtfully.

“See, that’s what I’m afraid of, Tom. If I tell you everything I know, I—”

He cut me off. “I already told you, as wrong as it is, I would never snitch on you or betray your trust.”

That shut me up.

“If that’s what you’re worried about,” he added.