Page 91 of These White Lies

An image of Elizabeth, bleeding and terrified, flashes in front of me, and my pulse skyrockets. The pressure in my chest spikes, and my hands curl into fists at my sides before I can stop them.

Rhodes steps past me and, without a word, presses the flat point of his knife right against Carrow’s balls. Not enough to cut him—but the promise is there. The man stiffens instantly, eyes bulging.

“You like to hurt women?” Rhodes hisses.

“No! No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Start talking.”

“About what?” Carrow’s gaze darts frantically between us.

“Whatever wrongs you think should be righted,” Rhodes says. His voice is even again, letting me know that, though the knife is still threatening to end Carrow’s sex life, Rhodes has regained control of his temper. “But you can start with Elizabeth Gowan.”

Carrow’s eyes flicker. “I told you.” His mouth curls in an ingratiating expression. “I have it handled."

I grind my teeth and force myself to straighten. I take a half-step back. I’m in serious danger of killing this man before we get the answers we need.

Keep your head. Losing it now doesn’t help her.

“You’re an idiot,” I tell him. “You didn’t even realize the necklace was stolen.”

Carrow barks a short, harsh laugh, clearly feeling like he’s on safer ground.

Like I said, an idiot.

“How could I? The fake was incredible. The work was so good it fooled everyone.”

“Until?” I push.

“Until Keith tried to sell it.” Carrow smirks, but there’s a nervous twitch, a tiny crack in his façade. “Bad luck on his part. The appraiser he went to remembered seeing a similar piece years ago. Reached out to the owner, thinking Gowan had stolen it. That’s how we knew one was out there. Then Gowan said to call his ex-wife, so we knew she had it.” Carrow grimaces. “How was I supposed to know the cunt hired herself a bodyguard? That’s the only reason my men couldn’t grab her, but…”

I know he’s still talking, and I need to focus, but a red mist is hovering at the corner of my vision. A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, snapping me back.

Get it the fuck together.

“Leaving Keith’s body was a warning to her—That was your idea?” Rhodes’s voice is cold.

Confusion flashes across Carrow’s face. “What? No, that was Anna’s plan. Didn’t she tell you?”

Rhodes tilts his head. “Anna?”

Anna. The name means nothing to me.

Carrow huffs out a breath, like we’re wasting his time, and his body sags like this is all a misunderstanding. “She said she was handling it. It was her men who got the information out of Natalya. I was just trying to find out where that lawyer bitch hid it. I searched the house, hoping Anna’s minions had missed something, but it wasn’t there, so I thought I could force the woman to tell me. I’m trying to make it right. I swear.”

The words settle like a stone in my gut even as understanding snaps into place. This moron thinks we work for the Lapidarists. That we are here to exact some sort of retribution for losing one of their precious necklaces.

His story also explains the difference in the sophistication levels between the murders and Elizabeth’s attempted kidnapping.

“You thought you could make her talk.” My voice sounds like I’ve swallowed glass. If I’d been thirty seconds slower…

“About the necklace,” Rhodes prompts.

Carrow’s eyes narrow as he looks between us. “Who are you?”

“Well, we’re not one of your fucked-up Lapidarist friends.”

That gets a reaction, but whether it’s because he is rethinking the danger he’s in, or that we know the name of his little secret society, I don’t know. “What do you want from me?”