Page 87 of Torched Spades

“They found Sandra Rosenthal.”

I come to a dead stop. Glancing over my shoulder, I find him still braced against the wall.

“Well, they found most of her at least,” he adds grimly. “She was floating in the Seekonk River, near the docks of the Narragansett Boat Club. Official cause of death hasn’t been released, but I have it on good authority she suffered a gunshot to the head and multiple stab wounds to the chest.”

Every muscle in my body feels like it’s getting ready to snap.

Bullets and blades.

“The main reason I came here was to show you what the medical examiner found shoved down her throat.” Dragging his phone from his pocket, he ignites the screen and turns it around.

The moment I see it, reality becomes a cold, sharp blade to the neck.

“Fuck.”The ace of spades.

“Now would be a good time for you to tell me what the hell’s going on,” he says calmly. “I want an explanation why whoever has been chasing you and Dr. Brennan all over town has suddenly committed murder in your name.”

There’s no point in trying to contain this anymore. That card tells me everything I didn’t want to know.

My cover is blown. Now, it’s only a matter of time.

“It’s the Rogue.”

He doesn’t even flinch. “What are you talking about? That’s impossible. We wouldn’t have brought you here if the Irish mob still had a strong hold on Providence. We did our research. The Rogue disbanded. Hell, most of them are dead.”

Not all of them.

“The two men I ‘supposedly’ assaulted at the warehouse weren’t street thugs,” I admit. “They were low-lying members of a reconstructed version.”

Owen listens quietly as I recount how the fight took place and the bullets I fired. He says nothing as I recount the steps leading up to Alice’s coverup, then how I did a dark web search on Becca and Reese, finding bullets and blades tucked between the lines of a news article. He remains still as I reveal how Detective Jack Ledger dragged me downtown for questioning, only for Reese to speak the same damning words to me only a few days later. I divulge how I overheard Ledger and Becca discussing how her father asked him to keep her away from me, then disclose the same two assholes from the docks were driving the sedan I chased from the diner.

However, it’s when I explain how I know where to find Becca’s attacker that all the color drains from his face.

“What did you just say?”

“I said Becca saw red hair and a tattoo on her attacker—a dagger piercing a rose. I saw the same ink on one of those warehouse bastards.” I clench my fists. “AnIrish fuckwith red hair.”

I hear a harsh curse as Owen holsters his weapon. “Pack your shit. We’re leaving Providence tonight.”

“What? Did you not hear a word I just said?”

“Yes,” he confirms, then jabs his phone at me. “That’s exactly why we’re getting the fuck out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Then I’ll arrest you.”

I narrow my gaze. “A probation officer doesn’t have the authority.”

There’s not a flicker of remorse in his eyes as he says, “No, but a U.S. Marshal does.”

Son of a bitch.

“Then Becca’s blood will be on your hands instead of mine.” I nod toward the phone still clenched in his hand. “Take a good look at that dead woman, Owen, because if you lock me up, she won’t be the last.” Without another word, I jerk the front door open and am halfway through it when I hear him again.

“Don’t make me turn a blind eye.”

“Then don’t watch.”