Page 49 of Veiled Justice

‘You don’t have to—’ I started.

‘I’ve got your back, Stacy,’ she promised. ‘I’m on it. I’ll text when I have something to discuss. You’ll be up against the clock on this one.’

Didn’t I know it? Quintos’s comment hadn’t been idle: he’d be calling people, pulling strings and getting me kicked off the case so fast I’d get whiplash.

I touched her arm. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’ll message,’ she promised again. She gave me a jaunty wave as she drove off. No matter the circumstances, Kate was always beaming. You could rely on her to find the sunny side.

‘So will I,’ Ed told me. ‘I’ll work on the tiki torches first.’

‘Thank you.’

‘No worries.’ He gave me a fist bump and climbed into the SOCO van and drove off.

‘And you said you didn’t have any friends,’ Krieg murmured.

‘Youwere the onethat said they were work colleagues,’ I shot back.

‘I stand corrected,’ he said mildly. ‘They care.’

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. ‘They do.’

We walked to his car and he held open the passenger door. I would never get used to that. He gave Loki enough time to flit in then slid in next to me and fired up the engine.

‘See anyone?’ I asked Loki quietly.

‘No,’ Loki confirmed. ‘Just dead one and rude Jingo.’ He hadn’t seen another dryad in the area.

It had been too much to hope for; the killer was long gone. That was one of the hardest things about finding a dryad assassin, they just sank into the nearest tree and they were home safe. They didn’t need a getaway car.

We’d barely pulled out when my phone rang: Detective Superintendent Henry Thackeray was calling me. Quintos hadn’t wasted any time. I answered briskly. ‘Good evening, sir.’

‘It’s not though, is it, Inspector?’ he responded crisply.

‘I’ve had better. And I know what you’re going to say.’

‘That’s because you’re smart, Wise. Your brother was at both scenes and I’m told he was covered in blood this time.’

‘Covered in blood is an exaggeration. He had some flecks of blood on his person from helping the victim.’

‘I hear you, but it doesn’t look good. Your objectivity is being called into question.’

‘You know I’m one of the best Inspectors you have.’

‘That’s why I’m stalling despite the huge political pressure to pull you off the case. You have twenty-four hours before I’ll have no choice but to do so.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘You have twenty-four hours,’ he repeated. ‘And Stacy? Find the damned killers. Fast.’

‘Yes, sir.’ I hung up and checked the time: it was just gone midnight. I blew out a long breath.

‘Want to talk about it?’ Krieg asked.

‘Not really.’

He nodded and we drove in silence for the rest of the way to my flat. As we pulled up outside, he finally spoke. ‘Someone’s framing your brother.’