Conviction

by Jennifer Blackstream

  “Don’t do it,” Flint murmured into my ear. “Calm down. Do it for Andy.”

  The tremor running down my arms threatened to shake my entire body, but Flint held me closer, absorbing the vibration. He was right. I had to stay calm. For Andy.

  “Remember, you might have talked the Vanguard into letting you handle this case personally,” Siobhan continued, “but you’ll still need to turn over your evidence to them at the end. Including the SD card. So no funny business. Oh, and of course I have a copy. Just in case.” She laughed again. “I’ll give you until sunrise to bring Agent Bradford to me. My other boat is still at Something Fishy. See you soon, Mother Renard.”

  She ended the call.

  “Shade,” Flint said, his voice soothing, “it’s going to be all right.”

  I barely heard him over the chaos in my head. I had less than seven hours to sunrise.

  I lurched forward, pulling away from Flint as I went. I stumbled to the filing cabinet, unzipping my pouch with one hand while I pulled out the drawer with all Andy’s files with the other. I shoved them all into the pouch. Siobhan probably had backups, but I didn’t care. I wanted to know what she knew. And I wasn’t leaving any piece of Andy here. Not even a photo.

  “Her web cam is still active and she can charge you with theft,” Flint said carefully.

  “It’s not theft. I’m acting on behalf of the Vanguard, and I say this is evidence. She’ll get it back eventually.”

  That was a lie, but this time Flint stayed silent.

  When we made it down to the first floor, Puck took one look at my face, and all traces of amusement vanished. He didn’t try to run, but he did back away from his spot near the door, giving me a wide berth. I studied his face, his eyes, his body. Made it clear that I was committing his details to memory.

  “I won’t forget this.” The witchy look slid over my face, without any effort on my part. A comfortable mask. “I will see you again.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  Tough words, but they lacked the bravado they needed to make them work. I stared at him a moment longer, then turned my back on him. “Scath, make sure Majesty lets off some steam before we leave.”

  I didn’t wait. I left the boat, leaving Scath behind to snag a mewling Majesty out of the satchel. There was a feline squeak and then Puck shouted something that sounded like a curse but was too muffled for me to be sure. A truly horrible smell that reminded me of hot two-week old garbage rolled outward from the open doorway.

  “Corr, what is that stench,” Hiccup complained. His voice sounded like he was pinching his nose. “That’s awful.”

  Scath caught up to us, and I flicked my hand behind me, using a spell to clean the smell off her fur. It took two shots of magic to make it go away, but that was fine. I was brimming with energy, and it was better I let some of it off before I got on a boat. And it pleased me a little to know it would be much harder for Puck to get that smell off of him.

  “Hiccup, where’s Michaleen?”

  “Northwest corner.”

  The sea fairy’s voice was completely sober now. It could have been my change in attitude that had sobered him up, but I was willing to bet the entire alcoholic routine had been a ruse. If Michaleen worked for Anton Winters, then Hiccup was probably on the payroll too. People already spoke far too freely in front of the wee ones, a drunk fairy probably overheard everything from secrets of the heart to bank passwords.

  Tears blurred my vision as I made my way to Michaleen’s ship. The little Irishman watched me approach and sighed. He held out the bottle in his hand, but I shook my head. I didn’t drink, and this was definitely not the time to start.

  I sat on the deck and leaned against the wall of the main cabin. It would have been warmer in the ship’s cabin, but I wanted the frigid October air on my face, numbing my skin so it matched my insides.

  Flint sat down beside me, his body pressed against mine. Sharing body heat again. The tears in my eyes hurt as the wind tried to turn them to ice. I didn’t want Flint beside me. I wanted Liam. I wanted a friend.

  Scath sat on my other side. After a second of hesitation, she lay across my lap, her heavy body a comforting furry blanket. I drew my hand down her back, noting that her fur was softer than I would have expected from an adult feline. She pressed her head against my stomach. Vibrations spread over my legs, and I realized she was purring. My tears fell faster.

  Someone came out of the cabin behind me. I looked up, surprised to see Charlotte’s Web. The each uisge tilted his head to the side. He studied Flint and Scath, then nodded and took a seat opposite me.

  “Puck has a cruel sense of humor. It’s a characteristic he shares with Siobhan.”

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “It’s part of the package for the more influential guests. The racers escort them back to the marina.”

  “Are there private rooms in the bottom of this boat too?” I muttered.

  Charlotte put a hand on my knee. “Would you like me to take you to one?”

  Flint stiffened beside me. I couldn’t help but laugh, even if there wasn’t any joy in the sound.

  “Thank you for the offer, but no. You’ll forgive me if I’m feeling a little distrustful of everyone equine right now.”

  He leaned back and relaxed his hands in his lap. “Seems to me you felt that way from the beginning. You were just willing to put it aside to get information.”

  I looked at Flint. He still held the SD card. “And now I have it.”

  The each uisge didn’t say anything to that. We both stared at the SD card for a minute, then I shook my head, forced myself to look away.

  “Deacon told me Mickey had a gun. I saw it on the video. But nowhere in Vincent’s file does it say they found another gun. Do you know what happened to it?”

  Charlotte considered that. “Rowyn has an iron burn on his lower back. Mild, so not pure iron, probably an alloy. Could be the shape of a gun.”

  “He probably took it off Mickey after Raichel was shot,” Flint said. “They wouldn’t have questioned him right away, and no one would think it was weird that Mickey ran to him after the shooting.”

  “Not that it matters now.” I leaned my head back against the wall. “I’ll bet that was a backup plan. Siobhan was hoping Andy would shoot Raichel, but if he didn’t, then she had Mickey there to do it.” I remembered the jockey’s phone number in my waist pouch, but what was the use?

  Flint looked at Charlotte. “Would Mickey have shot Raichel if Siobhan told him to?”

  “There’s not a lot Mickey wouldn’t do to keep racing at Turning Tides. He’d have rather shot Siobhan, but if she made him believe she could cut into his racing time? He might be confident Winters wouldn’t let her fire him, but there are all sorts of ways she could make his life miserable.” He considered it, then nodded slowly. “He would have shot anyone.”

  “But he didn’t have to.” I swallowed, trying to force the lump in my throat to go down. “Because Andy shot her.”

  No one had anything to say after that. Charlotte sat with us for a while—Goddess only knew why—then he went back inside the cabin. By the time we reached the marina, I couldn’t feel my face at all. Peasblossom was tucked deep into one of my inner pockets, and even Flint shivered as we got off the boat. Michaleen and Hiccup waved at me, but the gestures were half-hearted.

  “I need to talk to Anton Winters.”

  Flint froze with his hand on his driver’s side door. “What?”

  I opened my door and waited for Scath to climb in before collapsing into the bucket seat. “You heard me. Also, he invited me.”

  Flint got in the sports car, closing his door and trapping me in a small space with the scent of his cologne that seemed to have seeped into the fabric of the car itself. “I don’t think that’s the best idea at this precise moment.”

  I turned in my seat to face him fully. “This will end one of two ways. Either you’ll take me to see Anton Winters now, help me see this case th
rough to the end…or you’ll forbid me to continue. You’ll make me go back to Andy and tell him I failed him. And I’ll sit with him until it’s time to watch Siobhan drag him away.”

  My voice broke on the last word, but I forced myself to continue. “And after he’s gone, I’ll be left wondering if I could have done something more. Wondering if I’d have managed a miracle in the few hours I have left. And I’ll know that the reason I have to live the rest of my life wondering that, is because you stopped me.”

  He opened his mouth, but I held up a hand. “You said you would help me. This is about keeping your word. This is about what kind of man you are. And I promise you, I am paying very close attention.”

  Flint started the car. “I don’t know how many times I can watch you do this to yourself.”

  I leaned back in my seat and stared out the windshield. “Yes, it must be very traumatic…for you.”

  Peasblossom squirmed out of my pocket and crawled up my shirt to press her face against my ear. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Her voice was gentle, less than a whisper. But it hurt, nonetheless.

  I didn’t answer, because I was tired of the question. An hour ago, I’d had prospects. Mickey V had seemed a legitimate suspect. Siobhan had a history that made her role as puppet master even more likely. And now all of that was irrelevant. Because of one SD card.

  So the SD card was my enemy now. And it was time to learn everything I could about it.

  I stared out the window until I spotted the Winters Building. At least I didn’t have to worry about getting a meeting. Anton had told me to come see him at my earliest convenience. That would save some time.

  The warmth of the building’s excellent heating system wrapped around me as the front doors closed. It would take more than that to warm me up, but at least I could feel my face again. The man at the desk pushed his glasses farther up his nose and gave me a pleasant smile. “How can I help you?”

  “I’m here to see Anton Winters.”

  “Of course, Mother Renard.” He stood and made his way through the area behind the desk and lifted a section of the circular counter top to meet us where we stood on the other side. “Follow me.”

  I’d been through this building before to meet Anton Winters. More than once. And every time I was here, I rode up a different elevator to the floor where his office was located. When we reached the right floor, our guide gestured for us to go ahead. Flint and I stepped off the elevator with Scath at my side and found ourselves facing a familiar waiting room. I turned, but the elevator doors closed, taking our guide with it.

  The waiting room was a near-perfect square, with stark white walls that provided a sharp contrast with the black leather chairs. But before Flint or I could even reach said chairs, the door across from us opened, revealing Anton Winters himself.

  The vampire’s gaze slid over me, an assessment that seemed more like a search for possible weapons than anything else. He did the same with Flint, then gestured for us to enter with a wave of long, pale fingers.

  Anton silently crossed the room to sit behind his desk. The enormous piece of furniture offered a perfectly smooth black lacquer finish that reflected my face back at me as I took a seat across from the vampire. Flint remained standing behind me. It would have bothered me if Scath weren’t there as well. Watching him.

  Directly behind the desk, two thick bookcases edged a bar displaying golden liquor and crystal tumblers. The gauzy white curtains framing the two windows to my right were pulled back, and the heavy electric shade was open, revealing the night sky.

  “I’m surprised to see you here so quickly,” Anton said.

  “You mean Michaleen and Hiccup didn’t tell you I was coming?” I asked lightly.

  He paused, studying me as if debating how much time to spend on this inconsequential detail. “You found the SD card,” he said finally.

  “Yes. And I’m ready to ask one of the three questions you owe me.”

  Anton arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  I grabbed the card in question from my pocket and held it out. “After looking at the video on this SD card, and using every method of analysis at your disposal, can you tell me this video shows me the truth of what happened, with no attempt to use magic or technology to manipulate events to appear other than they are?”

  I’d spent most of the boat ride thinking about how I would phrase my question. I still wasn’t sure I’d got it right. And besides that, Anton and I both knew he could argue if he wanted to. He’d agreed to answer a question, not to perform any work that might be required by a question. For example, I couldn’t ask him what it felt like after he killed Siobhan, using the question to necessitate that he kill her in order to answer.

  But I’d clearly piqued his curiosity.

  He accepted the SD card, and slid it into the computer on his desk. It said a lot about his faith in his security system that he wasn’t worried I’d attempted to put a virus on his system, or some sort of spyware. But then again, if Dimitri was my son, I wouldn’t worry about that either.

  There was no sound on the video, but I could tell by the twitch of the vampire’s eyes when it started to play.

  And I saw when he witnessed the shooting.

  He clicked a few keys, still studying the screen. Finally, he looked up at me.

  “Mother Renard, my greatest fear is that someday I will lose my wife or my son. That an enemy will strike them down in retaliation for something I’ve done, and I will face a future without them.”

  I stared at him. Of all the reactions I’d expected, that had been nowhere on the list. “That’s not an answer to my question.”

  “I will answer your question in a moment. Did you hear what I said?”

  “Yes, but I don’t understand why you’re telling me that?”

  “I’m telling you this because it is important for everyone to be honest about their greatest fear. You must know what it is. And you must accept that others will find out. You must be able to face that fear, without flinching. To do whatever you can to protect yourself, all the while understanding that there are things you can stop, and things you can’t. But either way, you will need to continue on if the worst happens. You will have to find a way.”

  “Sage advice,” I said, my voice little more than a rasp. “Now if you’ll just answer the question?”

  Dimitri’s voice came over the speaker on the laptop. “I’m sorry, Shade. The video is genuine.”

  The sound of Anton’s son over the speaker didn’t surprise me. That was why I’d brought the SD card here in the first place. Anton owed me the question, but it was his son the techie spy that I’d believed had the true answer. And he qualified as a means at Anton’s disposal.

  The air in the room was suddenly too thick to breathe.

  “The answer to your question, Mother Renard,” Anton said quietly, “is yes. I can tell you, after using every method of analysis at my disposal, that this video shows the truth of what happened, with no attempt to use magic or technology to manipulate events to appear other than they are.”

  “You only took a minute. Less than.” My voice didn’t even sound like mine.

  “I promise you, Shade, if there was anything to find, I’d know,” Dimitri said sadly. “This is what I do. There is no one better.”

  Tears were streaming down my face again. “You have to help me save him.”

  Anton’s eyebrows rose. “I’m sorry?”

  I swiped at the tears. “You have to help me stop the Vanguard from turning Andy over to Siobhan. She’ll kill him.”

  “That is not for me to decide.” A hint of anger worked its way into his voice. “I am not your employee. And I’m beginning to think you need a reminder of that. Something that will stay with you.”

  My rage flowed upward, boiling away my tears. I stood, bracing my hands on the table, magic licking at the bare surface in tendrils of energy. “You owe me.”

  “Do I?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know why you’re
so invested in my life, but you clearly have some stake in what happens to me.”

  His face shut down. No emotion, no hint of what he was thinking. “And what makes you think I’m invested in your life?”

  I almost mentioned the five million dollar loan to Flint. But I bit it back at the last second. I didn’t want either of them to know I knew about that. I was going to save Andy, and he was going to continue his investigation. Compromising it now was as good as admitting I’d failed him. Admitting I’d given up. And I most certainly had not given up.

  I pressed my fingertips into the table, trying to block out the urge to use magic to get me what reason had not. “You made it very clear early tonight with Dr. Ouellet. You were willing to give her more than you wanted to, but only after you found out about Andy’s bail terms. I mean something to you, or you need me for something. And I’m telling you right now, I will not let the kelpies have Andy. I will do whatever it takes to stop that from happening. Whatever it takes. So if you give a flying fig leaf what happens to me, you will help me save him.”

  Anton held very still, his eyes locked onto mine. “You’re not thinking clearly,” he warned.

  “I am crystal clear. I will stop it from happening. One way or another.”

  “That’s not what I mean.” He rose to his feet, slowly pushing his chair away from the desk. “If you’re right, and I am…invested in your fate. If I do indeed have concerns about what might happen to you if you go off alone to save Agent Bradford…helping you is not my only option.” He stepped around the desk. “I could,” he continued gently, “simply remove you from harm’s way until the situation has resolved itself.”

  My breath caught. Fear gripped my stomach in its fist, and it took more effort than I wanted to admit not to double over. I couldn’t outrun him. Even if I’d started while he was still sitting, he was far too fast. Escape wasn’t an option.

  I locked my gaze on Anton’s forehead, right between his eyes. “You could keep me here,” I agreed. “But how long are you willing to hold me?”