by Erin Johnson
“I remember you from last night.” She raised a thin brow at Peter. “You’re a cop, right?”
He nodded. “Though I have to be honest, I’m not here on official business.”
I fought hard to not roll my eyes. Oh, what an honest Boy Scout.
“So what do you want?”
I watched the singer closely. She looked uncomfortable, and though she was fronting with sass, I could tell from her bouncing foot and the slight tremble in her strong voice that she was nervous.
I blinked innocently at her. “Just to ask you a few questions.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I checked the records—turns out a few months ago, the now deceased Officer Dylan Davies took out a restraining order against you.” Peter shifted on his feet, widening his stance. “Why?”
Amarina dropped her gaze to the side. “We met at last year’s police ball.” She shrugged her bare shoulders. “We dated for a few months.” Her expression darkened. “Before he abruptly dumped me for that bottom feeder, Nanka.”
I leaned forward as the crowd milled around us, to hear better. “Nanka? That was the blond from last night?”
Amarina nodded. I thought back to the ladies’ room, and the way she’d pushed her way in, crying. I could relate to the feeling of running into your ex with someone you’d rather not see them with. Had this been what triggered her breakdown? Or could it have been triggered by shoving Davies overboard to his death?
“What prompted Davies to get the restraining order?” Peter kept his face expressionless.
Amarina touched her tongue to her teeth. “I may have followed them on a date through the canals…”
Oh right, she was a mermaid.
“…and splashed them with my tail.”
Heidi burst into giggles, then quickly stifled them by covering her mouth and pretending to be interested in twirling her ice cubes around with her straw.
Amarina’s dark cheeks flushed. “See?” She gestured at Heidi, who was still struggling to stifle her grin. “It wasn’t my finest hour, but it was harmless.” Her eyes hardened. “Dylan took it too far by taking out a restraining order! I mean—who does that?”
I thought of the one Eve had out against me. Guess we were both members of the restraining order club. Yippee.
I arched a brow. “Nanka said she saw you and Dylan arguing.”
She swiveled her dark eyes toward me, and I leaned closer.
“It must’ve been infuriating to see him show up with her at the ball.”
The singer hugged her arms tighter around her middle. “It wasn’t fun.” She bounced her foot. “But I have an alibi. I was performing the whole time—everyone saw me on stage.”
“Not the whole time.” I leveled her a serious look. “I saw you run crying into the bathroom.”
Her blush deepened, and I actually wished Daisy was with us to tell if she was lying or not. Missing Daisy—now that was a first.
“And you had time to argue with Davies.” Peter raised his brows.
Amarina jumped to her feet, her heavy-looking, glittering dress pooling around them. She held herself tall and lifted her chin. “I have an alibi, and I dragged the no-good bottom feeder out of the sea—doesn’t that count for something?” She sniffed. “I guess I still had some feelings left for the creep. Unless you have further questions, I have another set to get ready for.”
She leveled Peter with an arch look, but he held up his palms and shook his head. “That’s all for now, thank you.”
She took a step, then backtracked. “If you’re looking for someone who’d want to kill him, check out the Golden Tide.”
She swished off through the crowd into the next room, and Peter resumed his seat.
“Touchy,” Heidi murmured around her straw.
Peter frowned. “What do you think she meant by the Golden Tide? Who’d want him dead there?”
I shrugged. “Maybe he owes somebody money.”
Peter looked between Heidi and me. “You know of the place?”
Heidi flashed her eyes at me, and I turned toward the cop. “It’s invitation only, very underground and secret. You’d definitely need a warrant to get into that place.”
Heidi sipped from her drink. “One of my uncle’s best friend’s brothers bounces there—I could get us in.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
Peter clapped his hands together. “That’s great! I’ll just have a look around and ask—”
Heidi and I whirled on him. “No!”
He blinked at us. “What?”
I scoffed. “You are the most cop-looking cop I’ve ever met. They’ll eat you alive the moment you step in.”
His shoulders slumped. “Who are we going to send in then?”
I grinned at the “we” in there. He really thought of us as a team. I raised my hand. “I’ll go.”
Heidi winked. “Me, too.”
We grinned at each other. “We’ll play some games, see what we can suss out.”
Her mouth split into a wide grin as she bit her straw. “Mm-hmm. I might need a per diem—strictly for investigative purposes.”
I nodded, grinning.
Peter gulped.
20
THE GOLDEN TIDE
After Heidi charmed her way past the uncle’s cousin’s friend, or whoever the bouncer was, she and I stepped through the curtained off lobby and into the main room of the gambling hall. Compared to some of the fancier places on the upper tier, where we’d entertained clients a few times at the law firm, it was small.
Heidi held out a plastic cup she’d brought from home. “I need some discretionary funds. You know—so I can blend in.” She winked and rocked on her heels, which sent her side pony bouncing.
I rolled my eyes, but grinned and dug around in my jeans pocket for the merkles Peter had given us to spend. I dropped a handful into her cup, and the gold coins clinked together.
I reached back into my pocket and handed her the gumball-sized communication device Peter had given me in case we got into trouble. We’d left him, Will, and Daisy on the main street around the corner from the dark alley the Golden Tide was tucked down. Seeing as I had no magic and no way of using the device, I figured it was more useful in Heidi’s hands. She took it and popped it into her ear.
“This is so exciting!”
I grinned in spite of myself. I guess I’d already gotten used to the police work, but she was right, it was actually pretty sweet. Sure beat talking to Fido about his bowel issues or diagnosing a guinea pig’s sense of malaise.
I winked at her. “Yes. But play it cool.”
She winked back. “The coolest.” She pointed a finger with a bright pink nail to my left. “I’ll be at the slots if you need me. Sussing out information, of course.”
I shook my head. “Of course.”
She skipped off, the coins in her cup rattling, and hopped onto a stool in front of a big metal slot machine with a lever. That side of the room flashed with bright lights and mind-numbingly loud ding ding dings. I had no doubt Heidi would be fine on her own—she seemed to know everyone in the Darkmoon District and could handle herself.
I scanned the room. Straight in front of me, a few stairs led down to the pit with a big oval of table games. Dealers stood in golden vests and bow ties and dealt cards, while patrons hunched over their hands at tall stools. Chips clinked, the slots dinged, and some tinny music played, barely audible over the din.
Though the place was crowded, almost no one spoke to each other. Everyone kept their eyes down or shiftily glanced side to side. I rolled my shoulders and headed to the right, toward the bar. There was an edge of danger to the place, and I needed a drink to calm my nerves.
Smoke hung in a thick haze at the yellowed ceiling, and I scrunched my nose at the sickly sweet smell of stale pipe tobacco. I groaned. Just what my mess of hair needed—to smell like smoke. I leaned against the long bar and ordered a beer. Once I’d gotten it, I spun my back to the bar and con
tinued to watch the room.
Amarina seemed to think someone here wanted Davies dead. But who? A regular he might have had beef with? Maybe he owed the house itself money? A beefy guy with a buzz cut exited the bathroom, still zipping up his fly. I curled my lip. Classy.
As I watched him head toward a golden curtain in the back that I hadn’t noticed before, something tugged at my memory. The guy looked familiar.
I sucked in a breath as I realized who it was—one of the buzzcuts from the police ball last night. He’d been harassing the rookie with glasses.
The bulldog of a man nodded at the bouncer beside the doorway, then disappeared through the curtain. I bit my lip. Huh. This didn’t seem like the kind of place the police would frequent (as customers, at least—a raid, I could picture).
Maybe something seedy was going on. If buzzcut took part in back room games, maybe Davies had done so too. I needed to figure out what was going on back there.
I looked around and spotted a circular tray at one end of the bar. I grabbed my half empty beer and slunk down the long line of stools, then plunked the bottle on the tray. With the bartender distracted taking an order at the other end, I scooped up a few glasses, dumped some wine into them, spilling some drops in the process, then hefted the tray above my shoulder and put on my most winning smile.
I swung my hips over to the golden curtain in back, hoping I’d pass for a cocktail waitress just casually going about her business. Would whistling be over the top? I beamed at the tall, bald bouncer before pushing the golden curtain aside to step through.
I caught a brief glimpse of a darkened room with a single round table in the center. A woman with a little dog in her lap sat at the head of the table, with half a dozen men, including buzzcut, sitting around her.
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and yanked me back.
“What are you doing?” the bald bouncer growled.
I blinked up at him, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Delivering drinks?”
He folded his beefy arms and shot me a flat look. Clearly he’d seen through my foolproof plan.
“Fine.” I sighed and shoved the tray onto the nearest table. “I want to get in on the game.”
He sniffed and looked me up and down. “It’s a high-stakes game back there.”
Uh! I shot him an indignant look. “I’ve got money.” I shoved a hand in my pants pocket and pulled out a handful of the gold that Peter had given me. I counted out a few coins on my palm. “What’s the buy in? Forty? Fifty?”
The beefy guy snorted. “Try five thousand merkles.”
I choked. Then scrambled to regroup. Raucous laughter sounded from the other side of the curtain—I had to get back there.
I leaned closer to the bouncer. “Maybe we can work out a little deal?” I gave an exaggerated wink and held up a single gold merkle, glanced around, then rose on my tiptoes to slip it into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. He watched me, dark eyes unamused.
“We cool?” I started through the curtain again.
“No.” He hooked a finger around the neck of my shirt and dragged me back.
I huffed. Rude. “Fine.” I held out my palm. “Then I want my merkle back.”
He widened his stance and grinned at me. “No.”
Ugh! Who did this guy think he was? I’d bribed him, fair and square. I gritted my teeth and huffed through my nose. Stubbornness prickled up the back of my neck, and my cheeks flushed hot. I was getting through that curtain—one way or another.
“What’s that over there?” I shot my arm to the left, toward the gambling hall floor.
As soon as he turned his head, I dashed through the curtain. “I want to buy in!” I shook a handful of coins.
Beefy guards stationed around the room drew their wands, and the woman at the table looked up, her eyes wide. The little dog in her lap, yapped. Intruder!
“Apologies, Ms. Kang!” a deep voice behind me gushed.
A thick arm wrapped me around the middle and in a blur the bouncer slung me over his shoulder, dragged me through the curtain, and marched me across the casino floor.
“What the shell?!” I did my best to shove and squirm away from him but he carried me like I weighed nothing. “Heidi! Help!”
My friend leapt up from her stool in front of a slot machine, eyes wide, cup in hand. “Jolene!”
All around the gambling hall, eyes swiveled my way.
The bouncer kicked a metal side door open and unceremoniously dropped me to my feet, then pushed me into an alley.
I stumbled a few feet back. “Hey!” I clenched my hands into fists at my side.
The bouncer glared at me one last time before the door slammed shut behind him and locked with a click. I crossed my arms and slumped against the crumbling brick wall, chest heaving.
21
ALLEY
I kicked the toe of my boot against some gravel and let out a heavy sigh. Well, this sucked mackerel. I looked left and right, disoriented. Which way back to where we’d left Peter, Will, and Daisy?
Bang! I jumped when a metal door to my right flew open and slammed against the brick wall. An enormous dude in a black suit and sunglasses—really? At night?—stepped out with a tiny white dog on a leash. I raised my brows and snorted. I guess opposites attracted. Then I frowned as I recognized the dog as the one I’d seen on the woman’s lap.
The fluffy Pomeranian sniffed at a broken crate, then jumped back when a scurrying rat sent a bottle rolling.
The beefy guy grumbled. “Just go pee, already.”
The tiny dog lifted her black nose and wagged her curled tail. “Woof!” I love you, too.
I lifted a brow. If only my relationship with Daisy could be so easy. I shook my head as I thought of her. The dog was too smart for her own good.
The pup had just squatted down to do her business when a big gray pit bull came trotting around the corner at the end of the alley. She immediately leapt to her feet, tail wagging, and began yapping.
Oh, Rufio! Rufio! Over here! It’s me, Fifi! She pranced around in a happy little circle.
The mutt, Rufio apparently, trotted closer and let out a deep bark. Hey, honeypot.
I chuckled in spite of myself. The mutt was a smooth talker.
The little floof ball tugged at the end of her leash to get closer to the other dog, but the guard, startled by the big bark, drew his wand and pointed it at the mutt.
“Hey, you! Scram! I’ve told you to get out of here before.” He threw his arm violently toward the big dog. “Go on!”
The little dog, Fifi, gasped and lunged at the beefy guy, biting at his ankles. She growled and snapped. That’s my boyfriend, you big louse, leave him alone! Don’t hurt him! I love him! Help! Help! Run, Rufio, save yourself!
But Rufio, not one to turn and run apparently, bared his teeth and snarled at the guard, despite the lit wand being waved in his face.
I grimaced. This had escalated quickly.
Rufio snarled and lunged, and the bouncer’s wand flashed. A glowing blue bubble surrounded the now frozen dog, and Fifi whined and paced.
Oh no, oh no! My poor baby is frozen!
The bodyguard huffed and tugged at the hem of his suit jacket. He scowled at the pit bull. “You keep hangin’ around here.” He shook his head. “Ms. Kang told me to keep you away from her little Fifi.”
The little dog continued to sniff her enchanted boyfriend and whine.
“I’m calling the dog catchers.”
The door right beside me swung open.
“Ah!” I pressed a hand to my chest, startled.
Heidi barreled out, wide-eyed. She looked at me, then down the alley at the commotion Fifi was making and the glowing blue dog, then back at me. “What’s going on?”
I shrugged. “I tried to sneak into the back room but got thrown out.”
She frowned. “I meant with the barking dogs.”
“Oh.” I gestured down the alley. “Near as I can tell, that’s the little one’s boyfriend. I’m
guessing he’s a stray and they’re taking him away to the pound.”
Heidi whirled on me. “What?! He’ll be put down. Jolene, we have to help them.”
Did we, though? Her earnest eyes searched my face, and I threw my head back and looked up at the stars, partially obscured by clouds. “Ugh. Fine.” I huffed and strode over to the bodyguard and the two dogs, Heidi right at my side.
“Hey there.” I waved. “Why don’t you let us take this guy off your hands.” I gestured at the pit bull, completely motionless, frozen midbark. “You don’t have to worry about a dog catcher showing up, and he’ll never bug you again.” I weighed my hands like scales. “Win-win.”
The big guy curled his lip, an ugly scar running through the top one. “What’re you gonna do?” He looked from me to Heidi. “Eat him?”
My friend gasped. “No!” She clicked her tongue. “We’re going to rehome him.” She bent forward, hands on thighs and shifted to baby talk. “Isn’t that right, little guy?”
I arched a brow. “Little?”
My friend straightened and looked down her nose. “Mrs. Smith just had to put her dog down last month, and I know she’d love a new friend.” She beamed, and the bouncer softened.
“Fine.” He huffed. “But he better not show up here again, or it’s the dog catcher for him.”
Heidi clasped her hands together and let out a happy shriek. I just nodded at the big guy. “Deal.” I held up a finger. “One moment though, before you release him from the spell?”
The guy nodded.
I crouched down and looked up at Heidi, flashing my eyes, then jerked my head toward the bouncer.
“Oh.” She caught my drift and winked, then edged between us and distracted him with conversation. “Do you have any pets of your own?”
Inches from the pit’s face, his teeth bared, eyes narrowed, I lowered my voice and let out a string of barks and snarls. We’re taking you with us. My friend’s a vet and they know a nice older lady who’ll spoil you rotten. Capisce?
Fifi whined. What the—?
I glanced over and caught her staring at me wide-eyed. At least she’d stopped biting the guy’s ankles.
