Page 79 of Hold a Candle

“That’s all I know,” Brodie grunted. “The only lead I had was a compartment built into the truck where drugs were supposed to have been transported. If ye can find the truck, ye might get a lead from that.” He held up the little paper and showed it to Quinn. He’d writtenfollow Evaon it. Then he tore it into little pieces and dumped it into the ice chip water to dissolve.

“Can ye get me a fresh drink,” he said wearily. “There’s no ice left in this cup.”

“Aye, I’ll check with the nurse,” Quinn replied, his eyes boring into Brodies. He took the cup of water and flushed it, then returned it to the bedside. “Get some rest. I’ll work on that truck. If it’s in Inverness, I’ll find it.”

Brodie watched Quinn stride out of the room and then sank back into his pillow with a sigh. His chest and shoulder felt like someone was beating on them with a sledgehammer. Those knockout drugs would come in handy about now.

Thoughts of Pauley slithered along the edge of his mind. Luca and Belton had come out unharmed and he was glad of that. He might be a bastert to the deserving, but those boys weren’t on his radar. He’d checked out Jamie MacNamara. Now that Pauley had taken up with MacNamara, maybe she’d get out of law enforcement altogether, then he wouldn’t have to compete with her for Quinn’s job. The only reason women were boosted into leadership positions were because they were women anyway.

Dismissing Pauley from his mind, his thoughts went to the drug bust. He was going to have to start over now that it had gone down without him, and with major disappointing results.

Another thought jolted through him. Had Juice been the one to shoot him? If so, he should have been dead instantly. Hitmen don’t miss. If they didn’t get you the first time, they followed up with a second round and made sure you were gone. This produced a whole new line of thought. Maybe they had just wanted him out of the way?

Yawning widely, his eyes flooded with tired tears and he felt rather than saw the nurse come into the room. When they cleared, she was standing at his bedside with a wide smile on her face. Except it was Eva’s face that was watching him.

Trying not to panic, he stammered, “W-What are ye doing here?” He watched her take a hypodermic out of her pocket and reach for his picc line. “Is this how ye killed Florence,” he accused. “Ye don’t have to kill me, we can make a deal. I know ye are Kelpie, but I haven’t told anyone...and I won’t.”

“No time for deals,” Eva purred. “I’m leaving town and I just wanted to give ye a goodbye present.”

“I-I can meet ye later,” he rasped desperately, “we can do business together.” He tried to ward her off with his left hand but he just didn’t have any strength. His head was pounding in fear and the light seemed to be fading.

“And I don’t do business with undercover detectives,Leonard,” she shot back at him. “If Juice had done his job, ye wouldn’t be here to speak with the likes of Quinn Tannock. Filthy traitors get what they deserve,” she hissed, holding up the needle to the picc line.

“And so do criminals. Hold it right there!” Mica Peterson’s voice boomed into the fading light of the room.

Brodie couldn’t fight the darkness, it smothered him like a blanket, dragging him into a world of nothingness. Had he really heard Mica’s voice? Or was the grim reaper going to collect him this time?

Chapter 19

Jamie dabbed his napkinin the corner of Pauley’s mouth to catch the juices that were trying to run down her chin.

“Thank ye for catching that,” she quipped, then took another bite of the roasted turkey leg she held in both hands. “Mm,” she moaned, closing her eyes in ecstasy.

Jamie dabbed her chin again with a chuckle. “This isn’t the cleanest way of eating, but it’s certainly delicious.” He swiped some juice off his plastic bib before taking another bite of his own turkey leg. He was glad that Pauley wasn’t shy about eating in front of him. This was certainly the place to do away with such inhibitions though, if she’d had any.

The chic restaurant was decked out like the inside of a castle with bench style tables in private nooks, and big tables for groups in the middle. Long tapestries hung down the stone walls depicting coats of arms and all sorts of weaponry and dragon designs in the silky sheen of the rich fabrics.

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