Page 62 of Lure

Her laughter just made me smile. Yeah, she was definitely feeling a little better.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll let you boys work out whatever it is Boney Boy wants to work out.”

Ialmostlaughed out loud. The Boney Boy moniker wasn’t going anywhere. With that she turned and headed for the backdoor with Goblin trotting alongside.

“Not going to say anything nice to me?” Bones asked as she passed him. “Give me some assurances? Or comfort?”

The snark filled his tone with challenge and he tossed it down like a gauntlet.

She paused, lifting her chin and focusing on him. I couldn’t see her face. None of us except for Bones could. His eyes narrowed.

“I don’t care if you have a pulse, much less a nice anything, Boney Boy.” The comment was delivered in the same light tone she’d used when she spoke to the rest of us. “In fact, I don’t have much to say at all. Enjoy the fact I’m leaving you to chat since you didn’t want me in here for that.”

With that, she sailed outside into the cooler morning with Goblin racing alongside, leaving Bones to stare after her with a scowl.

I chuckled as both Alphabet and Lunchbox cracked up. Goddamn, I really like feisty Grace. She was every bit the firecracker I knew she could be. Her serving notice toBoney Boywould be good for him.

And entertaining for me. I passed him his coffee. “Spill, because she has waited on all of us long enough.”

Bones’ sigh carried a wealth of meaning, but he didn’t deny the observation. “I spoke to Vienna and Fletcher late last night… We have another problem and it involves Grace.”

Son of a bitch.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

GRACE

It was a scant fifteen minutes, if that, before Voodoo stepped out to call me. Goblin and I hadn’t gone that far. The morning was cool, but sunny. Fat, poofy white clouds decorated the vivid blue of the sky. I’d been soaking up the sun and drinking my coffee.

Some of the tension Voodoo had melted away the night before and this morning corded around me. He waited for me at the door and his expression gentled. “It’s not that bad.”

His soft words actually made me smile.

“I hope it’s not.” Goblin darted up the two steps and passed Voodoo to get inside. “Not even sure whatbadis at this point.”

“That’s fair,” he told me, stepping back to let me in. The combination of rich scents of coffee, bacon, potatoes, and, oh, biscuits surrounded me like a welcoming hug. Bones was at the table with Alphabet. They had plates piled high with food. Lunchbox set out another plate, most likely for Voodoo, before he set up his own.

A rich glass bowl of yogurt with side dishes of granola and fresh fruit waited in front of the empty seat next to Alphabet. My smile grew. “Thank you,” I said to Lunchbox.

He nodded once. “I have extras of everything else if you’re still hungry.”

I appreciated it. Sliding into my seat, I reached for the spoon and set my coffee down. The first bite was welcome. I added the granola and fruit to the mix.

Voodoo settled in front of the plate of food in front of the chair to Bones’ right. Alphabet sat to Bones’ left where he occupied the seat at the head of the table. That left the chair directly opposite me for Lunchbox.

Conversation waited for Lunchbox to sit. Once we were all there, Alphabet leaned back in his seat and turned his attention to Bones. Lunchbox and Voodoo both flicked their attention to him as well.

After a swallow of coffee, Bones leaned forward. “Alphabet. Report.”

“Currently, digital searches haven’t turned up anything on Amorette Black.” Alphabet slid a look to me, the apology in his blue eyes. “Expanded sweeps haven’t found her at any legitimate border crossings or via any CCTV at airports.”

My stomach sank, but I made myself keep eating. That wasn’t unexpected. Alphabet had already told me he hadn’t turned up anything new.

“The law firm is still being cagey. We’ve had no luck in getting any answers out of them. Even when we’ve played clients…” He sighed. “I dug into some of their servers, just surface skimming. But they’ve taken her name off everything in the firm. Sorry, Gracie. We’ve reached out to another hacker—one we trust—to do his own deeper dive to see what he can find.”

I nodded with a sigh. “Thank you… I mean that. Thank you. She represented women primarily. So I don’t think they’ll buythat a man is one of her clients.” The fact they’d stripped her name off everything. “If we could get her client list, I could try talking to them directly. But I am guessing we can’t get that if they removed her name.”

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