Page 87 of The Lost Bones
She placed her elbows on the table. “Do you know that prostitution is illegal in the state of Washington?”
Hamilton’s innocent expression changed. It was fraught with discomfort. “I… Of course I know.” He scratched his ear. “What’s going on?”
“What is going on is that you and your friends get escorts on your poker nights,” Mackenzie said sharply. “Yourgentlemen’sclub.”
Brick by brick his composure shattered, but still he denied the charge. “Detective Price, that’s absurd! I’m sure someone started a nasty rumor about—”
“Barcodes on their ankles. Really?” Hamilton’s face was ashen. He fumbled for words, but Mackenzie continued, “You have a wife. You have three granddaughters. How would you feel if someone numbered them like cattle and passed them around at parties?”
“On what basis are you making such unbelievable accusations?”
“The fact that I saw it with my own eyes.”
“How dare you enter my home without my permission?” he seethed.
“I didn’t. I showed up hoping to talk to you. The front door was open and I walked right in. Everyone was too preoccupied to notice me for the two minutes I was there,” she lied breezily. “I saw you take two of them upstairs.”
He wagged his finger. “This is slander. I’m a well-respected—”
“You’re scum, Judge.” She spoke calmly. “We also have some damning videos in a storage unit that we can link to you.”
Hamilton looked at Nick. “Are you going to sit back and let her speak to me like this?”
Nick gave him a Cheshire Cat grin and raised his mug. “I’m enjoying this.”
“Let’s see how your evidence holds up in court.” Hamilton gritted his teeth, his face contorting with anger. “I’m sure you have obtained all thisbogusevidence through questionable means.”
“I’m good with that. Your career is effectively over regardless. How do you think your wife and family will react when they find out?” Mackenzie tilted her head, feigning curiosity.
Hamilton slammed the table with his fist. “You’re messing with the wrong person!” he roared.
“Is that a threat?” She blinked, leaning forward.
Then everything happened quickly.
The sound of glass cracking and air whooshing for a millisecond. Something grazed the back of Mackenzie’s head, and suddenly she found herself on the floor, toppled over. Something was happening to her. Her vision kept cutting to black. Her heart had jumped into a gallop. Everything was burning.
“Mack!” Nick’s face loomed above hers. She had seen him like this only once before, when Luna had been in danger. “Mack!”
She was slipping away. Falling into an abyss. She was trying to hold on, but something was pulling her under. It was almost like sleep. Except this was far worse.
“Mack. Don’t leave me.” They were the last words she heard before everything was obliterated.
FORTY-FOUR
When Mackenzie woke up, she was in her old house. The one where she’d grown up until the age of twelve, after which she’d been shipped off to New York. The one that had always been eerie and uninviting. But it didn’t feel the same. The air tasted different. The light curved around objects more brightly.
She was in the kitchen.
The same kitchen where she had found a dead body.
It hadn’t changed at all in the last twenty or so years. The walls were lime green. The floor tiles a dirty yellow. The cabinets were painted a darker shade of green, with pictures of fruits and vegetables on a white strip stuck across them. A bare bulb dangled above the dining table. It looked like it was right out of the eighties.
She must be dreaming. But then something changed inside her. She wasn’t dreaming. This was real… except it couldn’t be. Her heart rate skyrocketed. Blood roared into her ears.
It was like all your life you were supposed to exist within certain boundaries, within a system defined by the established laws of science. But there was a tear in that reality. By some accident, she had stepped into a different place, got a glimpse of what lay beyond.
“Mackenzie.”
