Page 43 of Fortune's Ashes
‘It doesn’t make sense,’ Lukas muttered. ‘You heard the alphas earlier – they were as shocked by the fire as anyone else. Supes have come around to the idea of Supe Squad, and most humans have come to accept supes. Attacking you like this now seems strange timing.’
‘Unless whoever did all this wanted to stop what we’re doing now.’
‘What are you doing? Apart from the investigation into Quincy Carmichael?’
‘Nothing,’ I said. I met his eyes. ‘Quincy’s disappearance is our only case at the moment.’
Lukas’s expression grew darker. ‘What happened before – that was your Cassandra thing, right?’
I nodded warily. ‘Yes.’
He reached for his wallet, opened the zip and took out two pennies. ‘One for you,’ he said, ‘and one for me.’ He took off his left shoe and placed the penny inside it.
‘I’m not sure—’ I began.
‘What?’
I sighed; I didn’t know. I copied him and put my penny into my shoe. ‘I didn’t see any visions, it was only the words. I have no idea what they mean.’
‘I imagine we’ll find out in due course.’ Lukas gave me a taut smile. ‘What do you want to do? They won’t let us see Owen or Fred, and anyway neither of them are awake. You’re supposed to go back to New Scotland Yard, right?’
I sucked my bottom lip and considered. There was the small matter of my impending DNA test. Until now, I’d been more than prepared to sit out my suspension and do as I was told like the good girl I usually was, but now that scenario wasn’t going to work for me. Not since Fred and Owen had also been targeted. Things were different now.
‘I need to find out if your theory is correct and then discover who’s behind it.’ My tone darkened. ‘It’s the least I can do for Fred and Owen.’
‘In that case, let’s get out of here and get started,’ Lukas said.
‘What about Buffy?’
‘Do you need her?’
I shook my head.
‘Then she can stay here and help guard those two boys,’ Lukas said. ‘They’ll be safe enough with the likes of Buffy outside their doors.’
Something tight and painful clenched at my heart. ‘They’d better be alright,’ I whispered.
‘They will be.’ He held out his hand. ‘Let’s go.’
ChapterSixteen
Itook a moment to motion to Liza through the tiny glass panel in the door to Grace’s room, indicating that Lukas and I were leaving. She looked up from his pale, unmoving body and barely nodded. I’d never seen her look terrified before. I wanted to tell her that everything would be alright but I couldn’t. Instead I reached for Lukas’s hand and squeezed it hard.
‘I’ll make sure she’s looked after,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ve got several vampires already on the way.’
I nodded, beyond grateful that I had him with me. As we trudged out of the hospital. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Grace and Fred needed me to be focused. They were my people and I was theirs. Although I was suspended from duties, I wasn’t without resources or skills. I knew how the system worked and that made it easy to find the answers I needed with only a few short calls from Lukas’s phone.
‘The crash site isn’t far from here,’ I told him as I returned his phone. ‘The road has already been re-opened. We should head there first before the morning rush hour makes investigations too difficult. Grace is a careful driver and there’s nothing to suggest another vehicle was involved.’ My voice hardened. ‘But if that’s the case, what caused the crash?’
‘Somebody might have run them off the road,’ Lukas suggested. ‘Did your contacts have any idea what happened?’
I shook my head. ‘It’s too early to tell. There’ll be an investigation but it’ll probably be low priority. We need to go and see for ourselves.’
I switched on Tallulah’s engine and patted her dashboard, murmuring to her briefly about the importance of our journey in case she decided this was a good time to be obstinate. There was no reluctance on her part, and thankfully her radio remained silent. This wasn’t the time for tunes and even Tallulah knew it.
Less than ten minutes later, we pulled into a narrow layby next to where I’d been told the crash had occurred. The sky was lightening as dawn approached; although that meant there was now more traffic to contend with, it would make it easier to examine the scene. I hopped out of the car and looked around.
‘There aren’t any skid marks.’ Lukas frowned. ‘Are you sure this is the spot?’
