Page 24 of Roses Are Dead
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up to the back door of my tattoo shop.
Skinner’s van sat in the little lot off the alley. I tucked the bike beside it. Roishin got off and waited as I crab-walked it into place.
“Where are we?”
“My shop.”
She looked around. This side of the river walk was still in a state of renovation where old and rundown met new. Some of the buildings were occupied, many weren’t. A restaurant opened two buildings down. Their dumpster was still so pristine it didn’t stink. That would change. And when it did, I’d bitch. Food was meant to be enjoyed, not left out to rot.
Her eyes fixed on the lighted street.
“Are you thinking of running?” I asked and braced for the lie.
“I’m supposed to be at my friend’s house.” Roishin licked her lips.
That was a tell. There was a lie in there. “Who’s this friend?”
She clammed up.
Of course she did. I hadn’t exactly been all warm and fuzzy. “Do I need to pull my knife again?”
Even in the dim light of the alley, I could tell that the blood left her face. She shook her head, ending it seriously with a hard-pinned stare at me. “I—my friend, Beth, is in the hospital. I was supposed to go over to her place after dinner and help take care of her children.”
The dinner I’d interrupted. Stew and fresh bread. Carl had something that sweet in life and gave it up transactionally. That was… foreign, bizarre, inhuman. More proof to me that he was fucked up in the head.
“Can you call?”
“I think I left my cell phone at Carl’s.”
A grunt escaped. I hadn’t exactly given her a lot of time to bug out. “Do you know the number?”
She nodded.
“Cool. There’s a phone in the shop.”
She took a step toward the door. I stopped her. “Just so we’re clear? I’ll be listening in.” I raised my eyebrows to convey what I wouldn’t say.
Because while I should make it clear that this wasn’t a kidnapping, and that she was much safer in my hands than in Carl’s, I also didn’t trust her. And I couldn’t trust her until I figured out the game those two were playing. Therefore, I had to play the role of the bad guy and be the asshole everyone assumed I was. I shouldn’t have even offered the phone call. But even I couldn’t be that much of a dick.
On the plus side, if she truly had to be somewhere tonight, calling and canceling would keep me out of the hot seat should this blow up in my face.
“I understand.”
I hoped like hell she did.
Skinner was inside. I slapped hands with him and theatrically swept my hand to introduce Rose.
“Meet Roishin, or Rose. Last name, Black.”
Skinner shot a sharp glance at me. I smiled and gave him a little smug lift of my chin.
Roishin watched us carefully. She must have deemed me a bigger threat since her glances settled on me. That was fair. Skinner hadn’t pulled a gun or a knife on her… yet.
I pulled down a book of tattoo flash from the shelf and handed it to her. It was heavy, and she needed two hands to hold it. As I handed it off, I took the backpack off her. Then ordered, “Go in that room, shut the door, and look at tattoo designs. Don’t listen to anything we say.”
She measured us with her gaze but relented, going into one of the private rooms, setting the book down, and closing the door.
That didn’t guarantee her ear wasn’t plastered against the wood. I kept my voice low. “Skinner, she’s got a laptop and Gods know what else in that bag. You got any of your scanning gear with you?”
