Page 67 of Trick of Light
“Now you’re just making it worse because you know I hate that phrase. It’s the word ‘panties.’ Why are women’s underwear called panties but not men’s? It’s the same damn piece of clothing.”
“I know, right? Fuck literally everything.”
They both burst out laughing at that reference to one of Gabby’s most memorable journalism school rants—inspired by a misogynist professor, but applicable to so many situations.
“I’ll call him if you get your ass over to check on Tamara.”
“Yes ma’am. I’ll text you. Maybe we can FaceTime from jail.”
“The category is, things my mother would never want to hear me say,” Gabby joked before ending the call.
As she’d expected, Chris was no help at all with her “hypothetical scenario.”
“What are you into? If you don’t tell me, I’m calling Mama on you.” She heard police chatter in the background, which was the usual soundtrack for their calls.
“The big bad cop is calling his mama?”
“Don’t think I won’t. Tell me what the story is or I’ll do it right now.”
Sighing, she gave him the sketchiest of outlines. Surprisingly enough, this time his tone changed. “My advice is, don’t rock any boats, Gab.”
“Does that mean keep this to ourselves for now?”
“How many people know about it?”
“Just me, Barnaby and Heather. I just told her.”
“Good. Small circle. Keep it that way. If it’s a bad cop, one thing about them is they’ll do anything to protect themselves. This Barnaby, do you trust him?”
“I mean…yes? I think so. He’s been solid so far. He just wants to protect his grandmother.”
“Can he handle himself if things go sideways?”
Cold fear filtered into her belly. She’d never thought about this situation getting physically dangerous.
“You still remember all the moves I taught you, right? Do you have a firearm?”
“You’re overreacting. Take it down a notch, please. Of course I remember all those janky self-defense moves. I’m pretty sure Barnaby can fight. He’s strong and he’s traveled to some sketchy places.”
“Better watch your back, sis. Don’t count on any man for that. Also, give Mama a heads-up if you don’t want her going nuclear.”
On that encouraging note, the call ended, leaving Gabby about a hundred times more alarmed than she had been before.
Call her mother? Her thumb hovered over her mom’s number, but she finally decided that she might as well wait to see what Safiya’s blood test results had been. Until she knew that, this was all speculation.
29
It took Barnaby a good half an hour of extra walking before he felt ready to walk inside the Maine Medical Center. The news—even the possibility—that his mother might have been murdered hit him like a cannonball to the heart. Had someone deliberately robbed him of the chance to know his own mother? Who would do something like that, and why?
Who would his father be trying to protect? Even though John Carmichael was generally out for himself, he also considered his family members to be extensions of that self. Unless they went directly against him, as Luke had done, they generally fell under his umbrella of protection. Outside of the family, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to shield anyone.
Did that mean that a member of the Carmichael family had murdered his real mother and his father had kept the secret for nearly thirty years? It seemed almost incomprehensible. Hence the half an hour of stress-walking.
By the time he was at the reception desk, waiting for the charge nurse to get off the phone, Gabby had caught up with him. Damn. He didn’t want her to witness this next part. He needed to move fast, before any higher-ups could get in his way. For that, he had to do something he usually avoided like poison.
“I’m about to go full Carmichael,” he murmured in her ear. “Just a heads-up.”
“Can I get it on video for future extortion purposes?”
