“Grayson said we had to come back right away,” said Reece. “What’s going on with the tech guy?”
“That useless ass completely missed that the security footage was doctored.” Jamey was watching Grayson, whose eyes hadn’t stopped darting around the club. “You don’t seem like that’s your biggest concern, though,” she said to Grayson. “You seem like you’re looking for something. Do you know something you’re not sharing?”
Grayson shook his head. “Only maybe.” He glanced down at Reece. “Butmaybestill means there might be danger, especially for you. So if you try to wander off this time, I really might cuff you and stick you back in my truck.”
Reece gave him a dirty look. “Why would I wander off in a club for fake empaths?”
“I don’t know, why can’t you get through dinner without a near-arrest and a felony?”
Reece made a face.
Grayson started toward the hall with the server room, and Jamey and Reece followed. But right before they reached the server room door a familiar little man popped up, blocking the path.
“Detective St. James, Agent Grayson!” Frodo clasped his hands. “How good I’ve caught you. The three of us need to have an extremely important conversation.”
Jamey and Grayson exchanged a look. “We do?” said Jamey.
“Of course, of course! Follow me.” Frodo led them to his office, where a half-full laundry basket sat on the floor, several tablecloths folded into a crisp stack on the heavy desk.
Grayson tossed his overcoat on a visitor’s chair as Jamey leaned on the wall.
“Now,” Frodo said pleasantly, “I’ve been nothing but helpful today. And in return, I need assurances that whatever you find in that recovered security footage won’t be used against me or my establishment.”
“No,” said Jamey and Grayson together.
But Frodo raised his chin. “Not everyone looks like you two,” he said. “I know better than most that the world is a hard, unfeeling place. This club is a haven of kindness and acceptance. If it gets out that my patrons are being investigated by the police and—” He gestured helplessly at Grayson. “—whatever Handsome here is, McFeely’s will be ruined.”
“Buy some horses and fake horns and start a unicorn ranch,” said Jamey.
“A bisexual unicorn ranch,” said Grayson. “You’ll make another fortune.”
They both turned and walked back out the office door and into the hall.
“Oh, come on,” Reece said, as he chased after them, Frodo right behind him. “I don’t like that this place exists, but Frodo’s here in the middle of the night, doing the laundry, even though he’s the boss. The club obviously means a lot to him, even if it makes him a liar and a dirty swindler.”
“Thanks,” said Frodo. “Sort of.”
Grayson and Jamey ignored them, heading for the server room. Jamey reached it first, opening the door without knocking. Reece huffed and reached for her arm. “All I’m saying is it can’t hurt to hear Frodo out—”
Jamey jammed her shoulder against the server room door, slamming it shut in front of her, while Grayson grabbed Reece by the hood, yanking him backward. Reece nearly fell but Grayson caught his sleeve, keeping him on his feet just long enough to swing him through the still-open door of Frodo’s office.
Reece stumbled into the room, only just managing to straighten up. “What the—”
Without a word of explanation, Grayson shut the door in his face.
Jamey shoved Frodo behind her as the man began to sputter.
“You’re just going to let him manhandle your brother?”
She didn’t respond, just blocked his body with her own. With Reece safely out of sight, she cracked the server room door again.
Her eyes darted from the body on the floor to the blood splattered on the walls. It couldn’t be coincidence that Grayson had rushed here because of Egner—and now Egner was dead. And here she was with a body, no gun, no badge—and a club packed with people, a killer possibly still loose among them.
She grabbed the chair resting against the server room wall and pulled it into the hall, firmly shutting the server room door.
“What’s going on?” Frodo demanded. “What happened in that room?”
Grayson was leaning on the door of Frodo’s office. The knob was rattling, and she could hear Reece’s indignant yelps coming from within. “Let me out! Agent Grayson!Jamey!”
