“Evan.” Over the speakerphone, Cedrick Stone sighed. “I’m afraid I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment; AMI is about to—”
“You’re having me followed,” Grayson observed, calmly as if he was commenting on the weather.
“I’m having Mr. Davies followed,” Stone corrected. “I hardly think you can blame me.”
Grayson nudged Nolan’s ribs with his boot again. “I might surprise you there.”
“You’re exposing Davies to a murder investigation! A barely grown empath with the emotional stability of a house of cards, and now you’re pressure-cooking him.”
“I’ll admit it’s not ideal,” said Grayson. “But I don’t have a choice.”
“You haveme,” said Stone, a new note of eagerness in his voice. “Give me the empath; let me take him off your hands.”
“Not a chance,” Grayson said flatly. “Stone Solutions has been compromised.”
Nolan hunched into the pavement, trying to make himself as small as possible as Grayson and Stone had a conversation he didn’t fully understand.
“Jason went rogue,” said Stone. “You can’t judge my whole enterprise by his actions. He was an isolated scientist, acting alone—”
“You saw Dr. Owens last night,” Grayson cut in. “Handed over a senator who was drunk and blazed on prescription drugs.”
“And why wouldn’t I have?” said Stone. “We are not all Dead Men. The world’s mere mortals have struggles you could never hope to understand and addiction is a terrible cross to bear. I had work that couldn’t wait, but I wouldn’t have left Hannah to face her demons alone. I had no reason not to trust Jason to see her home safely.”
“Pretty speech,” Grayson said dryly. “But I’m betting Dr. Owens knew Senator Hathaway’s changing heart had just put his tens of millions in funding at risk.”
Stone paused. “You know about her decision to withdraw the bill.”
“I do,” Grayson said. “So I’ll say it again: Stone Solutions is compromised. Too many of you with too many motives; I’m not putting any trust in your organization now. We got seven bodies and a killer loose in Seattle thanks to Dr. Owens. And I’m getting the sense there may still be some of your staff who need a reminder that the empaths aren’t their toys or lab rats.”
“Jason Owens acted alone.” Stone’s voice had gone very high and sharp. “And now he’s dead. Stone Solutions isn’tcompromised. Our organization’s whole mission is to protect the American people—”
“Seems like that might be tricky from your hiding spot in Canada.”
“Don’t confuse strategy with cowardice,” Stone said unapologetically. “Consider who the dead are. You know full well the killer will target me next.”
“I don’t know anythingfull wellright now.” Grayson stared down at Nolan, who tried not to cringe. “And now I’ve got to deal with your latest lapdog. You shouldn’t have brought him in; he’s a liability to himself and the rest of us.”
“He’s an FBI agent,” Stone said impatiently. “Helping me is his duty—”
Grayson hung up on Stone. He looked down at Nolan. “I’m afraid you’ve been lured into a situation far above your pay grade,” he said, as he pocketed Nolan’s phone. “This is the problem with trusting Mr. Stone. He’ll say any slick words to get you on his side, but he’d blithely feed his own mother into a meat grinder to keep himself safe.”
Nolan’s own breaths were coming far too fast as Grayson crouched down by his head.
Grayson fixed him with eyes as dead as his moniker. “You ever hear any rumors about me?”
Nolan cringed but nodded. When Grayson continued to wait, Nolan wet his lips and elaborated. “The rumors say don’t mess with empaths.”
“And why not?”
Nolan swallowed hard. “Because the Dead Man will show up, and he makes the punishment more unthinkable than the crime.”
Grayson tilted his head. “Recap what happened tonight,” he said, neither confirming nor denying Nolan’s words.
Nolan didn’t even try to lie. “I went into the restaurant through the kitchen’s delivery door. Used my badge to get past the staff. I saw Davies go into the bathroom and went in after him.”
“What for?”
Nolan’s gun hung almost carelessly from Grayson’s hand. “To arrest him,” Nolan admitted.
