“I was told this was my top priority.”
I walked over to my desk and leaned on it.
“I’d be flattered your police force has taken such an interest in me if I hadn’t walked past six crack dens on my way to work this morning.”
His smile faltered. “Do you have the phone?”
I unlocked one of my drawers and grabbed the phone off the top of some papers.
“Here you are. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, ma’am. I just…” He paused, looking down at his body armour. I noticed the little green light on his body cam. He pressed a button near the bottom and the light turned red. “I just wanted to apologize for Detective Chambers’ behaviour yesterday. He’s an old-school jackass, and I wanted to let you know that we’re not all like that.I’mnot like that.” He pulled a business card out of his back pocket. I accepted it. “If you need anything, please call.”
“Thank you, Officer.”
“How many times do I have to ask you to call me Chris?”
“You can keep asking. Maybe one day I will.”
His smile was back.
“I’ll take it. Have a good day, Miss Hayes.”
Three nights later,I was walking through my door at my usual time of 8:30 p.m. trying not to think about the tail that had been following me all day. It was unnerving being watched everywhere I went. I didn’t know if they were trying to get me to lead them to a villain’s lair or what, but they were dumb. Or maybe they thought I was dumb and wouldn’t notice.
I was curled up in bed forty-five minutes later reading the newest book Amber recommended when my phone rang. No, not my phone. The new burner phone Avalanche gave me in the car after my trip to the police station. I was getting really tired of these villains calling me at all hours of the night and interrupting my reading time.
Seriously, the slow burn was finally burning! This better be fucking important.
“Hello?”
“You never called.”
It took me a second to place the voice.
“Shit, Eva. I’m sorry. I was going to but…um… Well, life got a bit crazy and— Hang on a second. How did you get my number? No, this isn’t my number this is— You’re…”
She laughed. “You’re so cute when you ramble like this.”
“Who are you?” I whispered.
“Forgive me for not introducing myself the first time we met, but I wasn’t sure I could trust you. Av vouched for you, but he’s… It doesn’t matter. After seeing how you stood up for Weave, I wasthinking about telling you. I knew for sure I could trust you after Viv vouched for you. I’m The Blacksmith.”
My jaw dropped. She was legendary. There wasn’t much known about The Blacksmith beyond whispers of the name. Supposedly, if you brought her a design, she could make literally anything. The rumour was that she was the weapons master, the gadget maker, and the bookkeeper for every single villain. Worldwide. Most people outside the villain circles didn’t even believe The Blacksmith was real. But she was, and she was calling me.
“Why?”
She laughed again.
“I wanted to give you my information in case someone wanted to meet me.”
“Meet you? Eva, you’re like the bogeyman, no one even believes you’re real!”
“Yes, I worked really hard to keep it that way. But I was thinking it might be time to join the spotlight. Av said it was the most fun he’s ever had. And, well, I could use some fun.”
“Wait. Sorry, you knew it was him the whole time? He said he’d been trying to get your number for months.”
“Yeah, he’s a goofball. Probably said that to make you feel better after you turned the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.” She chuckled. “I’ve known him since we were kids. We grew up together.”
