Rourke shook his head. “Figured you’d want it since you called in the explosion.”
Technically it had been Poe who’d called 911 — I’d been too busy trying to keep Cassie calm — but same difference.
“You want it back?” I asked, looking at the phone in his hand.
“Negative,” he said. “In fact, I’d prefer to follow the chief’s lead and let this one drop.”
I took the phone. “Why the fuck would you do that? You’re a fucking detective.”
“You didn’t see those guys. They were armed like they were going to war. You ever see shit like that here?”
I had, actually, but only because I knew Rafe Maddox.
I’d never seen it from outsiders.
I pocketed the phone. “How’re you going to account for this?”
“I covered my ass,” Rourke said. “It’ll look like a clusterfuck, piece of evidence lost on its way to the lab. The chief’ll scream, but he wants this done anyway.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Rourke got to his feet and brushed invisible dirt off his pants. “It’s not a freebie. You owe me.”
“I know.” I had sources all over Blackwell Falls, but everything they gave me came at a cost.
Maeve was the only person — other than Cassie, Poe, and Remy — who’d never wanted anything from me.
“Keep me posted.” Rourke headed for the trail, then turned around. “Actually, don’t. I don’t want to know.”
I waited a few minutes before heading back to the car, wanting to give him time to leave. I had no reason to believe anyone had followed either of us, but better safe than sorry.
I wasn’t looking to burn my sources in the Blackwell PD.
Back in the car, I removed the phone from my pocket and stared at it through the evidence bag. I could throw it in the river, let it go, hope all this shit died down.
Hope Cassie had had enough.
Or I could take the phone to Aloha, let him break into it.
The first option left me exactly where I’d started: Cassie dealing with this shit alone or with the Hawks, me pretending it didn’t matter.
Our parents had been dead for over a decade.
Didit matter?
I shelved the question for another time.
The second option meant stepping onto the field with Cassie and hoping it wasn’t quicksand.
The problem was, Cassie was already on the field, and if there was one thing I’d learned about my little sister in the last three months, it was that she wasn’t a quitter.
And if it was a choice between Cassie sinking into the quicksand alone or me sinking with her in an attempt to pull her out, it was going to be the second one every fucking time.
I started the car and headed for Aloha.
9
CASSIE
