Page 26 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

I blew out a breath, which earned a glance from Bastian. At least I had the night off. I was almost relieved that we’d canceled girls night⁠—

Oh, shit! My throat tightened. “Bastian,” I croaked, “I need my phone back. Where is it?”

Had Vivi tried to contact me? The real Vivi, not some voice that sounded like her from some unknown number. I didn’t want her worried.

Bastian sighed. My phone appeared in his hand as he dropped it into my lap. I tapped the screen but nothing happened. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I looked up at him, jaw clenched. “You couldn’t keep it charged when you put it, wherever? It’s dead.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Not my problem.”

I scoffed. “Ridiculous. Whatever. Please, tell me you have a charger in here.”

He reached into the center console, keeping his eyes on the road. A charging cord materialized. Exasperated, I plugged my phone in, waiting for enough juice to turn it on.

Another phone rang and I glanced up. The dash screen illuminated with an incoming call and a name. Christian Morris. Beneath it, in parenthesis, was Walton Bureau of Investigation.

I stared at the contact.

Bastian grabbed his phone from the dock and answered, switching it off bluetooth. Clearly he didn’t want me eavesdropping. “What do you have for me? ”

I could just barely make out the voice on the other end, but not the words. Bastian stiffened, going rigid. His eyes darted toward me, then back to the road.

“Fuck. Right… Right… Okay…. All right.”

Another long hesitation and then⁠—

“Yeah, she’s actually with me. We’re on our way. ETA puts us at ten. Yep… Okay. Hang tight.” He hung up and set the phone back on its mount.

His face was a mask. Impossible to read.

Meanwhile, a sour taste filled my mouth. “Who was that?” Silence stretched between us. When he still didn’t speak, I glanced over. “Bastian!”

A muscle in his jaw feathered. “Walton PD just called in the WBI for a case. New homicide reported in West Cross. At the Glenneg Apartment Complex.”

“But that’s…” My fingers turned to ice. I clenched them together and buried them in my lap, phone forgotten, and stared out the windshield, eyes blurring. Around us, the city slid by, but inside my head, every thought went silent except one. Something had happened in my apartment building.

Bastian’s exhale was drawn out. “Let’s just get there and see what’s going on.”

“What did they say?” I asked, half afraid to hear it.

“You sure you want to know?”

My swallow was practically audible. No, of course I wasn’t sure. “I’d like to be mentally prepared for the shitstorm we’re about to walk into.”

He nodded. “Your apartment was broken into. Trashed, by the sound of it. They only found out because one of your neighbors didn’t show up for work this morning.”

“What?!” I gasped. He’d said homicide. “Who?” I whispered.

“Peter Gains? You know him?”

A cold ball of sick dread dropped into my stomach. “Oh, my God.”

“I take it that’s a yes.”

“He… He was this… He was just a sweet old man! How… What… Someone did this? How do they know it has anything to do with my apartment? Wait, do they think it was me, since I was his neighbor? I was with you all night. You can vouch for me, right? Am I going to be arrested? Is that why your—why Christian—asked about me? You told him I was with you⁠—”

“Elle, relax.” It was the first time he’d called me that and it made me freeze. I’d forgotten how much I missed hearing it. “There aren’t a lot of details yet, from the sound of it. WBI got called because the scorch marks around the body look similar to the ones they found around Miller…” He trailed off, then his brow furrowed. “Well, it would seem that this absolves you completely. If both people were killed the same way, and you were with me during one of the incidents, then it’s doubtful you killed Professor Miller.”

I screeched in fury and punched him in the arm, hard. The wheel jerked. “Are you fucking kidding me?! I told you I didn't kill her!”