AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But not save us from losing customers and money at one of the busiest time of the year. Still, we were both alive and most of the café was intact, so we had a lot to be grateful for.
All of which didn’t ease the anger still bubbling inside.
I returned my attention to my prisoner. “How did you manage to set the café on fire when you didn’t go anywhere near it?”
“A couple of days ago, I was part of a team that was cleaning out the guttering next door. It was easy enough to lop an incendiary device onto your roof from there.”
Which explained why our magic hadn’t reacted or stopped him—it didn’t work against inanimate objects.
Something we’ll have to fix, Belle said. Aiden’s on his way over.
Well good, because he needs to get someone up here to arrest this bastard before I’m tempted to do something nasty. Aloud, I added, “Why didn’t you set the device off as soon as we’d gotten inside?”
“Because it was only powerful enough to destroy the top floor.”
Suggesting he’d deliberately missed us in the hope that we’d race up there. If Belle hadn’t telepathically hunted him down, it might well have worked. “What if we’d gone out the back door instead?”
He shrugged—or at least tried to. The movement was severely restricted by his outstretched arms. “I would have come back tomorrow night.”
I crossed my arms against the chilling suspicion he might have been successful if he had. “Were you the one who was with Larissa up in the Marin compound?”
“Yeah, stupid bitch gave me the perfect cover, and didn’t even realize it.”
“Where did you meet her? At the gun club?”
“Nah, she was drinking in some pub on the outskirts of town, and I heard her bitching about needing someone to have an accident. So I kindly offered my services.” He paused. “Look, I’m answering your questions—can you ease up on the whole splitting me in two thing?”
“Only if you keep answering questions.” I paused briefly and let that sink in. “How did you force Larissa to keep your presence a secret and take the fall for you?”
He tried to shrug again. “I said I’d kill her mom if she didn’t.”
Which explained the fear in Larissa’s eyes when we’d mentioned charging her mom. It wasn’t so much our threat, but rather his that she’d reacted to.
“Was it also you who shot out my car’s windshield?”
“Yeah. Not sure how you controlled that fucking thing given the speed you were doing. You should have slid straight into the trees.”
I would have, if it hadn’t been for a good dose of luck and the wild magic.
“Which of the Fitzgeralds hired you?” I asked. “Because I gather you are a contract killer.”
He didn’t immediately answer. The wild magic twitched in response, and he hissed through gritted teeth before saying, “It was the brothers—Cary and Michael.”
Who were not only behind the plot that had run us out of town, but the owners of the Psychic, Taro, and Spiritual Cleaning center that had suddenly become overrun with rats. I’d known they’d be angry—who wouldn’t be?—but I really hadn’t expected them to react so violently.
“And your name?”
“Bryan,” he replied, somewhat reluctantly. “Bryan Redfield.”
Footsteps caught my attention, and I turned around to see Aiden running toward me. He slowed the minute I spotted him, his gaze running from me to my prisoner and back again.
“You okay?” He stopped and touched my back lightly, though I wasn’t entirely sure whether it was meant to comfort him or me.
I nodded and motioned toward the shooter. “Meet Bryan Redfield, the man who took a pot shot at us in the Marin compound. Larissa took the fall because he threatened her mom.”
“Really? Did he say why he was trying to kill us?”
“Not us—me. And it has nothing to do with the soul eater. The Fitzgerald brothers at Pike’s Peak contracted him to enact a little revenge.”
