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“I believe you met my wife.” He explained about how she’d brought Natalie out to the Graveyard as well.
Talya listened intently. “But Officer Grant, how did you find me in the first place?”
He was surprised to hear her address him by name. He supposed Emma or one of the nurses must have told her who he was. “It was a routine call from one of the neighbors whose house backs up to the Graveyard. Because wolves were involved, I got summoned to help out.”
Talya dropped her gaze to her hands folded on her lap. She grew silent and swallowed hard a couple of times. When the nurses started to move toward her, Emma lifted a hand in warning. The nurses backed off. Emma went to her and hovered both hands above her head.
Talya’s shoulders relaxed and some of the tension left her face.
Grant got it. Emma worked with trauma victims night and day. She’d seen everything. She clearly knew when a patient needed to talk, and when she needed a restorative moment.
It wasn’t long before Talya lifted her chin then met his gaze once more. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
That was the last thing he’d expected her to say. He searched her face. She now wore a hospital gown and the injuries on her arms were fully healed. Her color was much better. Still, he honestly didn’t recognize her. “I’m sorry, Talya, I don’t recall having met you before.”
Her lips turned down, then she bit her lower lip, hard. Her head bobbed once. “My husband died in Savage several months ago. He was shot to death outside one of the Strip Clubs. Several of the Border Patrol officers were there. You were one of them.”
He looked away from her searching his memories. He didn’t speak his thoughts aloud, how there were shootings every damn night. Talya’s husband had been one of hundreds over the past year. If Talya had been there, he might have turned his back to avoid seeing her pain. There was only so much an officer could absorb each night, each week, each difficult, horrendous year.
Finally, he met her gaze again. Maybe more information would help. “What month was this?”
“February.”
He frowned. Something about this woman and February began to hit some memories, a kind of clanking deep within his mind. He could recall getting word of a shooting on the Savage Strip, outside a club called Rock Hard, a real dive known for gaming and flame-enhanced sex.
“Was the club called Rock Hard?”
“Yes.”
The clanking grew louder.
He’d pulled up. Four other patrol vehicles were already there. A woman, with long red hair stood in the middle of the street. She must have been Talya. She’d covered her mouth with her hand and tears had streamed down her face as she stared down at the body of her husband. He’d been shot at least a dozen times.
Talya had lifted her gaze to him. Now he knew why he’d blocked it. Her story had chilled his blood because she’d spoken straight to him. “My sister was killed last week in the Graveyard. Before that, she’d been shot up with sapphire flame and used in a secret gambling club here in Savage, for her futurist gifts. The place was called The Sapphire Club.” Grant had never heard of it before. Afterward, he’d been unable to locate anything resembling an establishment by that name. Talya had continued, “They’d used my sister to predict winners and losers then she’d been killed for knowing too much. My husband was looking into her death. When will this end? What’s wrong with you people?”
She’d run her accusing glare, rightly so, around every club owner and officer there and every gawking human who’d come to enjoy the violence of Five Bridges. There would be no investigation of her husband’s murder. He was fae and a citizen of their under-policed and under-prosecuted world. That’s why Five Bridges had its own Border Patrol. They were a cut-off ghetto nation not subject to U.S. laws and justice.
He understood why the U.S. had made the decision to force their kind, the five alter species, to live separately from the States. Any human who entered Five Bridges forfeited justice as well. There was no guaranteed safety in their set-apart world.
“I remember the night now, Talya. It was a terrible situation. Had your sister been in this gambling club by choice?”
“Yes. She was being paid a portion of the profits. They paid her all right. They took her life. Later, the night you were there, the owners said my husband had gambling debts and that’s why he’d been killed. But he wasn’t a gambler. I think it was because he’d asked too many questions about my sister’s death.”
Grant processed what she’d told him. But this had happened months ago. “I recall looking for The Sapphire Club, but I couldn’t find it. You’re sure your sister gave you the right name?”
Talya released a heavy sigh. “I know she did because she took sapphire flame to heighten her futurism. I begged her to quit, but she wanted the money.”
“I’m sorry, Talya.”
Her features took on a familiar, weary look and not just because she was recovering from a near-death mauling. This was life in Five Bridges.
“All that to say,” she continued, “I haven’t exactly found peace in Revel. But I do remember you. I remember you were kind to me that night. Several of the officers were. But no one could help me.”
Grant wanted to ask about the attack that had landed her in the Graveyard, but Natalie suddenly caught his hand and squeezed. Her voice entered his mind. She needs to rest. See how pale she is?
You’re right. Aloud, he said, “I’m sorry we had to meet again under such extreme circumstance, but I’m glad you made it.”
Her smile was twisted. “I’m glad you did as well.” Her gaze slid from Grant to Natalie then back. “Thanks so much, both of you.”
