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CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Madelyn
Somehow I wasn’t surprised that the first thing Dexter did when we all ended up back in the Vigil office was ask for the box from me and then immediately start checking it over. Feeling wiped out from the stress—and, okay, the little bit of excitement—of the past couple of hours, I flopped into one of the chairs by the central table, watching him.
“Looking for secret compartments?” I asked.
“It is possible it’s some kind of puzzle box, and your dad just never mentioned that specific aspect,” he said. “I’m not seeing anything obvious, but if there’s a hidden section, I’ll find it eventually.” He spoke mildly but with total confidence in his abilities. Kind of a welcome change from Logan a.k.a. Mr. Cocky.
Who’d propped himself against the computer desk and folded his arms over his chest, glowering at me with a scowl. I guessed it was only a matter of time before he decided to start berating me for my choice of actions with his words as well as his eyes. Never mind that I’d actually achieved the most important part of my goals in the end.
Never mind that I’d saved hislife. Or maybe that was partly why he was pissed off—he didn’t like that he couldn’t claim I’d been completely inept.
I definitely wasn’t expecting an apology for his cruel comments earlier today anytime soon.
Slade leaned against the table next to me and bumped his foot against one of the chair legs. “I knew you were kickass after the moves you showed off at the mechanic shop, but today was a totally new level. That’ll teach us to underestimate you. And you found your dad’s box too! You’re going to put us out of a job.”
I laughed a little roughly, knowing how close I’d been to potentially losing my own life. “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.” But the praise felt good. It was nice to know someone here appreciated what I’d managed to accomplish, even if it hadn’t been according to the Vigil’s plans. “I just wanted to be an equal part in the investigation.”
Logan snorted but still didn’t speak. I bit back a snarky remark and focused on a question that’d started to bother me while I’d been driving back and the adrenaline rush of the fight had worn off. “There is something that doesn’t make sense about this whole thing.”
Dexter glanced up, still working over the box with his deft fingers even without his full attention on it. “What’s that?”
I frowned. “Why did those guys at the bar have the box at all? It seemed like the manager was checking it out, since it was on his desk. And I guess they were the ones who stole my car too?”
Slade shrugged. “They’re part of a pretty large gang that’s active in the city—we clashed with them over a different case last year, which must be how the one guy recognized Logan. Stealing stuff is par for the course with those types. They must have grabbed the car and then taken the box with them after they dropped it off in case it was valuable.”
“But it wasn’t,” I pointed out. “It shouldn’t have taken them long to figure that out, and then they’d have chucked it. It’s been a week since my car was taken. And would a gang normally be all secretive about dropping off a car at a chop shop?”
Slade spread his hands. “Who knows? Criminals don’t always think the ways the rest of us would find totally logical. Maybe one of the thieves knew his boss had a thing for Celtic knots.”
“It’s just hard to imagine it’s something that random. It’s weird that they picked my car to steal in the first place when they couldn’t do more with it than sell it for parts, right?”
“It’s not important,” Logan snapped, finally speaking up. “You have it back. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I think the reason it was stolen is pretty important, because if they targeted me once over something like that, who knows whether they’ll come after me in some other way again. Or if it had something to do with my dad somehow—”
Logan pushed off the desk and smacked his hands down on the edge of the table, outright glaring at me now. “There doesn’t have to be a reason people do shitty things, Madelyn. It was probably just a bunch of punks being idiots to pass the time. Which we’d have found out on our own without you risking your life if you’d stuck to the plan instead of running straight into danger like you’ve got a death wish.”
The anger I’d been suppressing flared to the surface. “I know I didn’t handle it perfectly, and I’m sorry I had to drag you in to help me out of the blue. But it worked out to all our benefits in the end. If we’d stuck withyourplan, we’d never have found the box at all or even known they had it. There’s no way we’d have been sneaking into the office without being seen while the bar was open and there were employees and customers all over the place.”
“If you had a problem with my plan, you should have talked to me about it and we’d have come up with a different one.”
“Oh, sure, like you’ve listened to me so much before now.”
His expression tightened. “I’d rather come up with a plan we can both agree on than have you pulling risky stunts that could get you killed.”
For fuck’s sake. “Right, and breaking into a stranger’s house wasn’t risky? Shoving your way into a mechanic shop you know is involved in illegal dealings wasn’t risky? It’s not like we got attackedthere—oh, wait, we did.” My hand moved to the scabbed over scratch on my arm instinctively. “None of us knew the people in that bar were going to be that dangerous—or if you did, you didn’t bother to fill me in. If you can take risks, so can I.”
Logan let out a scoffing sound. “Iknow how to take care of myself.”
“And so do I. Or did you miss the part where I saved my assandyours in the end. You’d have gotten a bullet in the head if I hadn’t jumped in there.”
The thought of the gang woman having gotten off her shot, of Logan dying, sent a chill through me that doused some of my anger. But Logan kept going.
“We were only in that fight because you got yourself into a mess to begin with,” he growled.
“And I’d have gotten out of the messwithouta fight if you hadn’t already been hassling gangsters all over town enough to get recognized,” I shot back.
