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“Is that the place you wanted to break into?”
“Never mind.” I stared at the unconscious mage. “He isn’t from The Corporation.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“He’s a mage, for starters.”
“The Corporation doesn’t hire mages? Sounds like discrimination.”
“He also didn’t expect me to be here, which means he isn’t here to kill me or torture me for information.”
Gunther used the steel toe of his boot to roll the mage onto his back. “You’re right. He’s not a winged monkey from The Corporation. I should’ve looked at him more closely.”
The beating of my heart slowed. “You recognize him?”
“His name is Cillian Pendleton.”
I didn’t recognize him from the meeting. “Another assassin from the guild?”
“No, he’s a PI. We sometimes use him to gather information before a job.” His eyes rounded. “I guess he was here to collect intel on you.”
“Thanks, genius. I’d already pieced that together myself.”
Gunther pondered the mage. “Who would have hired him to do that?”
“I can think of at least twenty options right off the top of my head.”
Gun pressed his hand flat against his chest. “I would never. Neither would Cam. And Charles is too dead to hire anybody. That leaves you with seventeen options. Eighteen if you include Kane, although I wouldn’t.”
I cast him a curious look. “Why not?”
“Because Kane wouldn’t hire anything out to Cillian. He has his own resources, although I think with you, he’d simply handle it himself.”
I agreed with his assessment. “I wouldn’t rule out Charles. He could’ve hired this guy before he died. He was pretty pissed when I kicked him out of the cemetery. Maybe he wanted to find a way to kick me out of the house in return.” There was no honor among thieves, or assassins. More proof that staying away from others was my best course of action.
Gun seemed to mull it over. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“With Cillian momentarily comatose, is there any way to find out for certain who hired him?” If it wasn’t Charles, I needed to know.
“His assistant, Gina. She won’t tell you anything, though. Let me talk to her and see what I can find out.”
“Can you call her now?”
Gun arched a neatly drawn eyebrow. “As in this very moment?”
“I’d like to know what he intended to do with the information.”
“Blackmail you, presumably. Or hand over your dirty little secrets to Kane to turn him against you.” He whistled. “Now thatwouldbe a dick move. Vintage Diamond.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You two were very close friends, I take it.”
Gun snorted. “Nobody was friends with Charles. It was a mutual toleration society.”
“Reception isn’t great in the house. You might need to call Gina from the porch.”
Gun eyed me closely. “You seem anxious about this. Is there anything you want to tell me about the dirty little secrets he might have discovered?”
“He didn’t discover anything. I intercepted him at the front door.” I had no intention of sharing my secret with Gunther Saxon or anybody else in Fairhaven. Friends would get hurt, and enemies would use it against me. “I just don’t want to end up on The Corporation’s radar. Would you?”
