Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 27)

“Confess.”

“I’ll confess that we stole things and were going to steal more.”

“Like you stole the murder weapon?” Olaf said.

Todd glared up at him, indignant again. It seemed like one of his go-to emotions. “I told you, we did not take it, and if we had, we would not have put it in the garden shed. Something that valuable would need to go someplace much more secure.”

“Like where?” I asked, and widened my eyes at him, leaning in a little closer. I could play to my outward appearance in a good cause.

“If I tell you where we would hide things, will that help Bobby?”

“Maybe,” I said.

“We have a safe in the house.”

“It got opened today before they found the bagh nakha,” Edward said.

“Not the safe in the master bedroom. The one in the basement.”

I looked at Edward, but he shook his head. “There was no safe in the basement, Todd,” I said.

“But there is. I promise you it’s there.”

“What’s inside it?” Olaf asked.

“Small things, but not that boc whatever. I have never seen it outside of Ray’s study before.”

“Did Carmichael help you steal the small things?” I asked.

Todd nodded. “Ray barred Muriel from the house after she said some unfortunate things to Bobby about his condition.”

“Why would Carmichael risk his job for the two of you?”

“For the money. For his cut of the money when we sold the items.”

“Do you have a list of everything you sold and how much you got for it?”

“We do, and I’ll give it all to you. Is that enough to save Bobby?”

“I’m afraid not, Todd,” Edward said softly, gently, like a friend who’s come to tell you your pet died.

“What will save him?”

“Absolute proof that someone else committed the crime,” I said.

“There is no time for that,” Olaf said from the wall. “We need a confession.”

“But I didn’t do it. We did not hurt Ray.”

“Then Bobby dies while we look for other suspects,” I said.

“God, that’s monstrous. It’s not justice. It’s legal murder.”

“I feel the same way you do. I don’t want to pull the trigger on Bobby, but legally I have to do it before the time limit runs out.”

“If I confess, then what happens?”

“If you confess to the murder, then that will get Bobby off the hook,” I said.