City of the Lost (Rockton 1)

"You already have."

My head jerks up.

"It's Diana, isn't it? You found her with him, in that fire."

"Which does not mean--"

"Of course it does. She lured him there. Mick said you were asking about her turning tricks. I wanted to speak to you about that directly and..." A flash of grief. "I didn't get to it nearly as quickly as I should have. It was no misunderstanding, Casey. She was acting out, in so many ways, and that was just one of them."

"You think that's why she'd lure Mick?" I ask.

"I know if she said she wanted to talk to him about it, he'd have met with her. Is that a motive for murder? I barely dare hazard a guess. Something's come loose in that girl's head. I suspect it was always only a little wobbly before, because otherwise you wouldn't have been friends with her. But since Diana's arrived here, it's broken, and you know it. That's why you backed off."

I open my mouth to answer, but Isabel continues. "Diana lured Mick there and killed him."

"They had sex," Dalton says.

"Bullshit. Mick would never--"

"There were signs he'd had sex shortly before his death."

"With me, Eric. In the backroom about an hour before he left."

"While the Roc was still open?"

"Is that a crime?"

Dalton crosses his arms. "You left the bar unattended and had sex in the backroom with your boyfriend, who wasn't feeling well."

"He was feeling fine then."

"Then I'd suggest you get your ass to the doc's to confirm that for our report."

"Confirm it how? He wore a condom."

"Produce the condom." Dalton nudges me. "We'll talk to you later, Isabel."

"It's about Diana." She steps between us to face me. "Information I've been debating telling you, because you already don't like me very much, and this won't help. But it's something you need to know."

"It can wait," Dalton says. "Casey's so tired she can barely stay upright."

"No, I..." I want to say I'll handle it, but I can't. "I'm sorry. Eric's right. Whatever it is, right now, I'd probably only hear half of it."

"Then I'll talk to you, Eric," she says.

He exhales. "I'm just as tired, and I want to get Casey home before we both fall over."

"Will!" Isabel calls.

I see Anders down the road. He looks as if he'd been heading our way but was stopped by a citizen. He says a few quick words to the woman and then hurries to us.

"Will, could you please walk Casey home?" Isabel says. "She's exhausted, and I need to speak to Eric."

Dalton hesitates and then says, "Yeah, okay, walk her home. Make sure she gets in bed."

"Alone," Isabel calls as we start to go.

Anders flips her the finger.