Darkness Devours (Dark Angels 3)

I shook my head and pushed the gate open. Uncle Rhoan was just stepping around the side of the house. His gaze swept down and came to rest briefly on the disks I held before continuing on, taking in the state of my clothing. His gaze had narrowed by the time it met mine, but all he said was, “Any luck?”

“These disks are the ones Blake took on the day Nadler was married.” I slipped the smaller one into his hand, as well. “That last one could prove useful when it comes to looking for the current Nadler.”

He nodded and pocketed the disks. “Where are you two off to now?”

“What, now we have to report our every move to you?” Jak said.

“If you want to remain out of jail and on this case, yes,” Rhoan said, rather mildly considering the spark of annoyance that flared in his eyes.

I touched Jak’s arm, stopping him from saying anything else, and said, “Nadler’s lawyer was murdered last night. We might go talk to his secretary, and see if it was somehow connected to Nadler, or if he was working on anything else that might have warranted his death.”

Rhoan continued to eye me dubiously. He knew me well enough to understand that I was planning a whole lot more than that. “I don’t suppose you were at that fund-raiser last night, were you?”

“Yes. We found the body and called the cops, in fact.” There was no sense denying it, because he could easily enough trace the call back to my phone.

“And the murder? Did you also witness it?”

“We would have hung around if we had.”

His expression was somewhat disbelieving. “You should have hung around anyway.”

I grimaced. “I had somewhere else I had to be. I couldn’t.”

“Doesn’t explain why Jak didn’t hang around.”

Jak just shrugged. Truth be told, he was probably wondering why he hadn’t hung around also.

Rhoan grunted. It wasn’t a happy sound. “I won’t tell you not to talk to Logan’s secretary, because you’ll just go ahead and do it anyway. But I do expect you to keep me up-to-date with what—if anything—you discover. Because believe me, if I find out you’re keeping stuff back, I will throw your asses in jail until this is all over. And not even my sister will get you out of it.”

I knew an ultimatum when I heard one, so I simply nodded. He continued to eye me for several seconds, then stepped to one side and allowed us to pass.

“Well,” Jak said, once we were clear of the house and walking back to our cars, “that was intense.”

“Yep. And he was deadly serious about throwing us in jail.”

“I gathered that, so keep the man updated, for Christ’s sake.”

I flashed him a grin. “What? You don’t fancy cooling your heels in jail with me?”

“Sorry, no. I’ve been in jail once when I ignored a judge’s ‘no-print’ order.” He shuddered briefly. “I don’t care to repeat the experience—even with you.”

I snorted softly. “Do you think you can use your wily press ways to uncover where the secretary lives?”

“That isn’t even a challenge for a reporter as good as me.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned my butt against the side of his car while he made several phone calls. Eventually he turned and said, “Okay, she lives in a town house in Doncaster—you want to come with me?”

I shook my head. “It’ll save you driving me back here.”

“I wouldn’t mind—”

“I would. You and me trapped in a small car is not a good idea.”

“You don’t trust me? I’m mortified.”

“A statement that would be more believable if you didn’t have that smirk on your face.” I pushed away from the car. “Just give me the address and I’ll meet you there.”

He did. “Better not be late—I just might start questioning her without you.”