“We’ll dye your hair,” Alexis says to Avery. “And, of course, a little cosmetics will help conceal your scar.” She smiles wanly as Avery touches her lip. “But more than that, you’ll be required to wear a mask. I’ll make sure it’s one to hide your features well.”
Fuck this. I don’t like it. Hell, I downright loathe the idea of Avery going anywhere near those sick fuckers. But… “I’m going in with her.”
“You can’t.”
I pin Larkin with a heated glare. “If she goes in, I go in with her.”
“You chased down a transport van in broad daylight and beat the shit out of one of the suspects, Detective Quinn. These people know who you are.” He looks at Carson. “You’re detective here, however, well—he would work.”
I drop my head, a defeated laugh falling from my mouth before I’m able to look up again. “And how’s that?”
Larkin’s smile sets me on edge. “He’s your leak,” he says simply. “He already has a well known reputation in the gambling ring. He’s not our ideal member, of course, but with a little tweaking, his background could be forged to better suit one of a potential buyer at the auction.”
Silence builds, squeezing the room in a tense grip. My gaze hard and steady, unable to move past Larkin, I say slow and concise, “What did you say?”
With a huff, Larkin fixes his eyes on Carson. “Superlative resources, detective. Alec Carson has been feeding information to the press for a price to help pay off his gambling debt.”
His words aren’t registering clearly, his voice an annoying background noise to the blood cooking my veins, rushing past my ears. When I manage to look at Carson, the roar of blood crescendos. Carson doesn’t deny it.
“You fucking piece of shit—” I’m across the room and have Carson by his collar and against the wall in three steps.
“Quinn…let me explain.” He latches on to my wrists, tries to remove my hold. I curl my fingers in deeper as I snap his back against the wall hard.
“You fucking sold out your own department?”
“Just a few times.” He actually says this, sending rage careening through my arteries. “Not when it mattered.”
“Quinn—” Sadie’s voice bleeds into my awareness. “Stop. This is good.”
My gaze swings to her, my eyes wide. Of course she has no qualms about Carson being a greedy leak. Forcefully relaxing my hold, I loosen my fingers just enough for Carson to wriggle free.
I scan the room, darting glances at each person in my house. People hide things. About themselves, their personal lives—problems and how they cope with their issues. I’m not fucking heartless; I get that some extremes are a necessary evil. But being a leak is pretty low on my list.
Sadie’s secrets, her double life has nearly cost her and others—me included—more than our careers. Lives were at stake.
When my gaze lands on A
very, I feel as if I’ve been sucker punched right in the gut. Fear is evident on her pretty face—fear of me. My fists still locked by my sides, arms trembling with strain, I hate myself for questioning her. Trying to read her. Figure out if she’s fearful of me…or if she’s hiding her own secrets.
I shake myself out of that thought and turn back toward Carson, who’s still pressed up against the wall and eyeing me like I might attack him again.
He holds up his hands. “It really was just a few times. I was just…desperate. But when Avery was abducted—” He swallows. “I quit. I promise.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Larkin says.
My fury is directed toward him and his interference with my team, my investigation, and now my life. “This ends now.”
“Please,” Avery says. “Let’s just hear him out, then we’ll all decide.”
I wave my hand through the air. “Why do I care when Carson stopped leaking like a damn faucet?”
“Because it’s important to your investigation.” Larkin moves toward the center of the room. “I was the one who leaked the Alpha’s signature to the media.”
And inadvertently or not, may have caused the death of three women. Sickened, I shake my head. “I’ve heard enough. You should’ve contacted me before making such a fucking dumb move, Larkin.” I grab the USB drive from the table and head toward my bedroom. “Everyone can see themselves out.”
Avery grabs my arm as I try to pass, halting me. “I have to do this, Quinn.”
The pain in her voice stabs my chest. “We’ll discuss it later. I put your stuff in the guest bedroom.”