Inked Magic by Jory Strong Read Free Book Online Page B

Sean. “She may be related to a cop.”
    “Am I looking for dirt?”
    Cathal felt a twist in his gut. “Leverage.”
    Silence stretched between. Heavy. Considering.
    Sean ended it by asking, “This have something to do with what happened to your cousin Brianna and her friend?”
    Cathal’s fingers tightened on the phone. Too late he realized he should have waited a day before making the call. At their first meeting Sean had told him he liked to know who he was working for, and since then more than once Cathal had witnessed a hunch of Sean’s paying off.
    It didn’t stop him from bluffing. “Why would you think that?”
    A sigh followed. Soft enough not to get the testosterone pumping, but clear enough to convey,
Are you serious? Give me a break here.
    “Two and two usually equals four,” Sean said. “And at the risk of putting myself in harm’s way to prove it, how’s this?
    “A kid was buried today. Brianna’s friend, and the same one she was with when paramedics were called out to the scene of a drug overdose. I assume the other members of your family were also at the funeral, including your uncle. And now you’re trying to send me out on what sounds like personal business involving a woman who may have ties to the authorities, instead of the music business—knowing that despite parting company with the force, when it comes to theDunnes, you’re the only one I’ll work for. How am I doing so far? Am I closing in on four?”
    Cathal was tempted to say,
Forget I called
. He could do without Sean’s help. But Sean was an ace in the hole, a card he could play if his father and uncle decided to send men to learn more about Etaín. “You’re closing in on four.”
    “Okay. Straight-up, Cathal. No bullshit. No dodging. Truth, but only as much of it as I need to know to decide if I can take this job on. How does this involve Brianna?”
    “She was drugged and gang-raped. So was her friend Caitlyn.”
    “You’re positive about this? She wouldn’t be the first kid to experiment and get in over her head then claim she was an innocent victim when things went bad.”
    “I’m positive. Or I wouldn’t be making this call.”
    Sean exhaled loudly, hoping for a different answer and not getting one. Having to wrestle with his conscience just as Cathal had struggled with his. A fight he had a feeling was going to get worse the more time he spent with Etaín.
    “You think this woman was somehow involved?”
    “No. But I think she might be able to shed some light on the situation. I’d like to keep her as far away from my father and uncle as I can.”
    Silence. Once again heavy and considering. Then finally, “I’ll see what I can find out about her. No promises you’ll get the leverage you’re looking for.”
    Cathal mentally shrugged. Anything Sean found was a bonus now that he’d met Etaín. Getting her in bed had become the priority.
    “That’s fine. You’ll bill me regardless.”
    “Damn right. I’ll give you an update later tonight.”
    “I’ll be waiting.”

Four

    E taín pulled into the hospital parking lot. Parker was waiting for her, wearing casual clothes to disguise against being made as a Fed. With blond hair touching his shirt collar, he might have pulled it off except for the stranger standing next to him. Everything about him screamed FBI agent, and a cute one at that.
    She parked and swung off the bike, freeing the sketch pad and box of pencils bungeed onto the back of the saddle for quick access. She wouldn’t need either, but they masked the truth of how she was able to produce images from a victim’s memory.
    As she walked toward the men, she amused herself by imagining her gaydar would soon start pinging, and in the course of getting to whatever room they were going to, she’d discover her brother’s companion had a thing for tattoo artists given to spells of being in drag.
    “You won’t need the drawing supplies,” Parker said by way of greeting, holding out his hand.