The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay Read Free Book Online

image in the long over-the-sink mirror. Minus the mascara and clear lip gloss I usually wore to work, I looked like the same old Charlie. Hair up. Small diamond studs in my ears. And my T-shirt of choice. The cotton V-neck. I slipped Bryn’s charm over my head, finding comfort in the weight and warmth of the disk as it settled between my breasts.
    Feeling a little better at seeing the usual me, I shoved my soiled clothes into a bag, making sure to pull out the matches Auggie had slid into my palm before he died, and then made my way down to the evidence room to turn in the gun I’d used on the first jinn to attack me, as well as the bloody clothes. The matches I tucked safely into the back pocket of my jeans.
    As I rounded the corner, a couple spilled into the hallway from the chief’s office. Crap. I was already pivoting on my heels when a voice called out:
    “Charlie! Oh, thank God.”
    The last thing I needed was to go through the wringer with the Motts, but since they knew me from all the times Amanda had babysat and stayed at the house, I had no choice but to turn around with a fake smile plastered on my face.
    Marti, Amanda’s mom, rushed toward me. “We just came from the hospital. The doctors can’t tell us anything. We heard you were at the school. Please tell us our baby is going to be okay.”
    Cold and bony, her hands gripped both of mine with a strength that surprised me considering how thin and fragile she appeared in her black slacks, lightweight pink sweater set, and expensive blonde bob. Gently, I removed her manicured claws and used the most calming tone I could muster. “We’re doing everything we can to figure out what happened, Marti. And how to fix it.”
    A snort broke out behind her. “Hanging out at the station doesn’t seem like—”
    “Cass,” Marti warned her husband with a light hand on his arm even as she continued to smile at me.
    Cassius Mott was the younger brother of celebrated research scientist Titus Mott. And he was the biggest good-for-nothing I’d ever known. Besides being a first-rate asshole, he squandered his share of the Mott fortune day after day on drugs, fast cars, gambling, partying, and probably a whole slew of other illegal activities. He was tall, dark-haired, and probably good-looking if one could get past the attitude. Which I couldn’t.
    “Have you found any leads?” Marti asked gently, always softening the crassness of her husband. “No one can tell us anything. If there’s a cure, if she’ll wake up …”
    I thought of the matches Auggie gave me. “Nothing solid, but we’re doing our best. I wouldn’t settle for anything less.” Three years ago we’d met at Hope Ridge. She needed help with carpooling, and I needed a babysitter in the afternoons for Em. It had worked out perfectly. “Look, I care about Amanda, too. She’s been a great big sister to Emma and a big help to me. I’m going to do everything I can to figure this out.”
    “I know you will.”
    Cass rolled his eyes, looking as though he’d rather be anywhere but here, finding out about his kid. Asshole. “I don’t know why my brother even bothers with you people. Come on, Marti.” He marched away, straightening the collar on his salmon-colored golf shirt, Marti giving me a hopeless look and then trailing in his wake. I wanted to run to her and shake some sense into her, but after three years of subtly placed comments over my kitchen table, I knew she wouldn’t listen. Not until she reached a breaking point. If she even had one.
    Chief Abernathy stepped into the hallway and followed my gaze to the retreating figures with a hard set to his square jaw. He must’ve heard the exchange in the hallway, and he hadn’t liked it one bit.
    A bear of a man, the chief had street-tough senses and a boxer’s intimidating face. His hands were as big as oven mitts and solid as a rock, just like the rest of him. “That guy rubs everybody the wrong way,” he commented, in a deep voice