Borrowed Souls (Soul Charmer #1)(43)

“Think this is the first time I’ve seen you in normal clothes,” he said as way of greeting. She’d prefer he ignored her attire altogether, especially after the insinuations from Nate last night.

Despite her aversion to small talk, she’d do it for Ford. Pleasantries had to be better than the alternatives when speaking with the man who threatened to butcher your lone sibling. “Scrubs are only for work. It’s my day off.”

“Ah. So you’ve got time to talk with me then.” He didn’t bother making it a question. She wasn’t going anywhere until he let her, and they both knew that.

“I have errands to run before my other gig starts,” she said as a subtle reminder she was working toward helping him. “What do you need?”

“Heard you had a run in with one of my guys last night.”

“I saw him, but I wouldn’t really classify it as more than that.” Mentioning the sexual innuendo and suggestions she should make money on her back to Ford wouldn’t help her, but she still wished he’d rein Nate in. She’d pick the weird woman spying on her over a Nate encounter any day.

“Nate would.”

She balked.

“You’re surprised?” He shrugged. “He said you were on a date.”

“I told him I wasn’t on a date.”

“Said instead of thinking about your poor brother—who, for the moment, I am keeping safe and whole—you were drinking and getting awfully cozy with some guy.”

The threat punched her in the throat. Her inhale squeaked to a halt. Would Ford start giving her bits of Josh if he thought she wasn’t sticking to their agreement? Would he kill her? Her mind scrambled for the right response, while her lungs pulled several quick breaths to get her breathing back on track. Zeroing in on Nate’s fault, Callie asked, “Did Nate tell you who I was with?”

The mob leader arched a brow, but stayed planted against her driver’s side door. “Does it matter?”

“It sure mattered to him last night. I was with Derek, the big guy who works for the Soul Charmer.”

Acid continued to eat away at her stomach lining, but Callie’s confidence grew when Ford let out a short string of curses.

“I was there on business for the Charmer. He’s not giving me a soul until I finish out this bit.”

“Yeah. I know.” Ford had probably talked to the Charmer himself. He was the type of guy who would be chatty with the local soul dealer.

“So Josh is okay?” She couldn’t hide her fear anymore. Her mind had never been as abused as it had been in recent weeks. Ford checking up on her was the pathetic icing on the stale gingerbread house.

“He’s fine. As long as you’re holding up your part of the deal, your brother stays whole.”

His choice of words didn’t exactly reassure Callie. One could be black and blue from head to toe and still be considered whole. Saying so wasn’t going to make Josh any safer, though. “Okay. Thanks. Is—”

“No more questions about Josh. He’s useful, and as long as you’re useful, he gets to keep breathing.” Ford cocked his head to the right and let out a sigh before continuing. “Have you looked at that police substation yet?”

Thinking about the next part of her parlay with Ford had been low on her to-do list. Stealing when she was younger had meant food and safety for her and Josh. This protected them, too, but there was a big difference between filching perishables from the grocery store or cash from unattended purses at movie theaters, and stealing crime scene investigator files, and she wasn’t ready to be a criminal again. “No, I thought you were going to provide instructions. I’m sure there is someone better for this job … ”

He scrunched his face and sucked his front teeth. “Don’t try me. You’re doing it. I’ll make sure you get the building plans, and we’ll let you know where the DNA files are kept.”

“What if these files don’t show you what you want?”

“You worry about getting us the files. Your face doesn’t show on police handouts. That’s your skill here. My guys can handle the rest.”

Callie didn’t normally stand on the moral high ground, which apparently made her prime Soul Charmer bait, but even from her stance of “don’t be a dick,” what Ford tasked her with was wicked. Helping his crew understand how police were investigating crimes where evidence and DNA had been obscured by soul magic was a cliff dive from her moral middle ground. She and Josh would be cozy together at rock bottom.

Ford hadn’t budged from his lazy spot against her car. If she owned a classic car, Ford might have pulled off the signature tough-guy stance against it. Instead she was a little worried his right foot was going to knock off the rubber detailing on her door. It wasn’t essential, but there were few parts of her car that held together. She’d like to keep it as intact as possible.

“You seemed stressed,” Ford said with sincerity that would have fooled her mom. It didn’t fool Callie.

Was he trying to get under her skin? She was almost fed up enough to list off all the sources of her stress, with his threats at the very top, but self-preservation won out. “It’s my constant state of being.” She wished it weren’t true.

“I can hook you up with a little oblivion, to take the edge off.” He pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket. She wanted to vomit at the sight of the crystalline white inside it.