Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic #1)(91)

“Ryder?” She paused. “Earlier today. Why?”

“No reason.”

Because he broke up with me in the hospital. Because no matter how sad I feel, I’m starting to feel something else: angry.

“What happened with Ryder?” she asked. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. We…he…uh…we’re done.”

“Done?”

“We tried a date. It didn’t go well. He ended it.”

I could hear her quiet breathing and the sound of the festival filtering through her phone.

“When did he end it?”

I did not need an angry sister going after my boyfriend.

“Just, if you see him, let him know we need to talk, okay? Now: how’s the rally going?” I asked in boss mode, ready to change the subject.

“Good. Busy. Weather’s cooperating. Go home, okay, Delaney? Jean’s still worried about you.”

“Roger that. Eat a deep-fried rhubarb dog for me.”

She snorted and cut off the call. I hung up and rubbed at the headache starting behind my eyes. The power was singing along, spreading out in my head like it was testing the boundaries of my control. It was looking for a way out.

I would love to give it one.

A sound at the back of the office stilled me.

I hadn’t locked the front door. Someone was in the building with me. Someone who had gotten past me while I was questioning Dan.

I quietly opened my drawer, looking for my spare gun there. Nothing. I hadn’t been wearing my gun since I’d been shot, didn’t even know where it was.

Shit.

I moved quietly down the hall to the door to the cells, wondering if Dan had anyone in his life who would be trying to break him out. I peered through the small window in the door.

Dan was lying on his cot, his back to the door. He didn’t look like he was waiting for someone.

If it wasn’t to spring Dan, why would someone break into a police station?

I turned and stopped.

Margot Lapointe stepped out of the records room at the far end of the hall looking as startled as I felt. Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, the curve of lavender-feathered hair extensions drifting near her jaw. “Chief.” Her eyes darted side to side, checking the shadows for movement. “I was looking for the bathroom. What are you doing here?”

“Well, I work here.” I smiled. “Bathrooms are this way.” I motioned toward the office behind us.

She turned and walked out into the office area. But before I could reach my desk, she turned again.

She had a gun pointed at me.

“Easy.” Training and painkillers rushed to keep me calm. “You don’t have to do this, Margot. We can talk.”

“He had to take his revolver,” she muttered, eyes never straying from my face. “After I went through all the trouble of knowing which guns he owns. Which guns he keeps handy. He used the damn revolver.”

I could tackle her, probably get shot again in the process. If she landed a decent blow to my ribs, I’d black out.

No cell phone.

Landline too far away.

No one coming to work today.

“I watched him for weeks!” she said, her face twisted in disgust. “He loved his new Glock. Couldn’t wait to try it out. But then he uses that piece of crap Colt on you.”

I glanced at the gun in her hand. Glock.

And suddenly it made sense, even though it was almost impossible.

“You were in the bushes,” I said. “You fired the gun at the same time Dan did. It was your bullet that hit me.”

“The bullet they took from the scene doesn’t match his gun,” she said. “But I’ve got that covered now.” She patted her free hand over her pocket.

“Margot, we can work this out.”

“Oh, this works out perfectly. You’re here alone. Just. Perfect.”

A shadow briefly crossed the window in the door behind her. It was probably a tourist looking for directions and leaving, since the Closed sign was posted.

Good. I didn’t need any more people getting hurt.

“What about Dan?” I asked. “Is he in on this with you? You and Lila?”

“That idiot? The only thing he’s good for is to blame everything on. And Lila has nothing to do with this!” Her hand shook, her knuckles going white.

I wondered if I could pull on the power inside me and use it to stop her.

But the power was nothing but useless noise in my head. I was not the mortal allowed to wield it.

“He broke my sister’s heart!” she yelled. “He ruined her life, ruined her business. She gave up everything for him, and he took and he took. Took her life away. She’s never been the same. He took her away from me. He deserved to die. He deserved it!”

“Heim?” I said, wishing the threat of a gun in my face would clear the drugs out of my brain. I was thinking too slowly. Still a step behind her. “Lila didn’t kill Heim.”

“No,” Margot said, shaking her head with little jerks. “She didn’t have to. I love her. I love her,” she snarled. “Nobody hurts her again.” She raised the gun.

My head suddenly cleared. Nothing like a bucket of fear to get the brain working.

“If you shoot me, they’ll know you did it. My sisters are police officers. They won’t stop until they find you.”