Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)(27)

“Is that the illusion VIP we’ve been expecting?” Patricia asked.

“Yes.”

“I told him you were busy. He says he will wait as long as it takes. What do you want me to do?”

I did tell him to come back during business hours. I also needed to know why the hell he’d been in Linus’ house.

“Is he alone?”

“Yes.”

“Let him in and put him under guard. Do not injure him in any way unless he becomes aggressive, and if he does become aggressive, I need bulletproof evidence of it, because we can’t afford a conflict with the Russian Imperium.”

“Got it.”

The iron gate blocking the entrance rolled into the wall. Konstantin smiled and started walking.

There was something disturbingly smug about that smile.

Also, his assumed identity seemed familiar somehow. Where had I seen that face before?

They cleared the wall and walked into the front yard. Konstantin stopped and looked directly at me.

“I suggest you get home as soon as possible, Ms. Baylor. The clock is ticking. Tell Sasha that this round goes to me.”

What the hell did that mean? I would have to sort it out after we were done here. I hung up and returned to the study.

The atmosphere had changed while I was gone. Elias and Julian were clearly wary, while Kaylee, still fixated on Alessandro, spoke in a monotone voice.

“. . . dinner around seven. I had homework, so I went to my suite. I don’t know what Mom did after that. Usually, she listened to audiobooks on Sunday nights. It was her way to decompress.”

I took my seat. My magic net was still in place. I skimmed Julian’s mind. Another halcyon. He certainly wasn’t calm—I could sense turmoil deep within the shell—but he was firmly in control. I moved on to Kaylee.

“When did you go to bed?” Agent Garcia asked.

“Around eleven. Mom was still up. I had come down to grab a Tylenol. Statistical Methods always gives me a headache.”

My magic’s tendrils reached for Luciana’s daughter and slipped across the surface of her shell.

“When did you wake up this morning?” Agent Garcia asked.

Kaylee sighed. “Around eight.”

One of my tendrils burrowed through her shell. It was so sudden, I almost jerked back. The shield on Kaylee’s mind was paper-thin. Inside the shield her mind churned. It wasn’t a pearl, it was a glowing coal sitting in a bed of ashes.

“My first class is at ten . . . Look, my mother was murdered and you’re asking about my sleep and school schedules. What does this have to do with anything? Why aren’t you out there”—she pointed at the window—“looking for whoever did this?”

Agent Wahl opened his mouth.

“Ms. Cabera,” Alessandro said. “We are deeply sorry for your loss and the emotional brutality of this visit. We understand the great amount of stress you must be under.”

She pivoted toward him. “I just want the killer found. I can’t have my mother back, but I can have justice.”

“Just a couple more questions.” Alessandro offered her an apologetic smile.

“Fine. Since it’s you who’s asking,” she said.

“Do you own a blue hoodie?”

Kaylee blinked. Her mind spun, the glow of her magic growing brighter. There was some halcyon there, but the rest was something I’d never seen before. So much power, but so little training. She reminded me of Arthur, except my nephew was thirteen months old, and she was twenty-two.

“Ummm . . . maybe? I don’t remember.”

“Please try,” Alessandro encouraged.

“Probably. Rice’s colors are grey and navy, so I might have one. My closet is like a labyrinth. I have things I haven’t worn since middle school in there.”

“Do you ever take walks with your mother?” Alessandro asked.

Kaylee’s mind flashed with angry red. The tendril of my magic vanished, severed into nothing. Pain lashed my mind and in that brief instant, I felt the veins in my brain throb.

Kaylee Cabera was Linus’ would-be assassin. And she hadn’t even noticed that her magic slapped me. She killed Pete. She was the reason Linus was comatose.

How the hell did she get out of the house? Her mother had special clearance, but Kaylee didn’t. Why was she alive?

The two Cabera brothers came to attention. They must’ve realized Alessandro was going somewhere with his questions.

Kaylee gave a jerky shrug. “My mother didn’t walk, Prime Sagredo. She had a chauffeur who took her wherever she wanted to go.”

Liar.

She was right there, five feet away. I could blast her mind with my song, and she would confess to everything.

Alessandro reached, took my fingers into his, and squeezed my hand. He knew me too well. Nobody in that room realized that I was on the edge of violence, but he did, and he was trying to keep me from leaping off that cliff.

Kaylee’s gaze snagged on our hands. A furious spark flared in her mind.

The FBI agents leaned forward, focused on Kaylee like sharks.

Alessandro gave her his charming, irresistible smile, trying to defuse the bomb before it had a chance to explode.

I stared straight at her. Go ahead. Target me. Hit me. Do it. Do it right now, so I can end this. All I needed was the tiniest excuse, the smallest justification. I had the FBI right here as my witnesses. Just a little bit of aggression, Kaylee. Take a swing, and I will make you relive Pete’s death until your mind snaps like a twig.