Killer Instinct (Instinct #2)(36)

“As a matter of fact there is,” she said. “But first, cheers.”

The overall lighting in the Palm could best be described as an indoor solar eclipse, but as Elizabeth leaned forward out of the shadows to clink my glass I got a much better look at her face. “What are those from?” I asked, pointing.

There were two butterfly bandages along her hairline. As opposed to the other bandages from her heroics in Times Square, these were new.

“Oh, this,” she said, pointing up at her forehead. “I think it was from one of the shingles.”

“Shingles?”

“Yeah, from when the house blew up.”

“What house?”

“The one where a bearded guy with an AK-47 tried to kill me this afternoon.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Elizabeth stopped deadpanning and started to explain, beginning with the man who approached her in Starbucks, which ultimately led her out to Pelham to meet a young Muslim named Gorgin, who was going to help her until the bearded man with the AK-47 showed up. Now Gorgin was dead and the house was leveled, blown to smithereens by a one-two punch of C-4 and piped-in gas, which she managed to escape with only seconds to spare.

“And I thought I was having a bad day,” I said.

“Oh, and I almost forgot. That mystery man in Starbucks? He’s a friend of the mayor.”

“How do you know?”

“I made a stop at City Hall before heading out to Pelham,” she said. “Deacon admitted the guy was an informant for him.”

“Did he give you a name?”

“Of course not,” she said. “Which brings me to the second thing you’re going to do after we enjoy our drinks. You’re coming with me tonight to find Deacon.”

“To do what?”

“Hold him steady while I punch him in the face.”

“Oh, is that all?”

“His informant nearly got me blown up today,” she said. “You should’ve seen the flames.”

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorched. Still, “Deacon’s never going to tell you who the guy is,” I said.

Elizabeth let out a defeated sigh. “You’re right.”

Whoever said Misery loves company never saw anything like the look on her face. As bad as I was feeling, I felt even worse for her.

“C’mon,” I said, signaling for the check. “Let’s get out of here.”

“And go where?”

“You’ll see,” I said.





CHAPTER 49


ELIZABETH KEPT asking me where I was taking her, and I kept answering that she’d find out soon enough. It was hardly helping her mood, but I knew what I was doing. Had I actually told her where we were going, she would’ve turned right around.

“For the last time, who lives here?” she asked.

We were standing outside a townhouse on East 84th Street, off Third Avenue. It was a decent building but nothing out of the ordinary. At least from the outside.

“Just do me a favor, will you? Stand right over here,” I said, pulling her arm.

I’d positioned her in front of the door and directly in line with the overhead security camera.

“Wait,” she said. “Why are you hiding?”

I’d peeled off to the side, directly out of line with the security camera. Again, I knew what I was doing.

“Just look up so he can see you,” I said, pointing.

“Who?”

I didn’t have to answer. By then, the snapping sound of multiple locks had Elizabeth spinning back around. He’d opened the door.

“Jesus Christ, Needham, what the hell are you doing here?” asked Evan Pritchard. “If this is about your fiasco up in Pelham this afternoon, I don’t want to hear it, not tonight. How’d you even know where I live?”

“Trick or treat,” I said, stepping forward.

“Oh, shit,” said Pritchard. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Reinhart.”

Elizabeth’s head whipped back and forth between me and her new boss. “You guys know each other?”

“We’ve crossed paths once or twice,” I said.

It was an obvious understatement. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at me. “Is there anyone you don’t have history with?” she asked.

I shrugged. “What can I say? I tend to make an impression on people.”

“Actually, I should’ve known,” said Elizabeth. “You both knew about Halo.”

Pritchard glared so hard at me I thought his eyes might pop out. “What the fuck did you tell her, Reinhart?”

“It’s more like what you told her,” I said. “Apparently, you flinched or something when she showed you that hotel surveillance footage. You really ought to work on that.”

Never mind that Elizabeth caught me doing the same thing when I saw the footage. I conveniently left that part out. But Elizabeth already knew about my past. Now she was learning about Pritchard’s.

He shook his head. “If I’d known it was you, Reinhart, I would’ve—”

“I know, I know. You would’ve never opened the door,” I said. “Now that you have, are you going to invite us in or what?”

“That depends. What do you want?” he asked.