High Stakes (Bo Blackman Book 3) by Harper Helen

Author:Harper, Helen [Harper, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-22T08:00:00+00:00

We stop in front of a large steel door. ‘I have to pat you down,’ the officer says, not looking me in the eye.

I step forward and hold up my arms. Thankfully his movements are swift and perfunctory – but I’m still annoyed when he doesn’t search Foxworthy, even though the burly policeman assumes the required position.

Satisfied, the prison officer unlocks the door. He fumbles with the keys, revealing his fear at having me at his back. Considering he spends his days overseeing all manner of triber criminals, his worry about one tiny vampire seems misplaced. Even with our name cleared in relation to the Jubilee rape, the fingers of terror regarding the Families are stretching further and further across society.

The prison officer directs us inside and quickly departs. The walls of the room are beige breeze-block and the floor is scuffed lino. It is almost bare: the only furniture is a table and three chairs. At least this room is camera-free so our conversation will be private.

I sit down at the table, with Foxworthy by my side. There’s barely enough time to get comfortable when the door opposite opens and O’Connell shuffles in with two prison guards. They’re patently not taking any chances; his hands and his feet are shackled together with rings of steel. The ex-CEO, however, appears none the worse for wear, despite being forced to lose the magical gloss he had during his tenure at Magix. He gives me a bright smile as if we’re meeting in a bar for drinks.

‘Ms Blackman!’ he says, as he sits opposite us. ‘What a delightful surprise. I hoped you’d visit.’

‘Why is that?’

‘You outplayed me. That doesn’t happen very often. You have a lot of potential, you know.’ He glances at Foxworthy. ‘You should stop hanging around with humans though. You’ll appear meaner if you avoid them altogether.’

I eye him warily. ‘I’m not really going for mean.’

He smiles. ‘You set me up for a crime I didn’t commit. I’d say that was pretty mean.’

Foxworthy throws me a sidelong glance. ‘I have no idea what you’re referring to,’ I say.

‘Of course not. You’re the picture of innocence.’ He says this entirely without malice. ‘You’re just working to make the world a better place.’

I stiffen; that was the motive he gave for the actions that brought him here. Foxworthy, thankfully, fills the sudden, tense silence. ‘The handcuffs,’ he says, ‘the ones you created for the bloodguzzlers. Tell me about them.’

‘Who are you?’ O’Connell asks. ‘Ms Blackman’s new sidekick?’

‘Answer the question,’ I tell him.

He leans back. ‘No,’ he says airily. ‘I don’t think I will.’

‘Come on, O’Connell. You’re one of the good guys, remember?’

His eyes gleam. ‘Just like you.’

I dislike the suggestion that he and I are similar but I cling to what he’s given me. His comments and his reactions provide just the leverage I need. O’Connell still refuses to believe that he did anything wrong. I can use that. ‘We’re hunting a rapist,’ I say softly. ‘Someone who maims and kills humans, daemons, vampires.

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