“Are you worried about her?”

I almost threw my coffee on him then. Of course I was worried about her-some things didn’t need to be said.

“When we started, I asked if I gave you something if you could give me something in return. I gave you something-two somethings.” I picked up the printout from the Web site that I’d brought with me.

He didn’t move, just stared back at me with his eyes shuttered, not giving away any of his thoughts.

“I want to know who put those pictures out there.” I held out the printout.

“Why?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

“You’re not involved, right? And even if you were, there’s no reason for you to know that. You or one of your not-a-cult friends wouldn’t go looking for the person, right?”

I shifted my eyes to the side and took a breath. When I looked back, I was calm, kind of. “I want the killer stopped. We all do. It’s about the only thing me and my ‘group’ have in common anymore. But I don’t want them harassed. They’re private. If I’d thought you were going to dig into every aspect of who they are, I wouldn’t have told you about them.”

He smiled, his eyes understanding, but sad. “I get that, but it doesn’t matter. You don’t get to pick and choose what I use. I don’t even get to pick and choose. I just follow whatever lead I can.”

I stood up and walked out of the shop, leaving him with the dirty cup and my chewed-on stir stick. I was pissed, but nowhere near as pissed as Zery was going to be.

I needed to get home and prepare her. Little did Reynolds know he might have another murder to investigate-mine.

Chapter Nineteen

I beat Reynolds to my shop, but barely. I’d rushed into the gym to grab a few minutes with Zery, but she was being stubborn, ignoring me while she stood huddled with Pisto and a few other warriors. The group sent to scout for new parties, I guessed.

By the time she had turned to look at me, I knew it was too late. I could feel Reynolds standing behind me. Could see it on Zery’s face too.

She pulled a knife from her belt as she walked and threw it the length of the room. It slammed into a wooden pillar about four feet to my left. Stuck there. I didn’t turn my head, didn’t drop my gaze from her face.

Message sent and received.

Reynolds stepped forward, the entire length of his body pressed against my side. I could feel tension vibrating through him. His hand was on his holster. I don’t know what stopped him from pulling his gun-street smarts? Some sixth sense that told him Zery wasn’t a threat at that moment? Or was it a simple matter of speed? Zery had performed the entire act in only a few seconds. Cop or not, it had to seem surreal to him-she’d moved that fast; maybe he thought it was all an act. It wasn’t, of course. Zery was deadly serious.

As Zery ground to a halt in front of us, I didn’t bother to further analyze the reason for his lack of overt action. I was just grateful for it.

“What are you doing?” Zery asked. The question was directed at me. She had yet to let an eyelash flicker in Reynolds’ direction.

The detective stepped forward, went through his whole “I’m a detective investigating the murders” routine. I’d heard it before, blocked it out. Besides, I was busy soaking in the betrayal in Zery’s eyes and the pure hatred in Pisto and company’s.

As Reynolds’ introduction wound down, the group of warriors around Zery grew. None of them touched a weapon, but they didn’t have to-the promise was obvious. If Reynolds felt it, he didn’t react, gave no sign that he knew the dozen or so women now surrounding him-they’d come up from behind too-wanted him, us, gone.

Done with his spiel, Reynolds crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Zery didn’t move, and none of the warriors would until she did.

It could be a long wait. Not wanting the detective to get impatient and force an action all of us would regret, I took a step forward, into the gym. “The detective just wants to ask a few questions about the girls…who they were, where anyone saw them last, that kind of thing.” I prayed what I said was true, that he wouldn’t start digging into Amazon life.

Zery held my stare for a heartbeat. It felt like a lifetime. Then she raised her left hand, told the warriors with that one gesture to back off, scatter. They did, but they didn’t wander far. One twitch from Zery and they’d be back at her side, their weapon of choice pressed to my or Reynolds’ throat within seconds.

Reynolds unfolded his arms. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“The cafeteria,” I responded and started walking, taking the short route through the main gym. Either way, we had to walk past warriors. Might as well get it over with as quickly as possible.

While we moved ahead, Zery took a minute to speak with Pisto. The Amazon had been staring at me since I’d walked into the gym, eyeing me as if measuring me for a hole-although I doubted she was worried about accuracy of the fit, just depth.

“Interesting group,” Reynolds said as he held the door open for me. I closed my eyes and walked into the cafeteria. I didn’t want to know if any of the warriors were watching as I let him get away with what to him was probably just a show of good manners, but to them…no telling.

“We just caught them at a bad time. They’re training for a celebration.”

“With knives?” His gaze floated over the room, cataloging everything he saw there, I was sure.

“Celebration’s the wrong word. More of a demonstration,” I replied.

His eyes focused on me. “You have a hard time hitting the right word, don’t you?”

I walked over to a table and pulled out a chair. “I’d offer you coffee, but…”

“You won’t.” He sighed. “I’m doing my job, Mel.”

I shrugged, then turned so I could look out the window at the walkway between the cafeteria and my shop.

Zery arrived, saving me from getting completely pissy-at least for a few seconds before they both told me to leave. Even then, I had to swallow my ire. Arguing with either of them in front of the other might reveal more about me and my life than I cared for either to know.

After an angry stare at each, I strolled out the door. Somehow, as I walked out, a small rock got kicked into the space near the hinges, keeping the door from closing.

I was leaning against the doorjamb, straining to hear what was being said, when Peter stepped around the corner from the front of the building. He glanced from me to the window.

It was lighter outside than inside. I didn’t know if he could see Reynolds and Zery sitting at the table, and I didn’t want to step away from the door to find out-didn’t want them to see me, or Peter for that matter.

Realizing I had no other option, I moved away from the door, toward the basement steps where I was fairly sure we wouldn’t be visible from where Zery and Reynolds sat.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

He raised both brows. “Not with me.” He glanced over my shoulder, back toward the parking lot. “Looks like you have a visitor. Is he in there?” He nodded toward the cafeteria.

I stared at him, remembering our kiss and his questions about Reynolds. The air around us seemed to thicken, and I was suddenly uncomfortable in my skin, like I needed to move, get away from something. But I held firm. I wanted to know what happened between Reynolds and Zery. I wouldn’t let my conscience drive me away.

Besides, I had nothing to feel guilty about-at least not regarding Peter.

“Why’s he here, Mel?” He brushed my hair from my face.

My body, traitorous hunk of flesh that it was, edged forward. It was cool today, and my fleece wasn’t enough to keep the chill at bay. I suddenly realized how warm he would be, how nice it would feel to lean up against him.

I took a step back.

“It doesn’t involve you or the shop,” I replied, keeping my voice firm and businesslike. “Don’t you have a client?”