Page 63 of Perfectly Wicked

“Want to go to bed?” Felix whispers, leaning over me. I shake my head, and the corner of his mouth lifts before he climbs back onto the sofa and pulls me against his chest.

* * *

“Sorry I didn’t call yesterday,”I say in greeting to Lewis.

“You have your hands full,” she replies, not really excusing it but not seeming mad either.

“It’s going to take me a few days to write up my official report. Do you want me to come in and brief you today?” I offer.

“I have meetings all morning. Damn Bursa. We have to do a press conference.” She sneers the last part.

“That bad, huh? I was going to ask, but I wasn’t sure how far they would be with the truth probe, considering his injury.”

“The transfusion was barely done before Wuornos had him hooked up. I think he spent three hours in that man’s head and several more after transcribing what he saw. We have shit on Bursa going back over twenty years.”

I squeeze my temples between my fingers while holding the phone with my other hand. “That sounds like a mess.”

“You’re not kidding. I don’t know if I should give you a raise or hand you over to the AD so he can deal with you,” Lewis drawls.

“Neither?” I suggest with a lilt in my voice.

“I’m teasing, Bishop. I hate the bureaucracy of all this, but I became an agent to put people like William Bursa away, and that’s what you do. I’m not letting you go, even if I have to do a press conference.”

I spend the next ten minutes filling my supervisor in on what happened leading up to the night we captured Bursa. I don’t think anything I have to say comes as a shock, considering she already has the field report from Wuornos, but the little tidbit about suspecting the real Eugene was my ghost does seem to intrigue her.

“It’s definitely plausible, but let me know if there is any recurring spirit activity.”

“I will. I’ll get to work on that report too,” I promise.

“Take a few days with your family. When you’re ready to get back to work, let me know and I’ll get you up to speed on what we’re working on.”

“You guys have another case?” I don’t know what it says about me, but I’m already interested.

“Take a few days, Bishop,” she repeats with more emphasis in her tone.

“Okay, you’re right. I’ll call you after Remy’s surgery,” I tell her, and we hang up shortly after.

“That didn’t sound too bad,” Gray remarks after taking a sip from his cup. I look at Remy. He’s not even wearing the sling anymore. His arm is already doing a lot better after his sessions with the team healers. If the break in his leg hadn’t been a fracture, I bet he wouldn’t even need surgery. It’s amazing what money can buy.

Felix takes a break from loading his breakfast plate into the dishwasher and looks at me, waiting for an answer.

“It wasn’t bad at all,” I confirm. “Though she did mention transferring me over to Wuornos’ team, but I think she was joking.”

Ah, long and creepy. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him, Percy chimes in.

“He is a creep,” Remy agrees, and Gray nods.

My phone dings with a text, and Ambrose’s name flashes at the top of the screen. I make eye contact with Remy and Gray, since they are close enough to have seen his name too.

When I open the screen, his text is there for us to read.

Ambrose:Lewis said you’ll be back soon. Study up on sacrifices. We have a case.

I feel Felix reading the message over my shoulder after he joins us at the table. “Yeah, I’m definitely joining the academy.”

The end