Hell or High Water (Gemini Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

sure hate to hear that.”
    That he cared made me like him that much more. Most of her coworkers had been fine with writing her off as a loss, a life for a life. Harlow was a good kid who had made a terrible mistake that got a man killed. Did that mean she ought to be punished? Maybe. Did that mean she deserved what she got? No. I couldn’t believe that. Damn it, she was worth saving.
    “Right now I’m not sure what it means that Harlow is tangled up in Isaac’s disappearance, but I’ll get to the bottom of it.” Besides the fact she was acting as the latest avatar for Charybdis, and that he saw my family as a means of settling some imagined score, I had pitiful few clues to go on. Telling Comeaux might endanger my family. Factor in Vause’s disappearance, and any whiff of suspicion might bring the conclave down on all our heads. So I kept that knowledge to myself. “Hopefully, when I locate him, I’ll find her too.”
    “You’re doing all this off the grid?” He whistled. “You’ve got balls, Ellis. I knew I liked you for a reason.”
    The absent caress of Graeson’s fingers over my hip spoke of his approval in Comeaux’s tastes.
    “Agent Ellis.” Polo returned with a clipboard in hand. “Give us another ten to finish processing the scene, and we’ll release the vehicle into your custody as you’re the next of kin.”
    Next of kin. The chilling phrase sent a shiver zinging through me that Graeson rubbed away.
    “We’ll process what evidence our techs collected and start proceedings to acquire what the cops found.” He caught the tech’s eye. “The local PD was first on scene. The erasure spell was cast prior to our arrival, but their samples might not be tainted.”
    Erasure spell or not, they wouldn’t find much. Of that I was certain. Charybdis had eluded us this long for a reason.
    Thank the gods the quirky cercibis had been staking out the gas pumps when he had, or we’d have nothing to go on.
    “I should go help wrap up the paperwork.” Comeaux speared Graeson with a cajoling smile. “Keep my offer in mind. You could do a lot of good for your people—and ours.”
    The tight grin pinned on Graeson’s lips didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll be in touch.”
    To offer a polite decline, I was guessing.
    Left alone to count down the promised ten minutes, Graeson hauled me into his arms and massaged my shoulders. The urge to resist his comforting embrace flickered and died as his warmth seeped into my bones. I wasn’t great at this, at allowing myself to indulge after a lifetime of deprivation, of feeling unworthy for being the sister who lived, and we both knew it. He spared me the embarrassment of admitting as much. Instead he taught me with selfless patience to accept what he gave in the hopes one day I might take what I needed from him instead. He asked for nothing from me, content to nibble on my affection in tiny bites as I offered them.
    Considering he was the one with a wild spirit, I got the feeling I was the one being tamed.
    Fifteen minutes later, the cops left the parking lot. Five minutes later, the marshals did too. Comeaux was last, his dusty black SUV idling at the curb as his ride waited for him. The rumpled marshal did the honors, dropping Isaac’s keys into my palm.
    “Can I ask you for a favor?” I folded my hand over the cluttered ring as though protecting them might extend to Isaac too.
    “Depends on what you want,” he said frankly. “I like you, but I like steady paychecks more.”
    Didn’t we all? “I could use some help locating my parents.”
    He shoved his hands into his pockets, glanced at the SUV, and I sensed him wriggling off the hook.
    “I’ll give you the favor Bert owes me.” I wouldn’t be back here to collect anyway. “An informant like that might come in handy.”
    “All right.” A slow grin took his face. “I’ll take that offer. I have your number in my phone. I’ll call when I find something.”
    Passing over one of the feathers Graeson