Read Online 5th Pentagram: The sequel to the #1 Hard Boiled Mystery, 9th Circle (Book 3 of the Darc Murders Trilogy) (Book 3 of the Darc Murder Series) by Ben Hopkin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ben Hopkin
Tags: General Fiction
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willing to give him points for saying something with more that one syllable.
“Actually,” Mala replied. “Today has been one of the most frustrating days of my life. I had to go in to the Department of Social and Health Services today.”
Maggie made a circular hand motion to Trey that indicated that Darc should draw her out more on that topic. Although it could also have meant that Darc should roll over on top of her instead. But Trey went with his first instinct.
“Keep her talking about that, buddy. I know it seems like a downer, but it’ll help her feel like you care about her life.”
Darc took the note. “What happened?”
“There’s a guy who’s been put in charge of Janey’s case who doesn’t like me. He’s trying to make it look like I’m a bad foster mother.”
“What does he list as evidence?” Darc asked.
“All right, Darc,” Trey inserted. “Try not to make it an interrogation. Just let her know you’re on her side.”
Mala cleared her throat before continuing. “That I’ve put Janey at physical risk by allowing her to be present at active crime scenes. That I’m irresponsible because she’s being psychologically re-traumatized.”
“Is this man a psychologist?” Darc pressed further. Wow. That was a good one, and Trey hadn’t even done any prompting.
“No, but it doesn’t really matter if he’s right or wrong. He has the power to take Janey away from me.”
Now Trey had a problem. He was there to try to help Darc out, but hearing the story, he was getting pissed off. What he wanted to do right now was head down to DSHS and punch whoever this was in the face.
“Tell her you’ll figure it out for her,” Trey said. “We’ll write letters and sign affidavits and whatever the hell else she needs us to do.”
Maggie was shaking her head no. Crap. He was apparently giving Darc bad info. And here Trey thought he was pretty good at this whole dating thing. Maggie was waving her hands in all kinds of complicated gestures, but Trey wasn’t picking up on any of it.
Finally, she gave up and just started speaking. “Darc, don’t do that. Tell her that you understand and that it must be tough for her.”
There was a longer pause this time, and Trey figured that Darc was processing the fact that his ex-wife was helping him figure out his date with a new girlfriend. Well, that’s what would have been going through Trey’s mind, at least.
“That must have been a difficult scenario. I cannot imagine how that would have felt for you.” In spite of Trey’s snafu, Darc seemed to be handling this well. His inflection was a little robotic, but that was just Darc.
“Thank you for listening to me complain,” Mala said. “I have to admit, I was nervous you were going to go marching in there, ready to fix everything.”
“You would not have appreciated that?”
“Well, I think it would have made everything worse.”
This was going so well. Trey would have patted himself on the back if he’d been flexible enough. Okay, it was Maggie that had scored that last hit, but still…
Trey leaned back in the sofa and cracked his knuckles. Time to introduce a little innuendo, see if they could get the sex appeal meter crankin’. He thought through some of his best approaches.
While he was busy thinking, Maggie got closer to the speaker again. “Start talking about joint memories. Things you’ve done together.”
Mentally snapping his fingers, Trey wondered why he hadn’t thought of that. Brilliant. But then he realized something. Every single one of their joint memories involved blood. Gallons and gallons of blood.
Trey had a feeling that this date was about to go south.
He went to grab another bottle of wine. It was almost certain that he and Maggie were going to need it.
CHAPTER 5
Darc’s senses were on overload. This was a part of the date that he had not foreseen, although in retrospect, it should have been clear. Bands of light swirled around Mala, the other
“Actually,” Mala replied. “Today has been one of the most frustrating days of my life. I had to go in to the Department of Social and Health Services today.”
Maggie made a circular hand motion to Trey that indicated that Darc should draw her out more on that topic. Although it could also have meant that Darc should roll over on top of her instead. But Trey went with his first instinct.
“Keep her talking about that, buddy. I know it seems like a downer, but it’ll help her feel like you care about her life.”
Darc took the note. “What happened?”
“There’s a guy who’s been put in charge of Janey’s case who doesn’t like me. He’s trying to make it look like I’m a bad foster mother.”
“What does he list as evidence?” Darc asked.
“All right, Darc,” Trey inserted. “Try not to make it an interrogation. Just let her know you’re on her side.”
Mala cleared her throat before continuing. “That I’ve put Janey at physical risk by allowing her to be present at active crime scenes. That I’m irresponsible because she’s being psychologically re-traumatized.”
“Is this man a psychologist?” Darc pressed further. Wow. That was a good one, and Trey hadn’t even done any prompting.
“No, but it doesn’t really matter if he’s right or wrong. He has the power to take Janey away from me.”
Now Trey had a problem. He was there to try to help Darc out, but hearing the story, he was getting pissed off. What he wanted to do right now was head down to DSHS and punch whoever this was in the face.
“Tell her you’ll figure it out for her,” Trey said. “We’ll write letters and sign affidavits and whatever the hell else she needs us to do.”
Maggie was shaking her head no. Crap. He was apparently giving Darc bad info. And here Trey thought he was pretty good at this whole dating thing. Maggie was waving her hands in all kinds of complicated gestures, but Trey wasn’t picking up on any of it.
Finally, she gave up and just started speaking. “Darc, don’t do that. Tell her that you understand and that it must be tough for her.”
There was a longer pause this time, and Trey figured that Darc was processing the fact that his ex-wife was helping him figure out his date with a new girlfriend. Well, that’s what would have been going through Trey’s mind, at least.
“That must have been a difficult scenario. I cannot imagine how that would have felt for you.” In spite of Trey’s snafu, Darc seemed to be handling this well. His inflection was a little robotic, but that was just Darc.
“Thank you for listening to me complain,” Mala said. “I have to admit, I was nervous you were going to go marching in there, ready to fix everything.”
“You would not have appreciated that?”
“Well, I think it would have made everything worse.”
This was going so well. Trey would have patted himself on the back if he’d been flexible enough. Okay, it was Maggie that had scored that last hit, but still…
Trey leaned back in the sofa and cracked his knuckles. Time to introduce a little innuendo, see if they could get the sex appeal meter crankin’. He thought through some of his best approaches.
While he was busy thinking, Maggie got closer to the speaker again. “Start talking about joint memories. Things you’ve done together.”
Mentally snapping his fingers, Trey wondered why he hadn’t thought of that. Brilliant. But then he realized something. Every single one of their joint memories involved blood. Gallons and gallons of blood.
Trey had a feeling that this date was about to go south.
He went to grab another bottle of wine. It was almost certain that he and Maggie were going to need it.
CHAPTER 5
Darc’s senses were on overload. This was a part of the date that he had not foreseen, although in retrospect, it should have been clear. Bands of light swirled around Mala, the other
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