When Villains Rise (Market of Monsters #3) - Rebecca Schaeffer Page 0,11
couldn’t let him be responsible for another. So Gold was right. Nita might need to make her have an accident. And Kovit knew it. And he knew Nita was capable of it.
Nita cleared her throat. “It’s late. Kovit, why don’t you and I go in the reception room and leave Gold to rest?”
He wasn’t quite able to meet her gaze. “Sure.”
They turned away, a hum of tension between them that hadn’t been there moments before.
Gold just smiled at them both and ate another slice of pizza.
Six
THEY MADE THEIR WAY back into the lobby, and Kovit flopped back onto the couch. Nita paced the room.
“Gold could be a problem,” she murmured.
Kovit looked at her with steady eyes. “But she’s one that won’t be solved with murder.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
Nita’s hands moved at her side, sharp motions of cutting with an invisible scalpel. “There are other ways to deal with her than murder.”
He looked at her for a long time and then closed his eyes and leaned back into the sofa. “Good.”
Nita sighed, mind whirling, clicking through all the things she still had to do. Her body was exhausted, but she couldn’t rest yet. She pumped herself full of adrenaline. She still had one very important task.
She went to the bag Kovit had brought back and fished out one of the burner phones. It was crappy, so she used her own phone to bring up INHUP’s website.
She stole a glance at Kovit as she scrolled through pages. “I’m going to call her now. Your sister.”
He stiffened and sat up on the couch. “Do we have to do it right now?”
“We’re on a bit of a time crunch. Only a week before INHUP releases your face. Do you really want to stall?”
“No, no.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re right. We should call now.”
Nita met Kovit’s eyes. “You don’t have to be here for this conversation.”
He held her gaze. “I do.”
Nita went back to her phone, scrolling through pages for the anonymous tip line. When they’d seen Kovit’s sister on the television earlier today, she’d been being interviewed about a murder case in Montreal involving a unicorn who had eaten the soul of a teenage girl and left her lying on the pavement, iris-less eyes staring at nothing.
She eventually found a tip number on one of the news articles about the murder, titled Montreal or Monstreal? Unicorn Murder Rocks the City. Nita rolled her eyes at the pun, but called the tip line. She flicked the phone onto speaker so Kovit could hear what she was doing.
It rang a moment, and then there was a click and a prerecorded message told her everything was confidential and that she was encouraged to give as much information as possible. She was given an option to record a message and leave it for the police or to speak to a live person. She clicked the number for the person.
The phone ticked, and then she was on with an operator.
“Hello, this is the INHUP tip line.”
“Hi. I have information for Agent Vidthuvitsai about the unicorn murder in Montreal.”
“What kind of information?”
“I’ll only speak to her.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not authorized to pass you to Agent Vidthuvitsai without more information.”
Nita hesitated, then covered the receiver and asked Kovit. “What was your mother’s name?”
He blinked. “Thida.”
“Tell her that it’s connected to the death of Thida ten years ago.”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me. Pass it on, please. I’ll hold.”
“It may be a while, ma’am. There are a lot of tips.”
“She’ll want this one. Trust me.”
There was a tinny click and then the elevator music started. Kovit fidgeted on the seat, and Nita paced across the room.
“What if she doesn’t respond?” Kovit’s leg bounced, and his fingers tapped against the seat.
“She will.”
“They may not pass it on.”
“They will.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, face pinched with worry.
Nita had opened her mouth to say something when the line clicked back on.
“This is Agent Vidthuvitsai.”
Across from her, Kovit stiffened at the sound of his sister’s voice. His whole body stilled, and the expression that crossed his face was strange, part fear, part longing.
Nita blinked. “That was fast.”
“It was an interesting message you left.”
“I’m glad it got your attention.”
There was a short pause and then a soft whisper, small and faint and barely audible. “Is he okay?”
Nita’s throat tightened, and across the room, Kovit’s face broke a little, confused joy whispering across his features, as though he couldn’t quite believe his sister still cared about him.