"Fuck it, Risa, I told you to contact me when you found anything. This is a Directorate investigation—"
"And one that you dragged me into," I snapped back, "so don't get all snotty when I chase a lead that may or may not have gone anywhere."
"You have definitely been hanging around my sister for far too long," he muttered, and thrust a hand through his hair. "What have you found?"
"We followed the Hartwell name, and it led us to an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn. Dani's here."
"Dead, if your expression is any indication."
"Very. There's maggots, so she's been here a while."
He swore softly but vehemently. "Damn it, this bastard's death will be neither quick nor pleasant when I get my hands on him."
"Good." I hesitated. "You might want to investigate the warehouse, too. I don't think it's connected in any way to these murders, but someone has electrified the fencing, so there's obviously something here worth protecting."
"What, you haven't investigated? Color me shocked."
I grinned. "See, there is some common sense left in me after all."
"Apparently so." He glanced away briefly as someone murmured something behind him, then said, "I'll get another cleanup team out there. There's no need for you to hang around."
"Good, because I need to go home and shower."
"Ring me if you happen to chase down either the club or the man Vonda mentioned," he said. "Don't go off investigating them by yourself. This bastard is too dangerous."
I knew that. Not only had I seen the rotting evidence of it in the container behind me, but I'd confronted him on the astral fields. It was not an experience I wanted to repeat in real life.
"I won't—don't worry."