Page 96 of Death is Familiar

In other words, I was already operating off old information. The questions I had regarding the vamps may have already been answered by the other agents. I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “I feel guilty.”

“You should.” Todd sat on one end of my couch and pulled the coffee table closer. “But not about the vamp case.”

Damn it. I knew where this was going.

“You kept a life-threatening secret from us, Delilah.” Todd leaned toward me, elbows to knees. “And it was happening right under our noses.”

“Impressed?” Was definitely the wrong thing to say. I took the rumble from the back of Todd’s throat to mean the burger and fries were going to have to wait, so I put the container back on the coffee table. “I know I shouldn’t have kept it from you, but I had it handled.”

I could have told him he had his own secrets that he didn’t feel were worthy of sharing, but I wasn’t going to bring his family into this. It didn’t seem fair.

“That’s not my point.”

“I told you when it mattered.”

“Also, not my point.”

My back resting against the arm of the couch, I curled my knees to my chest and gestured for him to take the floor.

“There’s something else you’re not telling us.” He was matter-of-fact, but not angry. If anything, he was more accepting than usual. “And I don’t know how much of a threat, whatever you’re keeping from us, is.”

“I—”

“I’ve been trying to give you room to tell me. If not me, Jack. On your own time.” He fished around in the second bag he brought. “But I realized I would be doing exactly what you are doing if I was in your shoes, so…”

He pulled something out. Whatever it was, it was sheathed. The leather worn. A familiar scratch on the side. No way. There was no possible way.

He handed it to me, handle first.

It was a knife. My knife, one that I had stored as backup beneath the floorboards of my old bedroom in Eureka.

I turned the handle over in my hands. It was properly weighted, the blades’ edge sharp, unlike the ‘play’ knives at the gathering. But there was one problem.

“I’m not allowed to carry weapons.”

“We’ll see about getting you permission to carry given the conditions of your work.”

I was still processing the fact that Todd had given me one of my knives, knowing that the only way it could be in my possession was if Todd had gone into the house where I grew up before we left Eureka, and intentionally looked for weapons stored there.

Lawrence and I must not have been as covert as we thought.

Sheathing the blade and placing it on the coffee table, I finally swallowed past the shock of Todd’s gift. “And here I thought Jack was the stalker.”

Todd picked up a fry and threw it at me. I threw it back.

“You know, I think I’m learning a bad lesson out of all of this.” Todd popped the fry in his mouth as I continued, “I keep getting rewarded for troublemaking.”

“Something you seem keen on teaching my daughter.” There was a warmth to him that quickly faded.

“This afternoon was full of surprises, but we don’t have to get into it.”

He rubbed a hand over his head. “I thought you knew.”

“What?” Todd seemed genuine, ashamed, and perhaps a bit nervous. It was utterly confusing. “How would I have known?”

“After you were roofied, you kept re-watching the Jackalope footage. You always started the video where I was talking to Jack about my family. You’re smart. I thought you knew, but you weren’t asking because you knew how much it…”

“Hurt?”