Whisper of Shadows (The Diamond City Magic Novels) by Diana Pharaoh Francis Page A

of one and opened the door. “Can I get you any coffee while you wait?” she asked as we walked in. “Special Agent Henry will be with you in just a few minutes.”
    This didn’t feel right. I didn’t know a thing about FBI investigations, but I was pretty sure that family members of arrested suspects didn’t get special sitting rooms and offers of coffee. Already I felt trapped. The room felt more like an interrogation room than a waiting area, despite the comfortable chairs. One wall had a long mirror that I guessed was two-way. Otherwise, there were no windows. It felt clinical and cold. The receptionist started to retreat, swinging the door shut behind her.
    I went to block her, but Pia arrived before me. She smiled at our irritated guide. “Is there a bathroom I could use?”
    The receptionist nodded, and the two disappeared. The door shut firmly. Instantly Mason tried to open it, to no avail. We were locked in.
    “Son of a bitch,” I muttered. “What’s going on?”
    “We’re no doubt being observed and recorded,” Taylor said. “So if there’s anything you want the FBI to know, now’s the time.”
    I turned to look at the window. “When are you going to figure out who killed my mother?” I demanded, glaring at my own reflection. “The way I see it, you really suck at your jobs.”
    “Anything else?” Taylor asked, her lips twitching slightly.
    “That about covers it. For now.”
    Pia returned, escorted by the receptionist. This time, though, Mason planted his foot in front of the door to keep it from shutting when the receptionist tried to leave.
    “What are you doing?” she asked in annoyance.
    “We prefer it open,” I said. “You know, so we don’t get that feeling like we’ve been falsely imprisoned. I think that’s illegal, isn’t it?”
    “That’s what I’ve heard,” Taylor said.
    “It’s for security purposes,” the flustered woman said. “You can’t be wandering about unattended.”
    “We promise to stay put.”
    She gave me a withering look. “It’s not a choice. If you don’t wish to abide by the rules, then you’ll have to leave.”
    “All right,” Taylor said. “Let’s go.”
    I totally agreed, but at the same time, I had no intention of leaving Price here without knowing just what the fuck was going on. Before I could say so, my phone rang. Touray.
    “Hello?”
    “I told you not to go to the FBI. Where the fuck are you?”
    I was rattled enough to give him a straight answer. “Fourth floor in some kind of observation/interrogation room.”
    “Get your ass out of there right now. Don’t say a word to anybody. I’m on my way up.” With that, he hung up. He really needed to work on his phone manners.
    I put my phone back in my pocket, even as both Pia and Mason got texts. Touray clearly didn’t think I’d obey his orders and had sent the same message to the bodyguards. Not that I was going to disobey. I didn’t really have a choice. I’d just had a lesson in how little I knew about dealing with the FBI. I expected he had a lot more experience. I hoped so, anyway. I looked at Taylor. “Lead the way.”
    “Agent Henry is on his way,” the receptionist said, looking like she was going to throw her body in front of us to block our exit. “It shouldn’t be long at all.”
    Probably as long as it took to get out from behind the observation window and around the corner.
    “Tell him we waited as long as we could,” I suggested before breezing past her.
    “Oh but—!” She called out as Taylor, Pia, and Mason followed me.
    We reached the exit gate. It had no knob, only a keypad. I was tempted to vault over, but Taylor motioned for our receptionist to come open it.
    “Release us,” she said, sounding imperial.
    The other woman sputtered and tried to argue, but Taylor wasn’t having any back talk. She pointed at the keypad. “Now.” The other woman made an irritated noise, but she obeyed.
    The door swung open, and we made our escape. At that point,