Free Blood Debt (Judah Black Novels Book 2) by E.A. Copen Page B

volunteer counseling I’m doing at the hospital, my classes and the upcoming full moon, I really don’t think I can commit.”
    Tindall shook his head and lowered his hand onto the table from his chin. “I hate to say it but, with the election and everything, I’m just overloaded. I’ll help when I can but it’s just a fact. I can’t be here twenty-four-seven anymore.”
    “And, well, I’m about to take my vacation, see,” Quincy fumbled. “I can’t just cancel my reservations. They’d charge me anyway.”
    Jenkins, the young guy to Tindall’s right added, “I’d love to help but I’m not sure what me and Galloway can do on our own.”
    I sank down into my chair, feeling the lack of sleep catching up to me. “You’re right, Jenkins. Two cops, a priest and a federal agent doesn’t a task force make.”
    Father Reed cleared his throat.
    “Don’t tell me you’re backing out too, father,” I said.
    “I came because Detective Tindall indicated you had some papers for me to sign,” said the priest, folding his hands on the table. “Given our past history, I’m not sure working together would be of mutual benefit for either of us.”
    I locked eyes with Reed briefly before he turned his attention to the surface of the table. “I see how it is,” I said, addressing everyone in the room. “You guys all have your own lives and your own problems. I get it. But this is bigger than any vacation or personal vendetta. And Daphne, I’d only need a few hours of your time. Surely, you can spare a few hours.”
    Daphne refused to look at me. “I’m sorry, Judah. I just can’t.”
    And then it hit me. This wasn’t about vacations, elections or being overloaded with school and work. If things went south, they all wanted to be as far away from it as possible. Kim Kelly wasn’t the only one who would get ruined if she meddled in the ancient rites and customs of the Stryx. Standing between Crux and the target of his declared blood debt could be deadly. Like rabbits before a forest fire, they were all ready to turn tail and run.
    On some level, I’d expected their hesitance. I understood why Daphne didn’t want to. As an outsider with nothing at stake, her brother had helped me and almost lost the use of his legs. Quincy, he was just lazy and his reaction wasn’t unexpected. I had thought Tindall would spur him to action as he normally did. I certainly didn’t expect Tindall to back out. Until just a little while ago, he was as gung-ho as me to put this to bed. The detective owed me nothing, though. He’d helped me far more than he had to.
    Reed, his reluctance surprised me the most. All our differences aside, and even though he’d taken Zoe’s baby and hidden her away, I still believed him to be a good man at the core. All this time, I had reasoned he must have done it for a good reason. Reed was a good man in a bad situation, able to look past petty disagreements in order to pursue the greater good. No matter how I felt about Reed, he had to be a good man with good reasons. I just didn’t see them.
    I stood. “Alright. If you’re not available, I can understand. Thanks for coming. No hard feelings. You can all show yourselves out.” Reed stood and moved as if to bolt for the door. “Except for you, Father. You and I need to talk.”
    Reed remained beside the door as everyone else filed out. Once they were gone, he slid around to the end of the table opposite mine and said, “If you’re going to ask me again about the child, you know I can’t give you the answers you want.”
    “You could at least tell me why .”
    Reed shook his head.
    “Why the hell not? And don’t give me that greater good bullshit. I work for the government. I know a cop out when I hear it.”
    He wrapped his fingers around the top of the chair. “I’d think the answer would be straight forward. If I’d left the child in your care, what would have happened to her?”
    I didn’t answer him because it was a rhetorical