Free Stormrage by Skye Knizley

can have the paperwork brought in if you would like."
    "No thank you," DeGrey said without looking up.
    This took even Riscassi by surprise. She sat next to her client. "Rayne, if even half of what they have sticks, you could go to prison for a very long time. If we play our cards right I can bargain it down to five years in minimum security, parole in three."
    Fat chance, Raven thought.
    "I understand, M s. Riscassi," DeGrey said. "The answer is still no. I can't help these officers."
    "Are you certain?" Riscassi asked.
    DeGrey nodded, her face blank. "I am."
    Riscassi stood and spread her arms. "I'm sorry, Detectives, my client and I must decline your offer. I suggest you provide copies of your reports and evidence findings to my office. I will be in touch with the district attorney."
     
    * * *
     
    "Damnit," Raven growled as she and Levac walked back to the elevator. "That was a sweet deal you laid on her and she shoots it down? That's crazy."
    "I agree," Levac said. "And without her we're at a stand-still. Again. What did your famous instincts tell you?"
    "We're not at a stand-still," Raven said. "Aspen identified the fluids on his pants to indeed be the makings of a martini. And that kid is good. The martinis were made with vodka infused with snake blood, served locally at our not-so-favorite nightclub. As far as my instincts…that was at least partially an act. Riscassi was lying and her surprise at DeGrey's declination of the deal was feigned, even if it was insane. She knew DeGrey wasn't going to take the deal. DeGrey on the other hand was as cold as a cucumber and just as unfeeling. It makes no sense at all."
    Le vac frowned and rang for the lift. "So what was the deal with you and Riscassi?"
    Raven shrugged. "She's a mob daughter. Her father was a high-up enforcer my dad took down. Rocco's men were considered suspects in dad's murder, but no one could ever prove the case, though Gibbs and Frost tried. I even tried when I got the chance, but there simply wasn't enough evidence to put any of them at the scene."
    "That explains why y ou wanted to pull her head off."
    Raven smiled at Levac, but there was little humor in it. "And go bowling."
    The two stepped into the elevat or and began the slow ride up from interrogation.
    Levac flicked out his pocket watch and frowned at the time. "It's three fourteen in the morning, Ray. I think we should head home and pick this back up at around the crack of noon."
    Raven ha dn't realized it was so late, but then she was half vampire… and she was starting to really need a drink after all the blood and energy she'd spent during the day.
    "You get some rest, Rupe," she said. "When you get in, see what you can dig up on DeGrey and Riscassi. Associates they have in common outside our normal mob scumbags, anything."
    "A hunch?" Levac asked.
    "One of those feelings," Raven said somewhat distantly.
    Levac rolled his eyes and stepped out of the elevator. Raven followed and the two walked toward their respective vehicles.
    "And I suppose you're goin g to Club Purgatory without me…again," Levac said.
    "Rupe, don't start," Raven replied. "You know about the suckheads now. That place is crawling with them. Let me handle the preternatural stuff while you be a real detective and do what you do best."
    And not get your head pulled off for asking 'Just one more thing', she added mentally.
    Raven could see in his face he didn't like it, but Levac nodded his assent and headed toward his battered Met. She waited till he had driven away before getting into her own car and heading back to Old Town.
     
    * * *
    Not much had changed since they'd left a few hours previously, though police lights still sparkled in the distance where Aspen and her team were busily gathering enough evidence to bury DeGrey in the MCC for a long, long time.
    Rav en found a safe place to park near Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe and headed across the central courtyard toward Club Purgatory. Though the sun would rise in just three