5th Pentagram: The sequel to the #1 Hard Boiled Mystery, 9th Circle (Book 3 of the Darc Murders Trilogy) (Book 3 of the Darc Murder Series) by Ben Hopkin Page B

were going to be able to get on that ferry tonight, they had to get going soon. It was the only reason Trey had shown up, for crying out loud. Being in the same apartment as his coworker he had tried to pull a fast one on wasn’t the brightest idea. But bringing up the topic of leaving right at this point seemed a tad insensitive.
    Darc, however, seemed to have no such qualms.
    “We need to leave. The ferry will be departing within the half-hour,” he said.
    “What ferry? What’s going on?” Mala looked up from comforting Pyper. She’d been alternating between Janey and the babysitter since they arrived back at her apartment. Not that Janey seemed to need any comforting. She seemed perfectly content to hang out with Mala, Darc and Trey. Seemed that was her plan all along.
    “It’s the case we’re working on,” Trey answered. “Remember the one a couple of months ago, before the whole freaky real estate guy? The pentagrams? They’ve started back up.”
    “You mean the one that you wanted Janey to work on?” Mala clarified, her tone challenging.
    “Hey. Not me. Darc. Darc wanted Janey to work on it.” Trey had no problem throwing his partner under the bus right now, especially right after outing the whole Roxanne trick. Okay, there had been a pretty compelling reason for it, but still…
    “I wanted both of you. My reasoning for wanting you to come was sound,” Darc replied, his tone unruffled. Maybe part of the problem was that Darc didn’t recognize Mala’s mama bear tendencies. The way she went into defender mode the second anything came close to threatening Janey was spooky. Trey was just glad he wasn’t usually on the receiving end of it.
    But then Mala surprised him. “There’s part of me that thinks it might not be such a bad idea,” she said. “But with the DSHS all over us--”
    “We get it, Mala. Don’t stress it.” Trey assured her.
    “No, I do not get it,” Darc interjected. “My reasons for wanting you both involved in this case are still very much present. And the chances of Janey’s involvement becoming known are small.”
    “With this guy involved? I think you underestimate how much he seems to dislike me.”
    Trey once more felt like he was stuck in the middle between an immovable object and an irresistible force. When Darc wanted something, there were very few people who managed to stand in his way. Mala was one of them.
    But once again, Mala surprised him. “Well, there’s no way I’m going out there without her. And we’re both up anyway.” She sighed. “Are we going to a crime scene?”
    “No, we’re going to talk to Satanists.”
    Man, did Darc need to work on his revealing-big-news skills.
     

CHAPTER 6
    Mala had spent most of her life dealing with men who were threatened by her, whether that was in her personal life or her professional one. In work settings, the threat seemed to revolve around the fact that Mala was smart, capable and feminine. The combination of those three qualities seemed to enrage certain masculine personality types. In fact, now that Mala was thinking about it, that might be the problem with Richard Templeton.
    When it came to dating, things were usually fine until the man learned how much money she made. Or how much schooling she had. Or how much she knew about so many diverse topics. Actually, there were so many different ways in which Mala could get tripped up in this area, it was shocking that she’d been on as many dates as she had in her life.
    Another point for Darc when it came to that. He didn’t seem threatened by her at all. The fact that he couldn’t carry a simple conversation with her without someone in his ear… well, that was a whole other issue that they’d have to address at some point.
    So men were complicated. But when it came to women, Mala found it relatively simple. There were those that were jealous of her professional success, and she supposed her looks as well, although that was always a bit of a surprise to