“Jo,” Lou said, her voice pitched low. “What’s our number one rule?”

No attachments that can’t be shed. Never love anyone more than yourself. If we had a manifesto, it would’ve been printed on page one and page fifty and the last page, too, for good measure. Don’t let the girls fall in love.

“I know,” I said. “Nothing I can’t handle.” I racked my brain and pulled out a detail about the new mark to distract her. “Carrigan’s hosting a fund-raiser on Olvera Street. Perfect opportunity to study him in person.”

Lou took the bait, perking up and asking questions about the event. But I knew she wouldn’t forget what I’d let slip. We ironed out the last details of the surveillance—we’d swing by his office, maybe even his house, to get a look at his life up close. I hung up the phone, strangling a sigh of relief in my throat—she’d want to know more about Ellen tomorrow.

“What did she want?” Jackal’s voice was strained.

“She wanted to know if I’d caught you doing anything suspicious lately,” I said, biting my lip.

Jackal looked like he wanted to throttle me, and not in a way I’d enjoy. “You’re not going to say anything,” he said, too confidently. “You don’t want to know what happens if you do.”

I thought of Jackal’s ghostly ex. It bothered me more than I wanted to admit, that he might’ve sat back while the Lady had her killed. And then the girl tonight—the next in his line of brunettes. “Of course I won’t,” I said, soothing him. “Because then who would help me with Klein?”

“I told you, I’ll be there—”

“No. Not the usual. I need more than that from you this time.”

It was difficult to explain why I needed the money without going into detail about the debt I owed the Lady, or the money I’d nicked from the Lady’s envelope and given to Ellen. I didn’t want him to know any of those things. Like my mother always said, Knowledge is power. So I decided to stick as close to a version of the truth as possible, which was: Ellen was getting squirrelly. I’d promised her more money to finish the job. I didn’t want to tell Lou. Since it was Jackal’s fault I was in this situation—and now, I added, because he didn’t want me telling anyone about his little side business—he was going to help me make up the difference.

He didn’t like it, but in the end, he agreed. I’d known he would.