Industrial Magic

by Kelley Armstrong

  "Of course it is."

  "Then Carlos isn't here. If you'll excuse me--"

  Benicio turned away, as if William had already left. "Where was I? Yes. This other matter. I've convened a meeting in twenty minutes to provide you with all the details. Let's get Paige a cold drink and we'll head to the boardroom."

  Familial Violence Insurance

  TWENTY MINUTES LATER, LUCAS OPENED THE CONFERENCE room door for me. His eyes slanted a silent question my way. Did I want him to go first? I shook my head. Though I wasn't looking forward to confronting what I knew lay within that meeting room, I had to do it without hiding behind Lucas.

  As I stepped inside, my gaze swept across the dozen or so faces within. Sorcerer, sorcerer, sorcerer...another sorcerer. Over three quarters of the men in the room were sorcerers. Each pair of eyes met mine. Chairs shuffled and voices murmured wordless noises of disapproval. The word "witch" snaked through the room on a chorused whisper of contempt. Every sorcerer in the room knew what I was without being told. One look in the eyes, and witch recognized sorcerer, sorcerer recognized witch, and the introduction rarely pleased either.

  Benicio waved Lucas and me to two empty chairs next to the vacant head of the table.

  "Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said. "Thank you for staying late to join us. You all know my son Lucas."

  The men within handshaking distance extended their hands. The rest offered spoken salutations. No one looked my way.

  "This is Paige Winterbourne," Benicio continued. "As I'm sure most of you know, Paige's mother, Ruth, was Leader of the American Coven. Paige herself has been a member of the interracial council for several years, and I'm pleased to say, in that capacity, she has expressed an interest in the MacArthur case."

  I held my breath waiting for some comment about my exile from the Coven or my embarrassingly short term as Leader. But Benicio said nothing. As much as he might dislike me, he wouldn't upset Lucas by insulting his girlfriend.

  Benicio gestured toward a stocky man near the foot of the table. "Dennis Malone is our head of security. He's most familiar with the case, so I'll ask him to begin with an overview."

  As Dennis explained, Dana MacArthur was indeed the daughter of a Cabal employee but not, as I'd assumed, of the Cabal witch. Like Savannah, Dana claimed supernatural blood from both parents, her father being a half-demon in Cortez Corporation sales. Randy MacArthur was currently overseas establishing a commercial foothold in the newly capitalist areas of Eastern Europe. Dana's mother was a witch named Lyndsay MacArthur. I'd hoped to recognize the name, but I didn't. Coven witches had little contact with non-Coven witches. Even my mother had only taken notice of outside witches when they'd caused trouble. One of the many things I'd wanted to change about the Coven, and now never would.

  According to the background information Dennis provided, Dana's parents were divorced and she lived with her mother. Dennis mentioned that her mother lived in Macon, Georgia, and the attack had taken place in Atlanta, so I assumed Dana had been traveling or visiting friends. She'd apparently been out walking by herself around midnight--which seemed very strange for a fifteen-year-old girl, but I'd get an explanation later. The important thing was that during that walk, she'd cut through a park and been attacked.

  "Where is Dana now?" I asked when Dennis finished.

  "At the Marsh Clinic," Benicio said.

  "That's a private hospital for Cabal employees," Lucas explained. "It's here in Miami."

  "And her mother is with her?" I said.

  Benicio shook his head. "Unfortunately, Ms. MacArthur has been...unable to come to Miami. We have every hope, though, that she'll change her mind."

  "Change her mind? What's the problem? If she can't afford airfare, I'd certainly hope someone would--"

  "We've offered her both commercial airfare and a flight on our private jet. Ms. MacArthur has some...concerns over air travel at this time."

  At a noise from across the table, my gaze slid down the row of faces until it came to the youngest attendee, a sorcerer in his thirties. He met my gaze with a half-smirk. At a glare from Benicio, the smirk changed into a cough.

  "Concerns over air travel," I said slowly, trying to wrap my head around the idea that a witch would let anything stop her from racing to her daughter's sickbed. "That's not unusual these days, I guess. A bus ticket might be--"

  The smirking sorcerer cut in. "She doesn't want to come."

  "There's been some estrangement between Dana and her mother," Benicio said. "Dana had been living on her own in Atlanta."

  "On her own? She's fifteen--"

  I stopped, suddenly aware that a dozen pair of eyes were on me. I could imagine nothing more humiliating for a witch than this, to sit in a room filled with sorcerers telling you that one of your race, who pride themselves on their family bonds, had let her teenage daughter live on the streets. Not only that, but she didn't even care enough to come to her daughter's side when she lay comatose and alone in a Cabal hospital. It was inconceivable.

  "Maybe if I could speak to her," I said. "There might be a misunderstanding..."

  "Or we could be lying," the sorcerer said. "Here's my cell phone. Anyone got Lyndsay MacArthur's number? Let the witch--"

  "Enough," Benicio said, his voice sharp enough to cut diamonds. I'd heard that tone before...from his son. "You are excused, Jared."

  "I was only--"

  "You are excused."

  The sorcerer left. I struggled to think of some way to defend my race. Lucas's hand squeezed my knee. I looked at him, but he'd turned to the table, mouth opening to speak for me. I quickly interrupted. As much as I longed for the support, the only thing that could make this worse would be for him to jump to my rescue.

  "Is Dana's father aware of the situation?" I said.

  Benicio shook his head. "Randy has been in Europe since spring. If he'd known about Dana's estrangement from her mother, he would have requested leave to come home."

  "I meant the attack. Does he know about that?"

  Another head shake. "He's currently in a very unstable location. We've tried contacting him by telephone, e-mail, and telepathy, but haven't been able to deliver the news. We expect him to be back in a major city within the week."

  "Good. Okay. Back to the case, then. I'm guessing we're here because you want Dana's attacker found."

  "Found and punished."

  Somehow, I doubted that punishment would involve the local authorities, but after hearing what had been done to Dana, I couldn't bring myself to care.

  "But the Cabal can investigate by itself, right?"

  A reedy voice from down the table answered. "Mr. MacArthur is a class C employee."

  I looked at the speaker, a specter-thin, specter-pale man dressed in a mortician-black suit. Necromancer. It's a stereotype, I know, but most necros have a whiff of the grave about them.

  "Paige, this is Reuben Aldrich, head of our actuarial department. Reuben, Ms. Winterbourne isn't familiar with our designations. Would you explain for her please?"

  "Of course, sir." Watery blue eyes looked my way. "Employees range from class F through A. Only class A and B employees are entitled to familial violence insurance."

  "Familial...?"

  Lucas turned to me. "It's insurance that covers corporate investigations into criminal matters such as kidnapping, assault, murder, psychic wounding, or any other dangers one's family might face as a result of their employment with the Cabal."

  I looked at Reuben Aldrich. "So Mr. MacArthur, being class C, isn't entitled to a paid investigation into his daughter's attack. So why bring it to us--to Lucas?"

  "The Cabal is offering to hire him," said the man beside me. "The reallocation of resources and man-hours would make the cost of an internal investigation prohibitive. Instead, we're offering to retain Mr. Cortez in a contract position."

  Lucas folded his hands on the table. "Paying for an outside investigation into an assault not covered by the benefit package is a generous and considerate offer, b
ut--" He met his father's gaze with a level stare. "--unlikely to meet corporate profitability standards. You mentioned to Paige that the attack on Miss MacArthur wasn't the first."

  "There's a second, possibly related, case," Benicio said. "Dennis?"

  Dennis explained. Eight days ago another Cabal employee's runaway teen had been attacked. Holden Wyngaard was the fourteen-year-old son of a shaman. Someone had followed him for several blocks at night, then jumped him in an alley. Before anything could happen, a young couple had wandered into the alley and Holden's attacker had slipped away. The Cabal was not investigating.

  "Let me guess," I said. "Mr. Wyngaard is a level C employee."

  "Level E," Reuben said. "Substance-abuse problems have caused his status to drop. He is currently on suspension, and therefore entitled only to the most basic health-care benefits."

  "But you think the cases are connected?"

  "We don't know," Benicio said. "If we had clear proof of a pattern, we'd conduct our own investigation. As it stands, it's a troubling coincidence. While the expense of a full-scale investigation isn't warranted, we'd like to be proactive and hire Lucas to look into the matter."

  "Not me," Lucas said, his voice soft, but firm enough to carry through the room. "Paige."

  "Of course, if Paige was interested in helping you--"

  "I'm currently in the midst of defending a client, and couldn't possibly pursue this in the timely manner you'd require."

  Benicio hesitated, then nodded. "Understandable. You have other obligations. I can't argue with that. If you'd like to set Paige on the case then, and supervise--"

  "Paige doesn't require my supervision. You approached her with this case, hoping it might interest her because it concerns a witch. Whether she decides to take it is her choice."

  Every pair of eyes turned to me. I felt the eager words of agreement leap to my throat. No one in this room gave a damn about Dana MacArthur. She needed someone on her side, and I longed to be that someone. Yet I locked my mouth shut and gave my brain time to override my heart.

  One tragedy, and one near-tragedy, both involving the runaway kids of Cortez Cabal employees. Did I think they were related? No. The streets were a harsh and violent place for teens. That's a cold fact. I had to make an equally cold decision. I had to let someone else find justice for Dana. If I took this case, it would involve Lucas, if only by forcing him to act as middleman between the Cabal and me. I wouldn't do that to him. So I thanked everyone for coming out...and turned them down.

  Time to Empty the Minibar

  AFTER THE MEETING, BENICIO WALKED WITH US BACK to his office to get our overnight bags.

  "I'd like you to take Troy tonight," Benicio said. "I'm concerned. If someone's targeting Cabal children--"

  "I believe I'm a decade or so above fulfilling that requirement," Lucas said.

  "But you're still my child. You know Troy; he'll be as unobtrusive as possible. I just...I want you to be safe."

  Lucas lifted his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, then glanced over at me.

  I nodded.

  "Let me take a guard from the security pool, then," Lucas said. "You should keep yours--"

  "I'll still have Griffin," Benicio said, nodding at Troy's partner. "That will be enough tonight."

  When Lucas finally agreed, Benicio slid in a few more "requests." He wanted to pick up the tab for our hotel, to compensate for bringing us here. Lucas refused. Benicio backed off, but followed with another demand. With the combination of this new threat and 9/11, he didn't want Lucas flying on a commercial airline. He'd make sure the corporate jet was fueled up to take us home. Again Lucas refused. Now Benicio dug in his heels, and kept them dug in until Lucas finally agreed to accept the hotel room, just to get us out of there.

  By the time we escaped to the street, Lucas's forehead had gained ten years of stress-furrows. He stood beside the garden, closed his eyes, and inhaled.

  "The sweet smell of freedom," I said.

  He tried to smile, but his lips faltered and fell into a tired line. He squinted up and down the street, then headed east. Troy fell into position two paces behind. After a few yards, Lucas glanced over his shoulder.

  "Troy? Please, walk beside us."

  "Sorry," Troy said, striding up. "Habit."

  "Yes, well, when a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound half-demon follows me, it's never a good thing. Fleeing for my life is usually involved."

  Troy grinned. "You need a bodyguard."

  "I need a saner life. Or faster feet. Right now, though, we need..."

  "Wheels," I said. "Followed by stiff drinks."

  "Uh, sir?"

  Lucas winced.

  "Lucas, I meant," Troy said. "The parking garage is beside the office. We needed to take the walkway across to get the car."

  Lucas sighed. "Now you tell me."

  "Hey, it's not my place to think. That's for you sorcerer guys. Me? I'm paid to keep my mouth shut, glare at strangers, and, on a good day, break a couple kneecaps."

  "Cushy job," I said.

  "It has its moments. The kneecap-breaking gets a little stale, though. I've tried tossing in the occasional jaw-busting and skull-smacking, but Mr. Cortez, he's a kneecap man."

  Lucas shook his head and headed back toward the building.

  At the hotel, Troy cased our room before allowing us inside. Seemed like overkill to me, but that was his job.

  "All clear," he said, coming out. "There's a door between our rooms. Knock if you need me. If you go out to dinner..."

  "We'll tell you," Lucas said.

  "I'll keep out of the way, sit at a corner table, whatever."

  "We'll probably have a quiet night, order room service."

  "Hey, it's all paid for, so go for it." Troy caught Lucas's look. "Yeah, I know, you don't like using the old man's money, but you're his kid, right? If it was my dad..." He grinned. "Well, if it was my dad, I suppose he'd be offering me a lifetime supply of fire and brimstone, and personally, I'd prefer the cash, but that's just me. Seriously, though, take advantage of it. Clean out the minibar, rack up the room-service bill, steal the bathrobes. Worst thing that can happen, you'll piss off the old man and he won't talk to you for a year."

  "Not the worst punishment I can imagine," Lucas murmured.

  "Exactly. So live it up. And call me if you need help with the minibar."

  I closed the door, cast a locking spell, and collapsed on the couch.

  "I'm sorry," Lucas said. "I know that was difficult for you, turning them down."

  "Let's just--let's not think about it. Not now. Maybe in the morning...Will we have time to stop by the hospital in the morning? See how she's doing?"

  "We'll make time."

  "Good. I can make sure she's okay, see if there's anything I can do from that angle and try to forget the rest. Now, let's help ourselves to that drink."

  I started pushing to my feet, but Lucas waved me down.

  "Stay there. I'll get it."

  He glanced at the minibar, then at the door.

  "The minibar's closer," I said. "And if you go out for booze, you'll have to take Troy. Your father brought us running down here, the least he can do is pay for our hotel and a drink."

  "You're right. First, the drink. Then dinner. We'll order in--" He stopped and shook his head. "No, we're going out. Someplace nice. Followed by a show or a walk on the beach or whatever you want. My treat."

  "You don't have to--"

  "I want to. And, though I neglected to mention it earlier, I have money. Well, some money. I received payment on a legal matter, and I am, for the first time in months, reasonably flush."

  "Is this for the case you're working now? With the shaman?"

  "No, this is from a few years ago, a client whose financial situation has improved and who wanted to repay me. As for the current case, there is the possibility of a payment. A barter, so to speak. He has--" Lucas paused, then shook his head. "A matter we can discuss later, if and when it comes to fruition. For now,
I have enough money to treat you to a proper evening out, and pay the rent for the next few months. Let me mix that drink, then I'll tell Troy we'll be leaving for dinner within the hour."

  I didn't miss the "pay the rent" part, however skillfully he slipped it in. I paid the lion's share of the household expenses. Paid them by choice, I should add. I knew this bothered Lucas--not in an "I am man; I am breadwinner" kind of way, but as a subtler matter of pride.

  Lucas barely earned a living wage. Most of his court and investigative work was pro bono, helping supernaturals who couldn't afford a lawyer or PI. What little money he made usually came from doing legal paperwork for wealthier supernatural clients, many of whom could easily and more conveniently have hired a local lawyer, but who retained Lucas as a way of supporting his pro bono efforts. Even that made Lucas uncomfortable, smacking too much of charity, but his only alternative would be to stop taking nonpaying cases, which he'd never do.

  It hurt like hell to see him sleeping in fleabag motels, barely able to afford public transit, saving every penny so he could pay part of our expenses. I had enough for both of us. But how could I turn down his contributions without belittling his efforts? Yet another kink in the relationship we had to work out.

  We stumbled back into the hotel room just before midnight, having followed dinner with a few rounds of pool and more than a few rounds of beer. Definite advantage to the whole chauffeur/bodyguard deal: built-in designated driver. The downside, though, was that Troy beat me in two out of three pool games, a serious blow to my ego. I blamed it on the booze. Deadened my reflexes...though it did wonders for helping me forget the rest of the day. As for Lucas, he was feeling better, too.

  "I did not cheat!" I said, struggling to wriggle free of the upside-down over-the-back-of-the-sofa position in which I found myself pinned.

  He pulled my blouse from my skirt and tickled my ribs. "You so cheated. Second game. Seven ball, left corner pocket. Minor telekinesis spell."

  I squealed and swatted his hands. "I--the ball rolled."

  "With help."

  "Once. Only once. I--stop--" Another embarrassingly girlish shriek. "You--third game--the eight ball. You moved it out of the way of your shot."

  He toppled us over onto the couch and slid a hand under my skirt.

  "Diversionary tactics, Counselor," I said.