“It was a friend. Met her for drinks. Nothing about the case exactly.”
“Exactly?”
“I wanted to make sure the Amperdyne information meshed up with what the CIA had.”
“Clever.”
“Thanks. Look, your people have seen the same video footage I saw. An EMP went off in the room and the boy disappeared with two Amperdyne guards. The EMP package just appeared in the house. No one knows how it got in. The bomb at Gibraltar’s building also got in without anyone knowing how.”
“You’re saying it was an inside job. The same people who kidnapped the kid and took the werewolf probably did the bombing.”
“It’d be really strange if they weren’t connected.”
“One of Amperdyne’s employees straying from the straight and narrow?”
“Maybe. Only, the motives are thin there, too. No ransom, so no financial benefit. Amperdyne pays their people incredibly well. They’re gonna lose money if they have to cut ties and run. And Amperdyne will lose their contract with Gibraltar if the boy isn’t found. More in the trickle down loss of confidence among other clients.”
“So they suck as suspects. Unless it’s not about money. What if the Company screwed over one of their people? And this is just old fashioned revenge.”
“Maybe. Whoever it is, they don’t have the guts to kill the boy. But the longer he’s gone, the more damage to Amperdyne’s reputation. Yeah, I could see it. It’s weak, but it’s possible.”
“If you’re such a great PI, how is it that you’ve eliminated two groups of suspects without finding any new leads?” She eyed me, serious but playful, too. My professional ego could handle the hazing.
“Because I made the mistake of letting other people lead my investigation at the start. I was steered toward the vampires. I was steered toward Amperdyne employees.”
“Who else could it be? A disgruntled Gibraltar Global employee? Would they have insider access?”
“To the building, sure. To his home? No. And yes, I’m still sure we have an insider doing this. That or as you said, Amperdyne security sucks. Which I doubt. Not as much tech as they employ.”
“Or as much money as they make. Alright. We always consider an inside man. This time, we’ll do more than consider. It should be easy to put together a list of all the people at the house and the offices. The overlap is our suspect.”
“That assumes one suspect.”
“It’s a start. Thanks for the help.”
“What, no information for me that I haven’t already gathered on my own?”
She threw a piece of paper down on my desk. “I think someone wanted to know if Thrace’s old pack might’ve been in town. This is where they live. A recent change out of Nevada. Three hours by car. A shorter hop by plane.”
“You want me to go.”
“Can’t enter their territory without a warrant. You’re a civilian.”
I stared at her shrewdly. “You planned this from the start.”
“What? Little old enlightened me?” She grinned and walked out the door.
I fought a grin. Annoyed that I was starting to like her. Not that I’d tell her. The paper had a scribbled address. San Bernardino County. Joshua Tree, California. Hadn’t been but I’d always wanted to visit. Guess now was the time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Does Joshua Tree even have an airport?” I dropped the slip of paper Wisniewski had left me onto Janet’s desk, exasperated.
Janet gave me the stink-eye as she checked into flights out of LAX. “As a matter of fact, no. United only has one flight this evening going anywhere near. Returning tomorrow morning. You’d have to fly into Palm Springs and then drive to Joshua Tree. You’re only saving two hours by flying.”
She showed me the online roundtrip cost and I winced. Between the airfare and car rental, it’d cost more than my entire spring wardrobe. Sure, I’d be reimbursed for my expenses. But I hated spending that much. I tended to conserve my client’s costs as if they were my own.
“Two hours isn’t worth giving up my guns. I’ll drive it.”
“You shouldn’t be going alone.”
I gave her a mocking smile. “What, you wanna come?”
“No I don’t want to come. Who in their right mind would want to go to meet a bunch of werewolves?”
“I believe the correct term is a ‘pack.’” I grinned and she swatted my sleeve. “Who’d you have in mind then, Janet?”
“I don’t know. Just someone.”
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine.”
She wasn’t smiling. “I’m not driving through the desert looking for your body if you don’t come back.”
“If I don’t come back, take the petty cash and go have a few drinks in my honor. Invite Bob. He’ll be thrilled.”
“Bee! That’s not funny.”
“Apparently, I’m not nice to my friends. And I don’t have a sense of humor. Anything else everyone has decided about me, before I leave?”
She grew sad. “Yes. You’re wonderful and I’d be heartbroken if you died.”
“Thanks Janet. I’ll try not to die.” I used humor to avoid my own feelings.
Janet was more than a friend. She was family. Maybe not the blood kind. But I hadn’t met any of those, so I had nothing better. And truthfully, Janet was like Granny Oglethorpe. More than I deserved. More than I ever dreamed I’d have. Better than blood.
“Do more than try.”
I left the office and drove home. I didn’t need to pack because I wouldn’t be spending the night in Joshua Tree. But I had to make sure Martini had plenty of food. No. That was a lie. She had enough food to last three days. Perpetual water-dispenser and food-bowl. I just wanted to see her before I left. And maybe change clothes.
Meeting a pack of werewolves wasn’t as simple as I’d made it sound to Janet. I was a preternatural, too. They’d treat me like one of their own invading. Probably. I was only guessing.
Each pack was different. Some tried to modernize. Some went rustic. End-of-days feral. I knew very little about Anton Thrace’s former people. A location. No numbers. No names beyond those few connections from the containment facility he’d grow up in.
It was foolish not to wait until I had more. But Vincent really was running out of time. I’d wasted too much already.
I did my usual surveillance of the condo complex as I approached. Drove around the block once to see if any cowled women were watching. No-one stood out. Nothing amiss. No tell-tale reflections from the building across the street. Not that Amperdyne snipers would use reflective surfaces. Still, it made me feel better checking.
I pulled slowly into the garage. Parked and carefully opened the door. Empty. My heels echoed on the cement loudly in my ears. I was definitely on edge. The bombing had come close to ending my life. It was the closest I’d ever come to being killed. Things like that tended to unnerve people.
When I reached the landing of my floor, I felt him before I saw his silhouette down the hall. Or rather, I felt the blankness of him. His back against the wall at my unit. One foot propped up against the sienna painted plaster.
“If you leave a mark, you’re cleaning it.” I walked past Paul Chandler and put the key in the lock as if he weren’t there.
“And hello to you, Bianca.”
The door opened and I hesitated in the hallway. Finally, I looked him in the eyes. “Is this business or personal?”
“Would you like it to be personal?”
I frowned and went inside. Shutting the door behind me. I tossed my keys on the counter and braced for Martini’s rush at my leg. She climbed to my waist before I grabbed her in my arms and began petting her.
“I am a very, very bad cat person! Even if you are my very first cat.”
Paul rapped gently at the door. I answered with Martini held against my bosom. “Yes? May I help you?”
He blinked at me. “League of Gentlemen? Is this a local shop?”
“Yes.” I tried to imitate Tubbs’
voice from the British TV show but I wasn’t really into acting. “I thought it might make you feel more at home, being MI-6 and all.”
“Not out here!” He glanced over his shoulder and pushed his way inside. “Shut the door if you’re going to blab my business to the world.”
“You have something that’ll block receivers and directional mics?”
“Of course.” He patted the cellphone at his belt. I looked at it more closely. Whatever it was, it didn’t receive telephone calls. A façade to mask it’s true function.
“Impressive.”
“How low are you looking there?” He smiled at me innocently.
I straightened my back and glared at him. He could see the twist of my lips. Even if he couldn’t see my angry eyes.
I smiled then and that startled him. When I removed my sunglasses, he could see that the glint in my eyes was threatening. Playfully so.
He swallowed uncertainly. “Are you sure you should be doing that?”
“Just testing your little magic totem there.” Martin rubbed her face under my chin and I resumed stroking her. “Someone’s a lonely kitty.”
“I thought cats liked to be independent.”
“They do. But they’re still social creatures.” I nuzzled her face with my nose. Then set her on the ground. She wasn’t happy. But it was the one thing she understood. “What do you want, Paul?”
“Thought maybe you’d like some company to the desert.”
I cocked my head to study him. “You have my office bugged?”
“You had it swept. Twice. How’d I manage something like that?”
“I also had my clothing swept. Wait. Was the beret your bug?”
“Who else? Amperdyne? Please! You called them on that early in the game. They’d be stupid to do more.”
He seemed overly confident. Pleased with himself. It only pissed me off more.
“What the fuck gives you the right to bug a private citizen?”
“Easy now, Doll. It’s a bit different in the spy-game. I figured you’d be ticked if I bugged you. But I had to risk it.”
“Why?”
“For your safety, of course. You’re always running off without backup. You nearly got yourself killed at Gibraltar’s offices because of it.” He seemed genuinely angry.
“Am I screwing up your own investigation?”
His gaze softened and he took a step closer. “No. I just don’t like the idea of you being dead.”
I didn’t back down, but I didn’t let him brush against me either. “We met once, Paul. And talked on the phone once. Hardly time for an attachment.”
“I don’t often meet women I’d like to attach to.”
I couldn’t keep from laughing. “Talking that way, I’m not surprised. Who’d like to be on the receiving end of sexual impropriety?”
“You’d be surprised.” He spoke gently. Invitingly. But I saw his eyes shift. “Sorry. It’s part of my cover. Been doing it so long I don’t know when to stop.”
“How long you been tracking Chilton?”
It was his turn to look surprised. “I thought you didn’t learn anything from your CIA contact.”
“I didn’t. Not more than that you were MI-6.” I studied him. “If you actually care what happens, make sure she doesn’t suffer any negative consequences for poking around.”
He nodded. “I can do that. Happily. If you’ll let me go with you.”
“No.”
“Fine. Then ‘no.’”
“Pardon?” I studied his expression. He was being serious. “You’d blackmail your way into going with me?”
“Absolutely. I’m a spy. We do that sort of thing.”
“I thought your interest was personal?”
He grinned. “Reprehensible, aren’t I?”
I fumed for a few seconds. The idea of having professional backup might actually be really nice. His constant flirtation not so much. Still, with the mystic belt keeping him safe from my hunger, it might be good practice.
“Deplorable. You can go on one condition.”
He beamed at me, flirtatiously. “I already said ‘yes.’ She’s off the hook.”
“Okay, two conditions.”
He frowned, as if I’d disappointed him. “Sorry, no sex on the first date.”
I clenched a fist but didn’t lash out. I didn’t believe in unnecessary violence. Although, he brought me damned close. “Forget it! I’m sorry I even considered it.”
“Wait, wait! Sorry, sorry. Go ahead. What’s the second thing.”
I counted to five. Three didn’t cut it this time. Hunger. Sleep deprivation. Being whammied and bombed. I was in a seriously pissed off mood all of a sudden. “No more cover. No more games. Be yourself and only yourself the entire trip.”
He scrunched up his face as if it was a painful thought. Contorted into a child’s expression. Then he nodded, letting out a long breath. “You can’t keep calling me ‘Paul,’ then. It’s sort of a trigger. Long term programming.”
“What should I call you?”
“Oliver.”
“As in Twist?”
“Only it’s my birth name. But yeah.”
“Fine, Oliver, give me five minutes to get ready.”
“I’m just going as back up. It’s your dime.”
I started toward the bedroom. Martini put herself in my way, nearly causing me to tumble. I knelt down and petted her a moment. “I know, I’ve been gone longer on this case than normal. I’m sorry.”
“Why not bring her along?”
“You’ve never owned a cat, have you?”
“Dog person myself.”
“Cats aren’t dogs.”
He smiled. Playful but not lecherous for a change. “No one’s perfect.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
We made decent time out of Los Angeles, but I was beginning to regret not accepting Paul’s offer to take his car. A convertible. The air-conditioning worked well enough in my car. But the idea of letting the wind blow through my hair instead of keeping it bound under the beret sounded better and better once we’d left LA traffic behind.
I was also having trouble thinking of him as ‘Oliver.’ In my mind, he was still ‘Paul.’ He was only ‘Oliver’ if I called him by name aloud.
He broke the silence, glancing at my hands firmly on the wheel. Ungloved. “What do you know about Killian’s pack?”
“Who’s Killian?”
Paul stared at me, horrified. “You know nothing about the werewolves you’re off to meet?”
“I didn’t have time to put my resources on it.” I gripped the wheel firmly. “I’m beginning to worry that we’re running out of time. Vincent’s been gone four days now. If he turns up dead because I delayed anything, I’ll—.”
I couldn’t finish. I wouldn’t kill myself. The guilt would eat at me. Praying wouldn’t make it go away. Believing in God didn’t mean that every death should be met with joy and peace of mind. It should’ve. But that much Zen meant that there was something wrong with you. No one was that detached. No one sane.
“You care about the kid. Why?” I could feel his stare pressing against my nerves.
“He’s a kid.” I refused to look at him. I knew he was frowning. “He’s an innocent. Trapped in a world not of his own making. Not being allowed to grow up the way other kids in the world are.”
“So he’s basically you.”
I did turn. Startled. Annoyed that he thought I was talking about myself. Then I realized maybe he was right. I wasn’t consciously defending the innocent because they were me. I was doing it because I understood how hard the world could be to people like them. But yeah. People like me.
“Just because I was born a succubus doesn’t mean I’m some worldly-wise woman who manipulates people to get what she wants.”
“Some people think that?”
I nodded. I didn’t like talking about myself. Especially not with a practical stranger. Even a handsome and flirtatious stranger.
“I don�
��t.”
I listened for mockery in his tone. All I heard was kindness. Sincerity. I took a deep breath. Didn’t need to count. I just wasn’t used to men offering me compassion. Lust took over long before they could.
“Thanks. Historically, my kind have done just that. Whether by choice or simply because that’s how our power works, I don’t know.”
“You work so hard not be like them. Like that.”
“Yeah, I do. You think I like hiding my eyes all the time? Covering my skin? Never knowing a touch of someone else?”
“You could date a vampire.”
I frowned. He wasn’t teasing. “You really want to know why I wouldn’t consider dating someone not alive?”
“I guess that pretty much covers it. Yeah.”
I laughed. Bitter. Self-depreciatingly. “As if I’m one to talk. Being with a man—a living man—would kill him.”
He patted his belly but it was the totem underneath he was signifying. “Unless they used protection.”
I laughed for real then. A knee-jerk giggle that made me feel better. “I don’t even know if I can get pregnant the old fashioned way.”
“Old fashioned? You mean sex?”
I studied his handsome profile. “I know you’ve done your homework. Don’t play stupid. It’s not a good look on you.”
“I figured sex was involved. Pregnancy sort of requires it doesn’t it? I’m just not sure what you mean by ‘old fashioned?’”
“Draining the lifeforce of a man is, what—how do I say it? It generates fertility. A condom would be nothing more than another bit of clothing with anyone undead.”
“So a fertile vampire—.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“Hold the interruptions. I’m hypothecating.” He grinned at me. Kindness in his eyes.
I wanted to trust that it was real. But he was a spy. Hard not to believe that despite his promise, everything he did was a lie.
“Fine. Go on. Hypothecate.”
“A fertile vampire could never impregnate you.”
I shook my head. “Nope.” Then I had an odd thought. “Unless there was some major kink.”
“Pardon?” It was Paul’s turn to be startled.
The Billionaire's Heir (Sucubus For Hire Book 1) Page 20
