Dana said, “Moira, we need to get out of here before a whole gang gathers!”
I’d had enough. Nobody else was messing with me, not after what we’d just went through.
More voices called out in the dimly lit parking lot. The situation was spiraling out of control.
I slammed the tailgate down with one hand while keeping an eye on the sorcerer. Then I spun to face him and let my fury boiled over. “HOLARTHON, ELBO CHOQUE!”
A bolt of white lightning burst from my hand, so strongly that my whole arm went numb.
It hit him in the center of his stomach and hurled him backwards. The stink from ozone filled the air.
Without waiting to see whether he’d get up, I jumped behind the wheel, backed out of the spot, and tore off before any others could get close enough to stop us.
Something crashed against the SUV’s back, shattering the rear window. I ignored it as I raced across the lot and onto the closest street.
For the next few minutes, I kept checking my rearview mirrors to see if someone tried to follow us, but that didn’t happen, thank the Mórrígan. We reached the airport without running into more trouble, and I checked the back of the SUV. A zigzag pattern of scorch marks told me a lightning bolt had hit the rear of the vehicle.
The rental car guy began to bitch about the damage. I called Gracie, and our angel took care on the problem even though I hadn’t been traveling on clan business. And once she wrapped that up, I told her she could release all of the slaves I’d inherited from Turnbull. My brilliant plan had failed completely.
By then, my mind was ready to shut down. Dana eventually led me to our chartered plane. As soon as the plane’s wheels left the ground, the two of us wallowed in misery, crying on each other’s shoulders. We’d gotten so close to Cara, and that made leaving her behind much more painful.
-o-o-o-
Sunday, February 28th
THE NEXT MORNING, I still felt hollow inside. To distract myself, I ran as hard as I could along the beach with Ian and the others. It didn’t help. When we got back to the inn, I felt so sick I barfed my morning coffee into the grass near the main gate.
Ian patted my back with surprising gentleness. “Don’t think for a minute that they’ve won. We haven’t begun to fight.”
I nodded. That was the right attitude. I washed the sour taste from my mouth with the bottle of water hooked onto my belt and began to plan my next steps in getting Cara back. Self-pity wouldn’t help.
At breakfast, I ate a little oatmeal to settle my stomach. Christina sat next to me, and I told her the whole sad story.
“Dad says Breaux grew up in Montréal,” she said. “That’s probably where he took your sister.”
“I didn’t know that, thanks. It’s a hell of a long way away from here, and it’s disputed territory.”
Most of the old cities in the Upper Midwest were controlled by sorcerers. Boston was the closest area to Montréal dominated by witches. Chicago was also safe, but it was farther to the west. “I don’t know how Dana and I can find Cara in Montréal. We don’t speak any French.”
Christina grinned. She wasn’t about to let nasty ol’ reality drag her down. “I do, bonjour, and of course, Philippe is fluent. We’ll help you.”
The girl was positively inspiring. “I know you will. We might have to take a road trip, girlfriend. But first, I need to find somebody, a detective, who knows his way around French Canada.”
She nodded. “The Tran brothers might have connections there. Ask them first.”
My oatmeal had gone cold, so I pushed it away. Then I called Thao.
After I gave him the two-minute version of the disaster in Vegas, he said, “I don’t know anyone in Boston, but one of my nieces lives in Brooklyn. Her French is excellent. In case you didn’t know, Vietnam was once a French colony. Many members of my family speak the language.”
His niece sounded like a possibility, but I needed more convincing. “Has she worked as a detective for long?”
He paused for a moment. “Not exactly. She was a newspaper reporter in New York City until she got laid off. Since then, she has owned a New Age shop near Times Square where she sells metaphysical books, love potions and magical wands.”
Oh, no. I’d gotten too used to working with pros like Thao and his brother Dahn. “I don’t know…I’m thinking I need an experienced private eye, you know, like you or your brother. I’m sure your niece is very nice, but—”
He broke in. “I understand. She is an amateur, and much younger than me, but she understands both technology and magic. Few witches blend the old ways and the new as well as she does. My brother and I have used her successfully in several difficult cases where she managed to infiltrate into computer networks no one else could access.”
It wasn’t like I had any better options to find either Cara or Nora. “Can you ask her to come out here at my expense so I can meet her? In the meantime, I’m going to check to see whether Ian or Gill have connections in Chicago or Boston who might know Montréal better.”
I glanced over at Christina, and she shook her head. Maybe I was being too blunt to Thao. Before he could respond, I added, “Of course, either way, your niece might be able to locate my mom.”
“Yes, I will call Suong and ask her to come.” he said, but his voice sounded more distant than friendly. I had annoyed him.
After I hung up, Christina stared at her orange juice.
Had I been too snotty with such a kind, generous man? “Was I rude? Should I call him back and apologize?”
She sipped her drink and scrunched up her face like it was sour. “He knows you’re under a lot of stress.” After a longer pause, she added, “You have to admit, though, the Tran family has helped us tremendously. I feel much safer here with them watching out for the bad guys.”
That was as close as she’d ever come to telling me I was full of shit.
My face warmed as I gazed into my bowl of cold oatmeal. “Sorry. I should’ve been nicer, but this niece he’s talking about sells trinkets in a tourist shop. She’s never worked as a detective. And she lives in New York City, a long way from Montréal or Bakersfield where Dana last saw our mom.”
Christina didn’t respond. Usually, she was so enthusiastic around me. I’d really messed up this time.
Instead of digging myself in deeper, I looked to my opposite side where Ian was silently eating. He didn’t look at me either. I began to explain my conversation with Thao, but he held up his hand. “Caught the gist of it. Unfortunately, I don’t know anybody back East. See if Gill can hook you up with a witch detective back there. As for Nora, the Tran brothers are your best bet. With regard to the niece, Suong is fantastic.”
In other words, Moira, you’re an idiot. My face warmed again. “I’ll call Gill. I need to catch up with him and Katie anyway. Did tell him about beating Eichmann.”
Ian nodded. “So, he told me. Talked to him yesterday and mentioned your trip to Vegas. He’ll want to know how that turned out.”
I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “I suppose every witch is going to hear about it sooner or later.”
He grimaced. “Most sorcerers, too. They’re talking about you all over Sin City, and the online gladiator websites are posting headline stories about Bloody Mary’s latest rampage.”
We had barely gotten out in time. “That’s just swell. So, Breaux knows I was there and he has to have figured out why. What a royal screw-up.”
Ian sipped his coffee for a moment. “You don’t do things halfway, do you? Their reporters love you to death.”
He tapped on his phone’s keyboard for a minute. “I just sent you my favorite article. The title says, Bloody Mary Stomps on Merlin.”
If I could’ve vanished to hide my embarrassment, I would’ve. Instead of saving Cara, I’d lost her and even managed to put her new owner on high alert.
-o-o-o-
CHRISTINA AND HER dad took off, and I read the online
article. As he’d said, they’d figured out I was at the Merlin Arena, but the article didn’t mention Dana at all. That was a blessing. The arena’s security staff had managed to grab a few grainy images of me from one of the security cameras, and I saw the same three photos in a dozen different articles. I wouldn’t be using that disguise again, which was no problem. Maureen had plenty more in her bag of tricks.
Dana wandered by, still wearing her disguise. “Is my cover blown?”
I checked several more sorcerer newsletters, and none mentioned my sister or showed her face. “You’re okay. Everybody is screaming for my head, again. It’s what I deserve for botching our rescue attempt.”
“We botched it, sis,” she said. “I wonder if Cara knows how close we got to her yesterday.”
Good question. I rubbed my temples with my fingers, trying to fight off a headache. “Yeah, I hope so. Breaux must’ve told her to be on the lookout for us and to warn him if she ever saw us or heard from us. Maybe that’ll give her enough courage to hang on while we track her down again.”
Dana pulled me to my feet and wrapped her arms around me. “Don’t beat yourself up. When you deserve it, I’ll do it for you, no charge. We’ll get her back. It’s just going to be harder than we thought.”
That was the right attitude. “Sure. Also, I need to call Gill Carmichael. He’s the great Holar fighter I told you about, as old as Moses. He’s gonna chew my ass for messing up our best chance.”
I wanted to speak to him in private, so we headed back to our suite. Along the way, Dana said, “Philippe told me about Gill, too, says he’s quite a character. I’d love to meet him.”
“You’ll get the chance, I’m sure. Don’t know when.”
Back in our apartment, I made a cup of coffee and settled on the sofa to call. His Texas twang hadn’t diminished. “About time you checked in, kiddo. What the hell happened?”
I spent twenty minutes telling him. He wasn’t much on sympathy, but I hadn’t expected any. Finally, I asked, “Do you think I should go after Breaux right away or let the dust settle?”
“You’ll have to wait for months before he begins to let his guard down again. God only knows what he’ll do to your sister in the meantime. Plus, you’ve first gotta locate the bastard. That could take a while. Best get your butt in gear.”
His advice fit my inclination. “Agreed, but I don’t know a soul in Montréal. Never been east of Denver. You wouldn’t happen to know any top-notch magical detectives back there, would you?”
After a pause, he said, “I do know a lot of witches in the east, mostly old geezers like me. No private eyes. Be happy to ask around, though, and try to get you a few names.”
I smiled to myself. That was damned nice of him. “If it won’t be too much trouble, I’d really appreciate it. Don’t want to take you away from your new son and Katie, though. How are they doing?”
“Just dandy. Travis thinks he’s constantly starving, but he’s growing great. You’ll get to see him in a few days. Katie’s been agitating to visit Monterey. Now that we’re all settled in here, we’re gonna do a road trip.”
For the first time since meeting Wang, I felt a happy glow inside. “That’s fantastic. I want you both to meet my sister.”
“Make sure they’ve stocked plenty of good tequila. None of that corn syrup shit. By the way, you really need to get out more. When I talked to the other master witches, they all say you haven’t reached out. That’s not sociable, Moira.”
When was I supposed to find the time? “I’m a fighter, not a butterfly flitting from person to person.”
I’d hoped that would chill him out, but I should’ve known better. He was a stubborn old mule.
“Try again,” he said. “As one of Ian’s disciples, you belong in the Holar Guild. You’re at least a Grade Two by now. All that magic you’ve been sucking up didn’t fall out of the sky on golden tablets, you know. You’ve benefitted from scholarship developed over thousands of years. Time for you to do your part for posterity. I intend to induct you the next time I see you.”
I bit my tongue. No point in arguing with the stubborn old man. “Whatever you say, sir. I’ll let the powers that be here know an old geezer is on his way.”
He cackled. “You do that. Gotta run. Travis just woke up, starving again.”
Before I could forget, I texted Gracie, Ian, and Laura that Gill was planning to visit soon and needed good tequila.
The boss responded right away. Great news. Gracie, kill the fatted calf.
I could hardly wait for the old Texan and his family to arrive.
Chapter 7
GRACIE CALLED ME. “What’s going on?”
I TOLD HER about our prospective visitors.
“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll contact his manservant Oran and coordinate on the details.”
We chatted for another couple of minutes, and I savored her good cheer and willingness to help the Garda whenever we asked.
I was about to say goodbye, but she asked, “By the way, what do you want us to do with your latest slave?”
I didn’t want to see him again, but I couldn’t really blame him for caving in to Breaux’s threat. “Use him for whatever you want. Whatever works best for the clan.”
-o-o-o-
AFTER I HUNG up, I needed a little time off, and I thought about showing Dana some of the local sites. Before I could contact her, though, I received a text from Ian. Urgent Garda meeting in the Council chamber in five minutes.
Now what? I got there first and waited for the others to arrive. Frank, Jin, and Tito showed up, but none of them knew anything about the meeting either. Then the boss walked up with the Council members, all older women. The only one I knew well was Sadie Hawkins, our Council President. I’d hit it off with the older black woman on the first day I arrived at the inn. We’d talked a dozen times since, but she dispensed with her normal broad smile this time. In fact, all of them wore somber faces.
The Council took their seats behind the bench, and Sadie called the meeting to order. Then she said, “Rí benn O’Rourke, tell us why you called this meeting.”
“Madam President, I just received word that the US Warlock Council has put a one-million-dollar price on my head. Wanted dead or alive. Apparently, I’ve pissed them off too many times. Even worse, they’ve announced a half-million-dollar bounty for Moira and a hundred grand for killing or capturing any of my other disciples.”
I hadn’t expected that but should’ve. I’d been getting under their skin regularly lately. Plenty of sorcerers would already have loved to earn bragging rights by beating Bloody Mary, but now they had a strong financial incentive, too. I’d have to be extra-careful going out in public.
But I wasn’t going to let on that I was worried. I raised my hand to speak, and Sadie pointed at me.
“Frankly, it’s an insult,” I said. “A classic case of sex discrimination. I demand that they offer the same price for me that they would pay for Rí benn O’Rourke.”
He rolled his eyes, and the corners of Sadie’s mouth turned up. “The question is,” she said, “what are we going to do about this latest outrage?”
I intentionally misunderstood her because there wasn’t much we could do. “I’m going to work harder until I’ve pissed them off at least as much as he does.”
She pointed her gavel at me. “You, be quiet. Ian, you have the floor.”
He shrugged. “Don’t know about anything helpful we can do. I don’t want to reverse my policy about burning the hands off of assassins who invade our region. So, I take this news as a strong indicator that our aggressive anti-sorcery policies are working. We will keep our guard up each time we leave the inn.”
I glanced over at the other disciples to gauge their reactions. Frank slowly nodded his head, and Jin gave me a thumbs-up. Tito looked straight ahead.
The Council and Ian debated various alternatives, like a public statement to the magical community, but that didn’t stri
ke me as useful.
Then he said, “Of course, I’ll be happy to release any disciple who would like to move on. They didn’t sign up for this kind of trouble.”
I snorted. “It’d be a cold day in hell when I let them scare me away from getting my family back.”
“Good. What about the others?” Sadie said.
“I’m not leaving,” Frank said, “at least, not until they take me as seriously as Moira.”
I grinned over at him. Maybe he wasn’t as big a twit as I’d thought.
Jin was a woman of few words. “I shall stay.”
Tito didn’t respond.
Sadie gaveled the meeting to a close then waved me over. “Honey, you be damned careful out there. It galls them that you refuse to shut up and fade away. I admire your spunk, and I’d really hate to lose you.”
“That’s very sweet of you. I’d hate to lose me too. Thanks so much for your support.”
Ian stood by the door and waited for me. “You planning to back off in your campaign? You could let things quiet down for a month or two before causing another stink.”
“Yeah, right. Just like you would.”
He gave me a warm smile. “That’s what I thought you’d say. Then your best approach is to work with Gill when he gets here and find a detective who knows his way around Montréal.”
-o-o-o-
THE MORE I thought about Ian’s news, the more it pissed me off. Now, I needed to calm down more than ever. In the old days, no one had soothed me better than Mom, but that wasn’t an option. While I had her on my mind, though, I sent a text to Thao asking him if they’d made any progress in finding her and dear old dad.
He responded quickly, We have learned Alan and Nora Boyle moved to Spokane, Washington two years ago. That is where the trail went cold. Your parents haven’t been seen there in a year, but we are determined to find them.
Not a very satisfying answer, but at least Thao and Dahn were looking.
Dana was also good at soothing me, so I went to search for her. She’d taken a new job as the clan’s assistant social director. Eight-year-old Christina was officially our social director, and she did a hell of a good job. My sister was working for the kid, which was fine. They were both supposed to have offices near Gracie and Ian.
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