So why wasn’t that happening here?
And why did I get the impression it had something to do with Peter? Heck, why did I get the impression that this entire situation had something to do with Peter?
I leaned back and crossed my arms. I closed my eyes and remembered the first time I’d seen Peter, which, incidentally, was when he’d captured the illusionist.
… Could Peter have something to do with the gang? Though there was no affiliation between Peter and Constantine on paper, all of this was just supposition.
Worse, if Peter had something to do with the illusionist gang, then what if he’d done something to Jeremy?
I frowned as that thought struck me, then I shook my head. If Peter had failed to deliver Jeremy to the remand center, then we would’ve heard about it by now. Josh had already signed off on that case.
I went to push the thought away, but I frowned when something told me I’d almost found something here. And yeah, the something that told me I was headed in the right direction was my powers.
Incapable of ignoring them, I grabbed my phone and called the Justice Department.
Susie answered. “Is that you, sweetie?”
“Sure is,” I said through a broad smile.
Susie was now my friend. She was my primary contact in the Justice Department, and she knew exactly how to put Josh in his place. See, instant friends.
“What are you after?”
“Just some information on Jeremy Rodriguez.”
“He’s still in remand. Though it’s pretty smart to check in on that character. He’s a slippery one.”
“Sure is. The information I wanted, however, was what the precise time he arrived at the remand center was.”
“Why do you want that?”
“Even though we didn’t technically bring him in, I’d still like to keep accurate records.”
“You sure are different to Josh. He’s so lucky to have you. I’m just looking it up now.”
I kept the phone pinned against my ear as I waited. I heard the tap tap of Susie searching for the records on her computer. “Exactly 12:45 PM.”
“Awesome. Thank you so much. How are you, anyway?”
“Oh, we’re all pretty busy down here. There’s a big case set to go down in the next day or so. It’s got everyone in a tizz.”
“Big case?”
“It’s still on the hush-hush. If our people lose any of our suspects, I’m sure we’ll be getting you two involved. Now, got to dash. Have a nice day, sweetie.”
“You too.”
I frowned as I ended the call. Then promptly, I brought up the information of the footage of Frank and Bill.
I checked the timestamp.
Presuming it had taken me around a minute or two to get from Peter Mercure to Frank and Bill, then I should’ve started taking the footage at about 12:47 PM.
Here was the thing – the footage was time-stamped at 12:30. Which meant dear Jeremy had been missing for precisely 15 minutes before he’d been sent to remand.
I pressed my lips together, and I whistled. “This is big, isn’t it? Crap, this is big.”
I really doubted there was an innocent reason for Peter not to have sent Jeremy straight to remand. Though 15 minutes, ostensibly, wasn’t that much time to do anything, as I’d learned at the gala, Peter was an extremely quick and powerful warlock. More to the point – he had a virtual army of them at his fingertips.
I stood up and kind of shuffled from foot to foot as I brought a hand up and scratched my head.
Though my first inclination was to tell Josh what I’d just found out, I quickly reminded myself that he was on some kind of sensitive mission with Max. This revelation could wait.
I went to throw myself back into the task of searching for clues, then there was a knock on the door.
I straightened up and frowned.
There was another knock.
I stood up slowly.
The doorbell rang.
So it couldn’t have been the wind, then?
A deep frown etched across my lips as I turned and walked carefully down the corridor. I reached the door. It didn’t have an eye hole.
“Hello? Someone’s home – I can see your shadow under the door. I really need to talk to you,” a deep male voice echoed through the door.
Though I’d only heard that voice once, I’d been playing the footage of him over and over, so I recognized him instantly.
Frank.
My eyes practically fell out of my head as I realized how serious this was. Frank had tracked me down here. Josh may have set me the task to find Frank, but this wasn’t the same.
I turned to run upstairs.
“Look, I know you’re there. I… I really need your help,” Frank said, his voice cracking. “Jake Goldstein said you could help, said you’d helped him. I need that kind of help now. I… I’m in some serious goddamn trouble,” Frank’s voice broke. “I don’t know what to do, and I have no idea who to turn to. I’m being forced to, shit, I’m being forced to participate in a crime. I need protection, and I need to get out of the city. I can’t do it alone. You’re an ex-Army brat like me, aren’t you? Or at least that’s what Jake said. He promised you haven’t forgotten your roots, promised that you still know where your loyalties lie and you’ll help out a brother when he needs it. I need it now,” Frank’s voice choked, and I swore I heard him sob. “They’re gonna go after my family. My kid’s the only thing I’ve got. I don’t know what else to do, and I don’t know where else to turn. They locked me into a job tomorrow, and if I don’t get out of town and bring my kid with me—”
There was every possibility Frank was lying. Any smart girl wouldn’t open the door. Any smart girl would call the cops while running through this magical house for a place to hide.
But I wasn’t a smart girl. I was a finder. And my magical sense suddenly welled in me as it told me louder than ever that I’d just found something important. Before I could think it through, I opened the door a crack.
I caught sight of Frank’s face. It didn’t stiffen in a sneer as he threw himself at my throat. He looked completely relieved, as if he’d been a drowning man that had just been handed a rope.
Then he saw it was me, and he looked taken aback. “Who are you?” His voice shook.
“I’m Josh’s partner.”
He paled. “Was that you behind the door the whole time? Did you… hear all that?”
I could have pretended that I hadn’t heard a thing. That would have been the smarter thing to do. Frank looked placid for now, but as Josh had told me a thousand times already, good men can do anything when they’re pushed.
But something told me to be honest. I nodded.
Frank licked his lips in a tensed move. “Is Josh there?”
I shook my head. “Then I… I better go.” He didn’t push in, jam his foot into the door, and attack me. He turned to walk away.
So I made up my mind. I took a deep breath. “Josh isn’t here, but I can help you.” I have no idea why I’d just said that, but the words were out, and I wouldn’t pull them back.
Frank stopped. He turned to look at me from over one tensed shoulder. He shook his head. “It’s okay, love. You go back inside. You don’t need to tell Josh I came.” There was such a defeated quality to his tone, it was as if he was a man who was about to be sent to the gallows.
My heart went out to him. I gripped the door tighter. “I told you I can help you. I can help you find a place to hide. Somewhere safe. Somewhere until everything blows over.” Why had I just said that? With so much passion and certainty, too. This wasn’t some mere offer – it was a promise. And I felt the promise deep inside me.
Thus far I’d only found a couple of criminals, one testing officer, and one kidnapped Josh McIntosh. Now I was virtually promising this unquestionably desperate man that I’d be able to find him a safe place. And it was a stretch. A massive stretch of my powers. Though Josh had told me that I’d be able to locate D 20 if I managed to c
oncentrate on it enough, I had no idea if I could extend that same power to being able to track down a safe house for this man.
But the words were out.
Frank turned fully now. He swallowed as he looked at me. “Who are you again?”
“I’m Josh’s partner.”
“I thought he worked alone.”
“I only started working for him about a month ago.”
“What kind of witch are you, anyway? A warlock?” he asked hopefully.
I pressed my lips together. I’d assumed every single person in Madison City knew who I was. And honestly, that was better than having to reveal myself. My stomach always clenched in fear whenever the topic of talking about my rare powers came up.
But I couldn’t exactly leave Frank’s question unanswered. He only had a partial trust for me at the moment, and if I ruined it by not answering him, he would walk off. And for some reason, I needed him to stay. “I’m a finder,” I said quietly.
“I don’t know what that is,” he said with the kind of automatic response that told me he wasn’t lying.
I took a breath. “I find things. My ability is that I can locate things in space. Everything from people to…” I trailed off. I really couldn’t keep promising that I’d be able to find this guy a safe place to stay. Worse, I didn’t have any right to find him a safe place to stay. Sure, it was obvious he wanted to get his way out of the Cruze Gang, but being in it was still a crime. If by a safe place to stay I meant the police station, then that was fair enough. But if I was offering to keep this guy hidden… wasn’t that a bridge too far?
For the first time since the conversation had begun, real hope infiltrated Frank’s gaze. “Are you serious? You can actually find things? You’d be able to find a safe place for Debbie and me to stay?” With every word, his hope grew and grew until it no longer looked as if he was a shadow of a man.
I couldn’t back out now. So I took a breath. I nodded. “My powers are new, but I can try.”
Frank tipped his head back and sighed. “I feel like I’ve just met an angel.”
His comment was obviously mostly meant for himself, but it made my cheeks blush.
“Does anyone know you’ve come here? Were you tracked?” I asked, slipping into a professional tone I had no right to have, because I had no clue as to whether I could help this guy.
“I was careful. I know how the rest of the team operate. And the illusionists are all charging their powers, readying for tomorrow,” he added under his breath. “That being said, we shouldn’t talk about this in the open. We can talk in my car if you don’t want to go into your house,” he said after I obviously paled a little.
Shit. That was the other side of offering this guy help, wasn’t it? We couldn’t exactly stand around in the doorway and plot to take down the Cruze Gang.
But should I actually invite him in?
I wanted to believe he was trustworthy, but there was every possibility that he was just a very good actor. If I invited him in, I would be the stupidest damsel in the world. But at the same time, there was an even greater possibility that he was just a normal guy. One who was in deep trouble and one who I’d just promised to help.
I made a quick decision, because I couldn’t exactly hang around.
I thrust the door further open. “Come in,” I said.
This better not turn out to be a mistake, I prayed to myself as the sound of Frank’s heavy footfall drummed up the stairs.
He walked in, instantly looking impressed by the place. “I didn’t realize Josh had the money for this. I mean, I knew he was a prolific bounty hunter, but if I’d known he earned this much, I would’ve applied to be a bounty hunter myself.”
“It isn’t his. It belongs to Max Knights.”
I watched Frank stiffen. He relaxed a little as he closed the door. “What does Josh still have to do with Max?”
“I don’t really know, to be honest.” It was a terribly honest answer.
“I mean, I heard that Josh went to work for Max after he canceled his employment contract with Peter, but I didn’t realize Max had bought him a house.”
I stopped and blinked. “Sorry, Josh worked for Max? And he used to work for Peter?”
Frank looked surprised. “It’s pretty common knowledge. Or at least I think it is. I don’t think I’m violating his privacy here or anything. Because as a witch, like the rest of us, his employment history is publicly searchable. Then again, I’m pretty sure he would’ve wanted to bury his tenure with Peter considering how it ended.”
Frank had come here so I could help him, but now he was doing the one thing I needed most – giving me information on not just Josh, but Max. “What did Josh do for Max?”
“He headed up his personal security. I guess you’re pretty new, so you wouldn’t know this, but for a while there a few years ago, Max was getting constant threats. A new finder briefly moved into town – part of the Caltar Gang. The guy had instantly wanted to loosen Max’s grip on Madison. To do that, he’d sent threat after threat Max’s way. Though I don’t really understand how finder magic works,” Frank nodded at me politely, “I know enough about Max Knights to appreciate his magic, though powerful, isn’t complete. Though his ability to sense opportunities often keeps him safe, the other finder inundated him with threats until Max had absolutely no choice but to hire the best of the best.”
I shook my head a little too hard. “You can’t be honest – Josh isn’t the best of the best.”
Frank arched an eyebrow. “He may have a legendarily prickly personality, but there’s a reason he has the only government-sponsored bounty hunter position in town. There’s also a reason he’s always given the hard protection order cases. It’s because he has a reputation for being able to save anyone from anything. Before he was discharged from the Army, he’d been one of their best soldiers.”
Frank had just shared so much information. I almost wanted to pause there and stare agape. Instead, I frowned. “I thought Constantine was meant to be the best? Sorry, I mean Constantine Santos,” I added. Then I promptly realized that it was the worst thing I could’ve said. I’d come across Constantine’s name, not on the news, but in a secret dossier about the Cruze Gang.
Frank didn’t look as if I’d said something unusual. He shook his head. “Constantine’s good, but they’re in different leagues. Constantine is great at organizing large-scale protection operations – Josh’s better at single cases. Hasn’t Josh told you anything about himself?”
“He always says he’s too busy. Did you… want a cup of tea or something?”
“That would be nice. But what I really want is a place to take Debbie. She’s at school right now, where she’s safe. I’m dreading picking her up and taking her home. I need to get her out of this mess. I owe it to her mother.”
From the way he said mother, it was clear he was a widower.
His grief brought me back down to earth. It also reminded me of what I’d promised. I began to lead him into the kitchen, then I stopped, realizing that the dossier was still spread over the table. I hesitated. I shifted to the side. There was a door beside me. Though technically Josh had the magic to be able to make the doors in this building shift around, I did not. The kitchen always stayed where it was, and so did the bathroom. But the rest of the rooms often shifted like sand on the wind.
Though there was a doorway beside me and sometimes it led to one of the TV rooms, sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes it led to my damn bedroom.
“Is there a problem?” Frank asked, his voice shaking with urgency.
“No, not a problem. I’m just not a standard warlock, and Josh always messes with the internal magic of this building. I think…” I tried the door and sighed in relief when it didn’t open to my bedroom, “this is a sitting room. And thankfully it is.”
We both walked inside. Frank sat heavily in one of the armchairs, looked briefly at his hands, and stared up at me. He looked at me as if I could save his world.
And I swallowed.
“How do you do this? I mean, how do you generate your powers? I know for a finder it’s different. If you’re anything like Max, you have to inundate yourself with information. Do you need me to tell you my life story?”
I placed my hands on my lap and tried to contain my nerves. I still had no freaking clue if I could find Frank and his kid a place to stay that would keep them safe from the Cruze Gang.
But I’d offered, so I had to try.
I cast my gaze around the TV room. Though it did legitimately have a large TV on one wall, this was still a room belonging to Max Knights, so it had elegance, too. And most importantly, a bookcase.
I trundled over to it in the hopes it would have a street atlas of Madison City.
Just before I turned away, I actually found one.
I could kiss Max right now. I got down on one knee, plucked out the atlas, returned to the couch, and opened it on my lap.
All of Frank’s attention was locked on me. He looked as if I was a surgeon who was about to perform a life-giving operation.
I started to flick through the pages of the atlas, holding the same question in my mind. Where could Frank and Debbie go?
I got through most of the pages before I realized it wasn’t working. I wasn’t feeling even a charge of magic.
Before I could give up, I looked at Frank. “What’s your last name?”
“Wellington.”
I closed my eyes again and started flicking through more pages. I stopped. “How long have you lived in Madison City?”
“My whole life. My wife was born here, and my daughter was born here.”
I nodded, closed my eyes, and flicked through another page. Not even the faintest hint of magic was rushing through me.
Though I was by no means an expert on my power, I’d tracked down a couple of criminals using it over the past two weeks, so at least I knew what it felt like. And there wasn’t even a shadow of it pulsing in my veins right now.
I let out a sigh. Frank was so wired that he heard.
I practically felt his shoulders dropping from here. “Thank you for trying. If there’s nothing you can do—” He went to push up.
Forgotten Destiny 2 Page 5
