aisling grimlock 03 - grim discovery

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Someone wants to see you.”

  “Is it my mother?”

  “I don’t understand why you keep bringing up your mother,” the stranger said.

  “I’m guessing you get confused a lot,” I said, rolling my neck until it cracked. I was getting antsy. They were cutting me off from the sports bar door. Griffin would realize I was gone, probably sooner rather than later, and he would pitch an unholy fit when I told him why I walked outside. “Listen, I don’t have the energy or time to play games with you two. You need to move out of my way.”

  I made small shooing motions with my hands, which caused the human to scowl and the wraith to drift closer.

  “Aisling Grimlock must come.”

  “You need to stop talking,” I ordered, extending a warning finger in the wraith’s direction. “It creeps me out when you guys do that. Just … shut it.”

  “You’re pretty full of yourself,” the stranger said. “I was told your whole family’s that way. That doesn’t matter now. You need to come with us.”

  Something occurred to me. “Did you follow us here? Are you some sort of creepy stalker? Do you know there’s a whole table of cops in there who would love to take down a creepy stalker? Heck, one of them is considering a run for city council and that would be a great way to announce his run.”

  “I’m not a stalker!”

  “You look like a stalker.”

  “Well, I’m not.” The man shifted from one foot to the other, agitation practically rolling off of him.

  “If you’re not a stalker, how did you find me?”

  “We can smell you,” the wraith said, drawing out the “s” to torturous lengths.

  I knit my eyebrows together, offended. “Are you saying I smell?”

  The man smirked at my outrage. “Reapers reek. See, now I’m making the jokes.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You need to work on your timing,” I replied. “That whole … dead delivery thing you’re doing is neither amusing nor engaging. With that in mind … move or I’ll make you wish you’d never approached me.”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” the man scoffed.

  “You should be,” I countered. “Didn’t you hear what I did to Sylvia Dobbs and Duke Fontaine?”

  It was a pointed question, and the stranger was uncomfortable enough to take an involuntary step backward. “I don’t know who they are.”

  “You’re a terrible liar,” I said. “I’m sure word has gotten around about the fire at the mausoleum. If you’re keeping score, my whole team walked away from that. I incinerated your whole team. The wraiths were screaming as they caught fire.” I had no idea why I included that last bit. My father would say I was getting “too big for my britches.” Personally, I think I just wanted to scare them.

  “Your business with other … factions … is not why we’re here,” the man said, opting to put on a brave face as he intently studied me. I was starting to get the feeling that the demise of Fontaine and Sylvia were public knowledge, but the specifics of that takedown were still mired in secrecy.

  “You’re an idiot,” I muttered. “Listen, I’m not going anywhere with you. We both know you can’t make me. If you take a step toward me I’ll scream and everyone will come running. I can’t figure out why you were dumb enough to approach me in a public parking lot unless … oh, you guys were hoping I’d be drunk when I left so you could jump me. That’s it, isn’t it?”

  “I’m done playing games with you,” the stranger snapped. “You either come with us or … .”

  I cut him off. “Or what? What are you going to do to me? Are you going to bore me to death with your monotonous joke delivery? You’re like a thug in a bad soap opera, for crying out loud. Tell me what you’re going to do with me and I’ll decide whether I want to start quaking in my boots or just laugh at you.”

  “We’ll take you.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” Griffin stepped out of the shadows by the door, taking me by surprise. He had a silver knife in his hand – one I recognized from my father’s personal collection – and he slammed it into the back of the wraith before either of my new “friends” registered his presence.

  The wraith stiffened, his head listing backward and a silent scream on his lips as his body disintegrated into ash. Griffin barely blinked before turning his attention on the human. “We’re not going to have an easy time hiding your body, but I’m up for trying,” he warned.

  The man stumbled away from Griffin, terrified by his unexpected appearance and the easy takedown of his cohort. “I … .”

  “I can’t kill you here without drawing a crowd.” Griffin was deathly serious. “That doesn’t mean I won’t do it. You go back to whoever sent you – I don’t care who it is – and you tell them that if they come after Aisling again it will be the last thing they ever do.”

  “I … you can’t threaten me.”

  I had to hand it to the guy. He was outnumbered. His backup was blowing away in the summer breeze. He wasn’t giving up, though. It was almost impressive.

  “You tell my mother that if she wants to see me she knows where to find me,” I said. “If she sends more like you and your friend, they’ll end up in the same grave Fontaine resides in.”

  The man didn’t reply. Instead he turned on his heel and disappeared into the night.

  When Griffin was certain the man was gone, he turned to me.

  “That was pretty impressive,” I said, forcing a nervous smile. “I’m really turned on. Are you ready to go yet?”

  “You are in so much trouble,” Griffin muttered. “You have no idea how big a fight we’re going to have on the way home.”

  “What did I do?” When in doubt, feign innocence.

  “You walked out of the restaurant unprotected. You picked a fight with a wraith and a … whatever he was. You mouthed off and provoked them. Do I need to go on?”

  Sometimes feigning innocence doesn’t work. “I didn’t know a wraith would be out here.”

  “Did you know that guy would be out here?” Griffin wasn’t backing down.

  “He was watching me inside the bar,” I admitted. “I couldn’t decide whether he was a real danger or a random pervert. I only wanted to see what type of vehicle he got in.”

  “Why didn’t you come get me?”

  “I … you were fighting for my honor.”

  Griffin made a face that would have been comical under different circumstances. “You don’t need anyone to fight for your honor. What you need is handcuffs so I can fasten you to me to keep you out of trouble.”

  “Well, that sounds like it could be fun. If we go home now we can try that.” I was trying to be flirty.

  “That is not going to work on me.”

  “I’ll dress up in an outfit if you want,” I offered. “I’ll tell you how big and strong you are while I pretend to cry so I can get out of a ticket.”

  Griffin sighed, running a hand through his hair as he shot me a dark look. “You’re lucky you’re cute, because that little line of bullshit you just ran on me wouldn’t work if you weren’t adorable.”

  I cautiously moved to him, batting my eyelashes as I closed in. “Oh, Detective Taylor, there must be something I can do to make you feel better.”

  “Knock that off,” Griffin warned, although he slid an arm over my shoulders and pulled me tight against his chest. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  “I think they mostly wanted to talk to me, although … .”

  “Although what?”

  “They wanted me to go with them, but … it seemed as if they wanted something else,” I replied.

  “What do you think they wanted?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I asked them about my mother.”

  Griffin tightened his grip on my shoulder. “Did they give you any information?”

  “He lied and said he had no idea what I was talking about.”

  “How do you know he was lying?”

  “I guess I don’t,” I conce
ded. “It felt like a lie. Of course, I could have wanted it to be a lie and convinced myself that it was because I’m too messed up to deal with the alternative right now.”

  “It was probably a lie,” Griffin said. “I’m not saying that to make you feel better. I’m still fairly ticked off at you. Do you know how terrified I was when I realized you weren’t in the bar?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. “I just … sometimes I can’t stop myself from doing stupid things. I knew it was a bad idea and yet I had to see. Does that make any sense?”

  “Nothing you do makes any sense. I … .” Whatever he was about to say was drowned out by the sound of the door opening behind us. Griffin handed the knife he clutched toward me and turned, blocking my body as I shoved the knife in my pants and tugged my shirt out to cover the hilt.

  I glanced around Griffin’s shoulder, biting my lip to keep from scowling when Adam and a few of the other officers from inside rushed out.

  “Are you two okay?” Adam asked.

  “Yes,” Griffin said, exchanging a worried look with me. “We’re fine. I … why do you ask?”

  “One of the waitresses said that someone was being mugged out here,” Adam explained. “From the description, I thought it could be Aisling.”

  “Oh,” Griffin said, tilting his head to the side. “Um … .”

  “I wasn’t being mugged,” I answered smoothly, moving up to Griffin’s side and slipping my hand in his. “There were two mouthy drunk guys out here and I just … had words with them.”

  “About what?” Adam appeared curious.

  “They were commenting on my pants.”

  “Well, I understand that,” Adam said, his eyes drifting to my legs. “They didn’t touch you, did they?”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I know how to take care of myself,” I said. “I have four brothers. No one can dish insults and live to tell the tale like I can.”

  “She’s funny,” Adam said, shifting his attention to Griffin. “Did you see them?”

  “They were gone by the time I got out here,” Griffin said. “Aisling and I were just talking about how stupid it was for her to walk out here alone.”

  “It was definitely stupid,” Adam agreed. “A girl in tight pants like that? She’s practically asking for it.”

  Did he just say what I think he said? “Wait just a second … .”

  Griffin squeezed my hand to quiet me. “She knows she shouldn’t have come out here alone,” he said. “She was upset after what happened at the table and needed some air.”

  Adam cleared his throat. “Yes, about that … um … Aisling, it was unfair of me to ambush you about your father and a political contribution. I’m truly sorry.”

  I had a feeling Griffin made his distaste for the entire manipulation scenario known during my absence. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just … tired.”

  “We’re both tired,” Griffin interjected. “In fact, we’re calling it a night.”

  “We haven’t ordered yet,” Adam pointed out.

  “We’ll pick up dinner on the way home,” Griffin said. “I just think it would be better for everyone if we left now.”

  “I can force Meredith to apologize,” Adam offered. “If that will make Aisling feel better … she won’t like it, but she’ll do it.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Griffin replied. “We’re going home. Aisling wants to get out of her outfit. She was just describing the one she’s going to climb into for me … and, well, I’m dying to see it.”

  “I’m going to live to regret that,” I muttered under my breath so only Griffin could hear.

  “Well, if you’re sure,” Adam said. “We look forward to seeing you next Saturday.”

  I stilled, surprised, because there was no way this man could want a repeat of this day.

  “We’ll talk about it and get back to you,” Griffin said. “For now, we just want to get home and relax.”

  “Okay. Have a nice night.”

  And just like that Adam dismissed us. Once it was just Griffin and me in the parking lot I turned toward him and pasted my best “you have to forgive me” smile on my face. “How much begging am I going to have to do to get out of trouble?”

  The sensuous curve of Griffin’s lips was enough to make my stomach flip. “You’re going to be begging all night, baby.”

  Strangely enough, that didn’t sound so bad. “Can we stop and get Chinese on the way home?”

  “Absolutely,” Griffin said, tugging my hand and leading me toward his Explorer. “You’re going to need a full stomach for what I have planned.”

  “And what do you have planned?”

  “You’re going to need to do a lot of work to get out of your ticket, young lady. I think you should start stripping now.”

  That sounded a heck of a lot better than the rest of my options for the night.

  Seven

  “Are you ready for this?” Griffin asked, pulling into the driveway in front of Grimlock Manor on Sunday afternoon and fixing me with a curious look.

  “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

  “Why would I be nervous?”

  “You’re always nervous when we have dinner with my family,” I replied, attempting to unbuckle my seatbelt, but struggling because I was so tense.

  “I’m not nervous when we have dinner with your family,” Griffin corrected, reaching over and hitting the seatbelt button to release me. “I just don’t like how your father looks at me.”

  “How does he look at you?”

  “Like I’m doing filthy things to his daughter.”

  I snorted. “That stuff you did last night was pretty filthy,” I said. “We had to take a bath after … and that led to more filthy stuff.”

  “You laughed all through every filthy thing we did,” Griffin pointed out. “It was the first time I’ve heard you laugh – I mean really laugh – in a week and a half.”

  I pressed my lips together and met his gaze. “I … .”

  “Don’t apologize for feeling what you’re feeling,” Griffin chided, wagging a finger in my face for emphasis. “I don’t know how you’re on two feet right now with all you’re dealing with. I didn’t say that to upset you … or make you worry that I’m going to walk away because you’re not chipper enough.

  “I said it because I love to watch you laugh,” he continued. “You’ve had to pretend to be upbeat around your family and Jerry. You don’t have to do that with me. I don’t expect you to fake it when we’re together. Wait … that came out wrong.”

  I burst out laughing, the simple act relieving some of the tension building in my chest. “Thank you for that.”

  “Funnily enough, I didn’t mean that to be a joke,” Griffin said, grabbing my hand. “I really didn’t mean for that to be a joke.”

  “Don’t worry. Your manhood is safe with me,” I teased. “I know what you meant. I’m … thankful that I can tell you everything. I would be lost without you right now.”

  “Wow! That could be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” I warned. “I just … I don’t see another way to get the information I’m looking for. We need a list of the rogue reapers and I know Dad keeps one in his office.”

  “Do you think the guy with the wraith last night was another rogue reaper like Fontaine?”

  “That’s my best guess,” I said, turning my eyes back to the hulking manor house where I spent my formative years. “Wraiths don’t usually hang out with the general populace, because they try to suck the life force out of them so they can survive. Who else would hang around a wraith?”

  “Rogue reapers collect souls for money, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Whoever employs these rogues has to have access to a lot of funds,” Griffin said. “We need that list so we can start going through bank records. Are you sure you’re up for sneaking into your father’s office and getting the list?”

  “What other options do we have?”
I asked. “If I ask him for it, he’ll want to know why.”

  “I know we’ve talked about this, and I really don’t want to have an argument, but … you know you’re eventually going to have to tell your family what Fontaine told you, right?”

  Griffin’s eyes were sympathetic when I risked a glance in his direction. “Will you think I’m a total idiot if I tell you I’m hoping we can prove Fontaine lied before I have to tell them?”

  “I know that’s what you’re hoping for,” Griffin said, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. “You’re in a no-win situation here. If your mother is alive, you should be able to celebrate. Because you are who you are, though, your mother could very well be trying to kill you.

  “I don’t pretend to know what you guys went through when your mother died,” he continued. “You can’t keep this secret forever, though.”

  “Because I’m betraying them,” I supplied. “I know.”

  “It’s not that, Aisling,” Griffin argued. “I don’t think you’re betraying them. You’re taking this huge thing on yourself, though, and it’s not healthy. You need them just as much as they need to know.”

  “They’ll be angry that I kept it from them.”

  “They’ll get over it,” Griffin said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this family, it’s that you love with your whole hearts. You pick at each other … and you tease each other … and you beat up on each other whenever the mood strikes.

  “There’s not one person in that house who doesn’t love you, though,” he said. “They’ll be angry at first. They will get over it.”

  “I know you’re right,” I said. “It’s just … it would be so much easier if she was really dead. That’s awful to say, isn’t it?”

  “If your mother is behind the attempts on your life, that’s a lot worse than wishing she was dead so that you can hold onto the good memories you have of her.”

  “It’s just a mess.”

  Griffin leaned over and dropped a soft kiss on my mouth before resting his forehead against mine. “I’m right here. We’ll get through this.”

  “Thank you.”

  We sat in silence for a full minute before I reluctantly pulled away, jumping in my seat when I found Braden standing at outside the passenger door. He didn’t look happy.