“Hey, hey,” Devon interrupted. “This isn’t going to help find it.”
“Stay out of this,” Stefano said. “You’ve done your job.” At least he released the grip on my throat.
“Just give me a chance,” I pleaded through a thin voice. “Let me figure out what’s going on.”
“I’m pretty sure we can find out where the money is very quickly if I just apply a little pressure,” Stefano said.
“You can apply all kinds of pressure on me, Stefano, but that won’t help you find the painting. I had nothing to do with it so I have no idea where it is. But if you let me help you look for it, then there’s a chance I can find it. Get it back to you.”
“Now why should I do that?” Stefano said. “You’ve been gone almost two months now? You’ve had all this time to clear your name if you’re as innocent as you plead.”
“I was on the run!” I pleaded. “I knew you were after me, going to kill me! I didn’t have a choice—or the opportunity—to investigate when I was just trying to stay alive.”
“A painting worth five million pounds is gone. I’ve been a very patient man trying to resolve this matter. And my patience is wearing thin. What makes you think anything will be different if I let you ‘investigate’ as you call it?”
“Something is going on with my bank account, as you can see. If I had a boatload of money I was trying to access, I sure as hell wouldn’t have locked myself out of my own account.”
“Layla, one thing I realized since you disappeared is that I must have underestimated you. I think you’re a lot more calculating than I believed and not as sweet as your demeanor would suggest. What guarantee do I have that you won’t run? You can easily slip away the way you did last time, like a devious little thief in the night.”
“Because I’ll be with her this time,” Devon said.
Both Stefano and I slowly looked at Devon as if he’d grown another head.
“Excuse me?” Stefano said.
“What she didn’t have last time is me. I can help her find the money. That’s what I’m good at, tracking things—as well as people—down.”
“Why would you do that?” Stefano asked.
“Because if anyone can find the painting or the money, it’s me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The same guy who’d kidnapped me and brought me to Stefano was now volunteering to help me find the money and save my hide. This didn’t make any sense. No sense at all.
“I paid you to bring her to me,” Stefano said. “Not to help her find what she stole. Is this some ploy for more money?”
“I’m not asking for any additional payment,” Devon said. “Just asking for some time.”
Stefano’s eyes narrowed as he appraised Devon. The look that came over his face made me think he chocked him up to be a lunatic.
“And what guarantee do I have that you both won’t run as soon as you leave here?” Stefano asked. “She may have offered you a bigger chunk of my money to help her hide.”
“That wouldn’t make any sense since I brought her back to you tonight. Consider me still on the job. Forget we even came here tonight and just think of it as I’m still bringing Layla back to you. The only difference is that I’m throwing in a freebie by hunting down what was stolen as well.”
By now my mouth was wide open. What was Devon doing? Was he on my side? On Stefano’s side? His own side? Or had he just lost his godforsaken mind?
“Are you all right in the head?” Stefano asked. “I know shapeshifters have their own rules of society, but what you’re proposing doesn’t make a grain of sense. You can leave right now with your money, forget all about this and go on to the next job. But instead you’re prolonging this. Why do you care one way or the other? What’s in it for you?”
Devon shook his head. “I’m not sure myself. Perhaps I’m interesting in finding out what happened to the painting. Perhaps I think she’s deserves a shot at clearing her name. Either way, it feels like the right thing to do.”
“You don’t have feelings for her, do you?” Then Stefano laughed. “What am I saying? Of course not! A shapeshifter and a vampire? Ha ha ha. As if that even had a chance in hell. Never mind. Stupid question.”
Were our two species so doomed at the chance of any sort of relationship? Sure, he changed into an animal and I was immortal. But when the heart wants something…
What was I thinking? I didn’t want him. He was an asshole. One who kidnapped me, drugged me. I could go on describing the many ways he’d wronged me. I wanted a chance to live. If he was foolish enough to help me survive, then let him deal with it.
Focus on survival.
“I also have one thing you don’t have. I can move around in daylight. Your search is hampered without someone like me, someone who can move around easily in the day.”
“We’ve managed for centuries. And we’ve adjusted to the modern world.”
“You still don’t have the same access I do. You must remain under cover of darkness.”
“I don’t see how that will help track down my painting. Everything is done via computers these days.”
“I can start by taking Layla to the bank this morning. Have her bring ID, talk to a representative in person. They’re much more likely to give information to someone who can prove who she is in person rather than someone whose account is locked and possibly compromised.”
Stefano was silent as he considered the opportunity Devon proposed.
“So what’s it going to be, Stefano? Are you going to let us look for your money? Or just torment a young woman who has no idea where it is? One is much more productive than the other. And it requires much less work on your part.”
“Fine. Go off on your little adventure then. Twenty-four hours. And if you’re not back and are doing this as some ruse to cheat me, I will hire an army of bounty hunters to track the two of you down and kill you upon sight.”
“Thank you, Stefano,” I said, focusing on the chance to survive a little longer rather than the promised death threat.
“Come on,” Devon said.
We left Stefano’s house and I wanted to scream my joy into the English night, one I thought I might never see again after entering Stefano’s house. I turned to Devon, threw my arms around his neck and said, “Thank you!”
He laughed. “I should save your life more often. You’re much nicer to be around. You’re welcome.”
“One question,” I asked. “Why did you do that? Why are you helping me?”
He shrugged. His uncommunicative responses brought up more questions. I would have thought he’d use this opening to reveal why he had the sudden change of heart, or mind, or whatever reasoning it was that had him working with me instead of against me.
After several moments of me staring at him waiting for a response, he said. “That’s a good question. “I honestly don’t know.”
I looked at his face, which wore an expression that said he was as perplexed about his actions as I was.
“So what’s our first step?”
“I don’t have a plan besides the bank,” he said. “Do you?”
“Um, no.”
Our eyes locked, both of us seeming to ask the same question.
What the hell do we do now?
On the drive away from Stefano’s, I asked Devon, “Did you finally realize I’m innocent?”
“No.” Another one-word reply. He was driving me crazy.
“You do believe me though, right? I didn’t steal anything from Stefano.”
“No. I think you took the painting.”
“Then why would you help me?”
“Not sure really. Maybe you realized you made a mistake.”
“Devon, I don’t know what the hell is going on. Now the account is locked for security reasons and I don’t know why.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“I’m the one who locked it.”
I stared at him again, unable to process what he just told me. “Why
would you lock my account?”
“Because while I was tracking you down, I discovered that a good chunk of money had been transferred in there. Stefano hadn’t hired me to find the painting or the money, just you. He was so convinced that finding you would lead him to what was stolen. I like to think ahead. So if the job was easy enough, I was going to ask him for more money to track down what happened. I’m not really sure why I offered to do so now for free.”
“Why? What’s in there?”
“Five million incriminating goddamn pounds was in there. But now it’s gone.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but didn’t know where exactly to start. “Five million pounds went into my account? By who? And where did it go?”
“Save the innocent act for Stefano, sweetheart. You should be the one answering questions, not asking them.”
“How did you find all this out? Are you hacking into all my personal affairs?”
“I should be the one asking you the questions. How many times do I have to tell you this, my dear? It’s what I do. I’m a bounty hunter, I have connections, and I’m good with computers.”
“So where’s the money now?”
“That is the question I am supposed to ask you.”
“I don’t know!” I said. “I don’t even know how it got in there to begin with!”
When he smirked, I added, “If you think I’m guilty of stealing the money, why would you help me?”
“I don’t know. It’s not my job to judge or take sides, but to find people or things. Maybe I’m curious. Maybe I want to know what happened and how you pulled it off.” He leaned closer, just inches from my face so our eyes locked and for an instant I was reminded of when we had sex earlier. “Or maybe you do something to me, Layla Costa. Something that I don’t even understand myself.”
“For the last time, Devon, I didn’t take anything from Stefano! I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a thief. And I’m not as good at computers as you. I had no idea until two goddamn minutes ago that so much money was ever in my bank account. And if I did, don’t you think I would have used some when I was on the run? I’m sure with your Sherlock Holmes computer shit you must have realized I never even logged into an ATM since I left. Trust me, I could have used some money along the way.”
“Or maybe Stefano is right and you’re smarter and much more calculating than either of us realize.”
“Piss off, Devon! If you’re not here to help me, but just to satisfy some freakish curiosity, go the fuck to hell! I have twenty-four hours to figure out what happened before I wind up as ashes and I don’t need to waste it with someone who’s just here to watch my downfall.”
“Hey, calm down, sweetheart! I’m not here to watch you go down. I said I’d help you because I want to help you. So stop overreacting like some ungrateful brat and tell me what really happened.”
Trying to calm my overwhelming emotions, I took three deep breaths. They were a vestige of being a human that didn’t have any physiological effect on vampires, but they still worked psychologically, like a placebo effect. “I don’t know what happened, Devon. I honestly don’t. If you’re such a computer whiz, can’t you figure it out?”
“I can have leads try to trace where the money went. It gets more complicated the farther you get from the source.”
“Then why don’t you start there? With the source. Can’t you figure out who transferred the money if it wasn’t me?”
“I can probably determine which computer was used for it.”
“Then do that, Devon. Please.”
“Fine.”
“I’m sorry I overreacted. It’s hard not to be emotional when you’re counting down the hours until you might be killed.”
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I said I’d help you and I will. Now while we drive to my flat and get started, why don’t you tell me about this painting.”
Joey
When the PI, Jack Westcott, called me the next morning, I tried to keep my voice level. “Any updates?”
“I went to that club in Cat’s Cove last night,” he said. “And I talked to everyone who worked there. I talked to the bouncers—both at the door and inside the club, the bartenders, the bar backs, the DJ, the manager and even the owner. I spoke to some regulars who were there the night your friend disappeared.”
“And?”
“The bouncer at the door was the one I was most interested in since he was probably the last person to see her leave the club. He’s quite positive that she didn’t come back in, but he wouldn’t swear to it one hundred percent because of all the foot traffic in and out. But comparing his account with others in the club, I think it’s pretty safe to say she didn’t come back in.”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it incredulously. I knew all this. I told him last night. Was I really paying this guy to repeat what I’d told him? Best not to jump in. I put the phone back to my ear.
He continued, “Everyone remembers seeing Angelica that night, naturally, because she was the singer, but few remember seeing her after the show. The bartender said the band members came to get a drink after the set and that Angelica was talking to some fans. The bouncer said she’d left with some guy. That confirmed the story you told me, that she walked out with some guy and didn’t return. When I asked about the guy she spoke to, nobody seemed to know who he was, although he left an impression on the ladies. He wasn’t a regular.”
“Yes, I know most of this already. Do you have anything new to tell me?”
“I just did. The last person we saw her with was this guy. So we need to figure out who he is and talk to him.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“That’s where you come in.”
“How?”
“You saw this guy. In fact, it sounds like you got a close enough look at his face, his body type and his car. So why don’t you give me a description of what he looks like, any distinguishing things about him, what type of car he drove and so on.”
“Okay, okay,” I said, trying to picture this guy’s face in my mind. I remembered him talking to Angelica, which ignited my temper. If he had anything to do with her disappearing… No, I had to focus on what the PI wanted. My temper and my jealously wouldn’t help anything right now, but a description would. “Let me think,” I said, forcing thoughts of retribution out of my mind. Yes, there was the possibility that he wasn’t involved, but right now, pegging Angelica’s disappearance on him was all I had to keep going.
“He’s about my height, maybe an inch or so taller, so I’d guess he’s around 5’11”. His head was shaved bald. He’s a white dude, but he’s not pale white. He had a more medium complexion, like he had a tan or something. And he had a ton of tattoos on his arms.”
“Of what?”
“I don’t know. Tribal ones, I think. Maybe a lion or some kind of feline. I didn’t pay much attention to them.”
“This is good. What about his eyes?”
“I don’t know what color they were. It’s hard to notice stuff like that in a dark club. But I think they were lighter. There was something about them that made me take notice. Maybe they were cold or something, inhuman.”
“Inhuman?”
“I don’t know why I said that, it’s just my prejudices against this guy coming out. There was something about the way he looked at Angelica that I didn’t like. Maybe it’s me just being a jealous freak, but I thought there was something not right about it. Almost predatory.”
“Predatory, that’s good. Can you try to narrow it down for me? Did he have the hungry look of a man trying to pick up a pretty woman? Or a colder look of someone up to no good?”
How could I place my finger on it? I stood up and paced around my apartment. “I don’t know exactly. But now that you say that, I’d guess it could be either. Or maybe both.”
“Hmm.” He paused. “Let’s move on. What about the rest of his features. His nose, his lips, his face shape.”
“He had a normal face
shape, I don’t know how else to call it. Oval, no maybe a little round? He was a big dude so he had a thicker neck.”
“How big would you say?”
“Like I said, he’s probably around 5’11”, just taller than me, but he outweighed me by say twenty or twenty-five pounds. I know I’m on the lean side. This guy had the broader shoulders and chest of someone who worked out.”
“Okay, this is good. What about his other features?”
“I don’t know. Normal nose and mouth, I guess. I didn’t study them too much. I mean he’s a dude. I was eying him more to see if I had to kick his ass, not to see how good-looking he was.”
“I understand,” he said. “I’m just trying to get as much information as I can. What about his ears? You said he shaved his head. Were his ears more pronounced in any way?”
“Nah, nothing that stands out. Nothing like characters from Lord of the Rings or anything. Just normal ears.”
“And his clothing?”
“I didn’t really pay attention to what he was wearing. Guys don’t usually check on other guys’ fashion choices, you know what I mean?”
“So nothing that stood out, right?”
“No, man.”
“Last question, his car. What did you notice about it?”
“It was a black Nissan. One of the newer models.”
“Any chance you caught the license plate?”
“No, man, I wish. I was focused on looking for Angelica, seeing if she was in the car with him. When I didn’t see her in there, I was a little relieved. And he drove by too quick.”
“All right, good. I’m going to do some more poking around and I’ll get back in touch when I have any more questions or some news.”
“How many hours do I have left?”
“I don’t know offhand, a few? We’ll discuss that again when time’s running out.”
Hopefully Angelica showed up safe and sound in the meantime before I ended up flat broke. So far I didn’t see how this guy was of any use to me since he hadn’t told me much more than I already knew. But then again, I’d rather he be out there looking for Angelica than not. I was already halfway to crazy worrying about her as it was.
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