“Hey, JB! It’s been a while.” Chima greeted him with a broad smile, his blonde dreadlocks still damp from his shower, and smelling of expensive cologne. “Mi casa, su casa!” The half-demon half-vampire clasped JB’s hand, and they grinned at each other.
“Yeah, it has, but I’ve been working hard.”
Chima owned the Sweet Blood Vamp Bar, and he, JB, and Nikki had gone to high school together. The adolescent friendship formed between the three mixed bloods had remained strong.
“I’m doing great. You want something to drink or is this business?” Chima moved past JB and embraced Gemma planting a loud kiss on her cheek. “Hey, babe, you heard anything from your brother yet?”
You’d have needed a jackhammer to cut the silence.
Red sparks flared in JB’s pupils, his jaw clenched, and he stared at Gemma as he realized she’d lied to him about her brother since the first day he’d not turned up for work. The knife in his gut twisted again as he watched Chima pull her close. She’d not even bothered to mention she was dating one of his oldest friends. That hurt, especially as he was the one who'd introduced them when they worked on the missing chalice case last year. “Business, today, my friend.” JB’s voice would have curdled milk. “Don’t suppose you’re acquainted with a werewolf, most likely in his late teens, goes by the nickname Didi?”
Chima continued as if he hadn’t noticed the sudden freeze in the room. “We rarely get any of the younger weres in the bar. The older ones warn them off—the old werewolf vampire antipathy. They don’t want their cubs proving their manhood by taking on a stronger older vampire. We get a few sometimes. Usually when they’re making deals with vampires, but lots of werecubs hang out at the dance clubs down by the river. I’ll make some enquiries.”
“The boy’s done nothing wrong, but he may be able to help us. Thanks, Chima. Call me if you hear anything.”
“Sure. Will do. Good to see you, JB. You sure you won’t stay and have a drink?”
He had intended to stay and chat with Chima, catch up and relax a bit, but not anymore. “Thanks, but we’ve got another call to make.”
Chima smiled at Gemma, his eyes twinkling. “Will you be over tonight, babe?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll call you if I’m not working.”
“Don’t let JB work you too hard,” Chima joked. “He’s a hard task master.”
JB took the circular freeway around Tropolis as he headed back for the rendezvous with Madame Mari. The route was longer but he wouldn’t have to sit in slow moving traffic and think about Gemma and Chima.
Gemma gripped the grab handle, her eyes flicking over at JB. She could practically see the psychic shield he’d thrown up as his fury was still leaking through.
JB stabbed the phone speaker on the dashboard. “Nikki, how are you doing on those background checks?” He zoomed into the next lane, skating past a twenty-ton truck. The truck driver pounded on his horn when JB pulled back in front of him, missing the truck’s front fender by at least two inches.
Gemma puffed out a sigh of irritation. “Can you slow down? You’re driving too fast.”
“Any luck?” Nikki’s voice squeaked.
“Maybe,” said JB, as he gave her an update. “What’s the progress with the background checks?”
“Amy Larkis is clean, and Mark Brotonski’s will be done shortly. They’ll all be finished today.”
“Good.” He ended the call, narrowly avoiding a biker who shot past him on the inside.
“JB. Slow down!” Gemma words were laced with panic, her voice higher than normal.
At the next freeway exit, he spun the wheel, and the car flew off the highway. Five minutes later he stomped on the brakes and the car squealed to a sudden stop in a quiet tree-lined suburban street. He scowled, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, then faced Gemma, demon flames dancing in his eyes, his expression cold and hard.
“Why did you lie about Jason?”
Gemma watched a group of teenage girls giggling and laughing as they dawdled along the sidewalk. “I’ve tried scrying for him but… nothing. I think he’s in some serious trouble, but I know you’ll say he’s skiving off. And he isn’t.”
“You know that for a fact or you’re just making excuses for him, protecting him like you always do? And have the decency to look at me when you talk.”
Gemma’s cheeks flushed, and she balled her hands, digging her fingernails into her palms, deliberately not looking at him. “It’s not like that, and he’s been pulling his weight as far as work goes.”
“I was wondering how long that would last.” He knew the remark would hurt, but that was his intention.
“Don’t be a jerk. We’re twins. He’s my only family, and every instinct I have tells me he needs help.” She wanted to punch him, right in the middle of his handsome sneering face.
“I’m sorry I can’t spare you the time to go searching for him, but I’ve a detective agency to run. If you’re too distracted to do your job properly, maybe you shouldn’t be working at Adept Solutions.” He hadn’t meant to say that, but his entire vocal apparatus had developed a will of its own and was busy throwing shovelfuls of earth onto the coffin of his now dead and buried chances of a relationship with Gemma.
“That’s not fair! I always put work first.” She blew out a few breaths, counted to ten, and tried to rein in her temper. “And be honest, this isn’t about Jason, this is about me dating Chima, isn’t it?”
“Not everything is about you, Gem.” He was now in full destruct mode. “Chima and I go back a long way, and you certainly won’t come between us or spoil our friendship. Besides, we’ve shared girls before.”
His words shocked her into silence. She stared ahead, seeing nothing as she bit her lower lip and blinked rapidly. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
JB’s phone rang. “Chima. That was fast, what you got?” He listened for a minute. “No problem whatsoever. Mi casa, su casa, right?” He ended the call. “Chima was just checking with me that I’m okay with you and him seeing each other. As far as you and Chima go, that’s fine, but from now on you and me, we keep it professional—boss and employee.” He started the car, tires squealing as he U turned and headed for the freeway.
Chapter Six: Madame Mari, 7.30 pm.
While waiting for the vampire to wake, JB and Gemma whiled away the time in the same diner where they’d had lunch. Conversation was non-existent as both immersed themselves in checking emails and texts, drank more coffee, and pretended the other didn’t exist. The sun finally departed in a blaze of crimson, the last purple rays fading as nighttime arrived.
“Let’s head over there. Early and eager looks good.” JB’s words were clipped and his tone nothing but business.
Gemma had left a message at the number given by her contact, saying the matter was urgent, and asking if Madame Mari could squeeze them in. They’d not received a reply and were assuming Gemma had an appointment.
JB switched off the ignition as he parked outside the building. “Keep your sunglasses on. You’re vulnerable to being glamoured, and don’t be fooled by how innocent she seems.”
“I got this.” Gemma opened the car door and slammed it shut.
JB watched Gemma’s slim back and the stubborn set of her shoulders as she tucked wayward strands of her Titian locks under her camouflage bandana before marching up to the door. A flash of regret rose in his mind, but he quashed it. He and Gemma…, well, he wasn’t going to live in the land of what if. He caught up with her at the door as she pressed number thirteen. “Your earpiece is in and your phone’s on—”
“I said I got this!” she hissed at him.
A low soft voice responded to Gemma’s call. “Ms. Kane, please come on up.”
“Said the spider to the fly,” muttered JB under his breath as he slipped in behind Gemma. He waited at the top of the stairs out of sight, checking his earpiece was in place.
Gemma paced along the corridor her boots making little s
ound. Whatever the season, she preferred comfort and functionality to style any day. A girl couldn’t race across a parking lot and take down a rabid goblin in a pair of Manolo Blahniks. Settling her sunglasses, she took a deep breath, and knocked on the door of room thirteen.
“Ah, Ms. Kane, welcome to my humble abode. Madame Mari at your service.” The woman in front of her was a tall thin version of how Gemma imagined her grandmother might have looked. Her white hair was swept up in a bun, and she wore a black shawl decorated with flowers over a sleeveless top and a full-length skirt. A wrinkled face, piercing blue eyes over a patrician nose, thin lips, and a pointed chin, studied her from head to toe.
The room was sparsely furnished: a battered scratched dresser, two chairs positioned on opposite sides of a small round table covered with a tatty red cloth, and a slightly cracked crystal ball on its stand in the center.
“Thank you, Madame. I am so glad you could fit me in for a consultation. I’m sure your appointment calendar is full.” Gemma assessed the woman, noting her firm muscled arms at odds with the lines around her eyes, mouth, and the loose skin along her jaw line.
“Please take a seat.”
Smooth honeyed tones washed over Gemma, and she sat down, sighing with relief. Jason was fine. Everything between her and JB was fine.
“Gem, stay alert.” JB’s sharp words in her ear broke the spell.
She sucked in a quick breath as she understood how easy it was for the vampire to defraud old ladies.
“How can I help you, my dear? You’ve come about a money matter, haven’t you?”
“Oh! You’re the real thing.” Gemma did her best to appear impressed. “How could you tell?”
“That is my gift. Tell me, exactly what is the problem?”
Gemma fiddled with her bag, focusing on the worn faded leather straps, in an effort to resist the seductive tones. “I have received an unexpected inheritance from my aunt, and I want to know if any of my relatives are going to contest her will. I came to you because I heard you’re genuine, and there are a lot of fraudsters out there trying to cheat people like me.”
Madame Mari gave an almost imperceptible twitch and straightened up a fraction. “You’re in the right place, and I can certainly help you. If you wouldn’t mind taking your glasses off. Making eye contact helps focus my talent. A peek into the soul, so to speak.”
“Excuse me if I keep them on, but I have a terrible eye infection. Besides, I don’t believe in the existence of the soul.”
“Yet you have faith in my fortune telling?”
“Yes. You come highly recommended. What’s more, I trust my friends.”
Madame Mari sat still, the lift of her shoulders and tightening of her fingers on the crystal ball indicative of her rising irritation. Suddenly her shoulders drooped and her hands relaxed. “That will be 1000 credits upfront then.”
“You have a credit machine?”
With surprising speed for an elderly woman, Madame Mari was suddenly over by the dresser, whipping out a machine from the top drawer. She plonked it down on the table.
Gemma pressed her thumbprint to the screen. “That’s that, let’s get started.”
The credit machine vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but before Madame Mari could pull whatever stunt she had planned with the crystal ball, there was a loud knock at the door. The vampire looked up, her expression wary. “I won’t be a second. It’s probably a neighbor.” She paused with her hand on the doorknob as if trying to sense who was outside.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Gemma asked, her hand closing around the gun in her bag.
With a quick twist of the handle, Madame Mari yanked the door open and came face-to-face with JB’s gun pointed at her chest.
“Madame, this is a citizen’s—”
Before he could finish Madame Mari whirled around and darted across the room. Gemma aimed and fired her weapon twice, hitting her target in the arm and the leg as the vampire flung herself out of the window.
“After her,” JB yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted along the corridor. Taking the stairs three and four at a time, he was out the door and around the side of the building as their quarry, hobbling as fast as she could, reached the end of the alleyway. He raised his pistol, aimed, and fired three shots into her back, watching in satisfaction as she collapsed to the ground.
“What took you so long?” JB asked as he and Gemma shoved the unconscious, handcuffed vampire onto the back seat. The bullets weren’t silver, and would only keep the vampire immobile for a short while. The glamour she’d worn as Madame Mari had vanished, and although she bore a strong resemblance to her alias, untidy shoulder length blonde hair covered a far more youthful face.
“I guess she figured people would trust a white haired old lady more,” Gemma said, making sure their prisoner was secure. “Here’s what took me so long.” She pulled out the credit machine from her bag. “Nikki can trace every transaction.”
“Well done.” JB gave her one of his wide grins.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him. The adrenaline rush of the chase had eased the tension, and for the moment the strain between them was forgotten.
As JB drove off, Gemma half turned in her seat, and aimed her pistol at the vampire’s forehead.
The vampire regained consciousness with a grunt, and Gemma watched as a bullet ejected itself from her arm, before reaching over and retrieving the bullet. “Thanks. Upcycling. I like that.”
“How much do you want? Whatever it is, I’ll double it.”
JB’s eyes flicked from the road to the rearview mirror. “I don’t want anything from you.”
“How much? I’ll triple it. Just let me go.” The vampire twisted and struggled, trying unsuccessfully to free herself. “Please. I beg you. My mother is sick and dying. I need the money for her.”
“La la la la la” sang Gemma, blocking out the vampire’s voice. JB’s demon heritage made him impervious to glamour tricks, but Gemma has no such inbuilt protection.
“A sick mother? Now I’ve heard everything.” JB’s snort of derision told the vampire exactly what he thought of that lie.
“All right, there’s no sick mother, but I have heard of you, Jean-Baptiste Lucerne Jr.” The cold and calculating voice was that of someone who thought it was all in a day’s work to cheat and defraud vulnerable people of their hard-earned savings. “And, I have information which might interest you.”
JB pulled over to the curb and turned the ignition off. “I’m listening.”
“Give me a deal first.”
JB turned the ignition key.
“Okay, okay,” Madame Mari muttered grudgingly. “There’s two succubi in town having a competition. You can use your imagination as to what kind of competition. They have a base somewhere near the southern highway ’cause a lot of truck drivers stop overnight in the motels out that way.”
Gemma sat up, a sudden expression of horror on her face. “Which motels?”
“Don’t answer that. I’m not interested in succubi. I’m a private detective, not a super squad informant. What else have you got?”
Gemma shot a look of venom at JB.
“This didn't come from me. Clear?” The vampire definitely sounded jittery.
“Done.”
“There’s a sorcerer from the Wraithlands in town, and the word is he’s offered a very large payment for information on the whereabouts of a particular item.”
“You don’t happen to know the name of this sorcerer or what he’s offering this reward for? That would be real helpful.”
“Jaigis. His name’s Jaigis. I don’t have a clue what he’s looking for but rumor has it he’s desperate as he needs it for the summer solstice, and that’s what? Five days away?. Now can you get these damn witch-bespelled cuffs off?” She glared at Gemma.
“We’ve one more stop to make so you can return the 50,000 credits you cheated my client out of, and refund every single credit you took from your other clients. Then I’ll think ab
out it.” JB started the car and soon merged into the traffic.
Chapter Seven: Office, Wednesday, 16th, 10 am.
JB’s head was down as he switched between his laptop and checking for any missed calls on his phone as the chatter flowed around him.
“When is our conference with Lennie’s Pizza & Pies?” Romeo asked Zhanna. “I’m confident they’ll be a success in Elfhame.”
“I’m not sure the Queen or any of the Elders will understand, let alone agree to allowing a human franchise.” Casanova popped the sole remaining piece of his spiced chili pizza into his perfect mouth, delicately dabbing at his lips with a tissue. His eyes widened as he watched Nikki chomp down a whole donut, then shove the next one in immediately afterward.
Nikki looked up to find the elf’s astonished gaze on her lips, and she peeled them back in a donut filled snarl.
“Aren’t you hungry, Gemma?” Zhanna waved her wand and the last donut floated out of the box toward her.
“No,” Gemma replied, her attention fixed on her mobile phone.
“I miss the old Zhanna,” Nikki whispered as she leaned over and grabbed the floating donut. “I enjoyed the daily fashion show. She’s practically worn the same outfit since she finished her sentence, and the Faerie Queen made her an ambassador. Do you think it’s a royal edict to wear only black, navy or gray business suits?”
“I can hear every word, and it’ll be a long while before I’m old,” Zhanna retorted. “Our days may be shorter but our lives are longer. I would have thought you would approve. After all you wear black most of the time. Besides, Great Grandmamma insisted I look the part. How would it look making a trade deal with trolls wearing a pink frilly tutu? Plus, I never wear an outfit twice, or the same shade two days in a row.” She smoothed a stray silver hair back into her immaculate bun. “This shade is called Arsenic. Yesterday’s was Roman Silver. What's more, Gemma wears the same clothes every day.”
“They’re the same style, not the same clothes.” Gemma didn’t look up from her phone.
Sorcerous Deeds: Special Investigators for the Magickally Challenged. An Urban Fantasy Novella. (Adept Solutions Book 2) Page 3
