“We don’t have any active clients at the moment.”
“There’s the investigation into Gerry’s death.”
“Matt’s investigation. You helped him get into the lab and that was supposed to be it.”
Ready to leave, Erin stopped and faced Ivan. If she told him the real reason why she was about to bully her way back into this investigation, then she’d have to admit to the truth. It was obvious Hawkins hadn’t told Ivan anything about demons and vampires and Erin wasn’t ready to be the person to have that discussion with him.
“Hawkins is hardly a professional investigator,” she said instead. “He needs help still.” Help to stay out of the clutches of his impossibly sexy ‘demonologist’.
“He seems to be doing okay,” Ivan insisted as he followed her out of the room.
“Doesn’t mean he couldn’t be doing better.”
Ivan knew when to shut up and they rode down to the ground floor in tense silence. In the car park, Erin expected to be lead toward Ivan’s old hatchback, but instead he steered her toward a brand new, white BMW. It was indistinguishable from the previous one.
“Showed up about ten minutes before you called.” Ivan pulled a new mobile phone from a pocket and handed it over. “This was with it. I’ve already transferred the SIM card.”
“There was nothing wrong with my old phone,” Erin muttered.
“It did have some scratches on it.”
Which was hardly professional. Between the phone, the car and the miracle of her healed bones, it was almost as if the accident had never happened. It was typical Sol. Make it like the hiccup never happened and that was that.
“Sol didn’t call to say it was coming?”
He gave her a withering look.
She acknowledged the stupidity of her question with a weary nod and held her hand out for the keys. Ivan hesitated, then handed them over, sighing as he got into the passenger seat.
“I’ll drop you at the office,” she said once out of the car park and on the road.
“Why can’t I go with you?”
“Someone needs to keep the office open. In case Sol springs anymore surprises.”
Ivan grumbled a bit and then asked, “What’s the deal with Mercy?”
Erin carefully didn’t run off the road. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, the other night she was acting strange. You know, almost mentally challenged.”
“She’s not mentally challenged,” Erin snapped.
“I didn’t say she was. Just that she was acting that way. Matt made a joke about drugs. Was it more than a joke?”
Thinking fast, Erin said, “Remember when we were chasing down Hawkins and we spoke to the drummer from Mercy’s old band? She said then Mercy had been getting into some serious drugs.”
That gave Ivan something to think about for a while and Erin didn’t feel too guilty. She hadn’t actually lied. Erin pulled the car into a park outside the office building and waited for Ivan to get out. He didn’t.
“And now she just hangs around with him all the time?” he asked.
“Well, not all the time. But she lives with him.”
“And she’s psychic? Like Matt.”
“What makes you say that?”
Ivan cut her an intolerant glare. “I spoke to Detective Courey.”
Stomach jumping, Erin could only think to say, “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. You could have told me, Erin.”
“Christ, Ivan, what did you expect when you hired Hawkins? Didn’t you want to go to him because the ordinary investigation wasn’t getting anywhere? If you didn’t think he’d bring a totally different perspective to the case, you would have just asked me to look into it.”
“I thought of Matt because we knew he investigated weird shit. I’m the one who found out about Night Call, remember. What’s pissed me off is you knew about Mercy and didn’t think to tell me. You knew before they came to my place that night, don’t deny it.”
Gripping the steering wheel hard to keep her hands occupied, Erin said, “Yes, I knew all about Mercy. I didn’t tell you anything about her because I had hoped she and Hawkins would be out of our lives forever.”
“So, it’s my fault you lied to me?”
“I never lied to you.”
“Okay, but you do omit a lot of things. You don’t trust me.”
“Of course I trust you. You’re being childish.”
“Maybe, but I can’t help wondering what else you might be keeping to yourself.”
She almost told him. The whole sordid story was on the end of her tongue, waiting for her to open her mouth and release it. Jaw clenched, she took a deep breath and banished the urge to tell all. She didn’t like hiding things from Ivan but this was too big, too strange for her to contemplate telling anyone else about. If she was the one listening to it, she wouldn’t believe it. The truth of Hawkins and Mercy was something that needed to be seen to be believed and if she could help it, Ivan would never be in a situation that required him to see it. Hawkins could rattle on about the ‘best policy’ all he liked. When it came to protecting the people she loved, there was no compromise.
“Get out of the car, Ivan.”
He did, closing the door a little harder than absolutely necessary.
Pulling into the traffic, a small voice in the back of Erin’s head told her that sooner or later, Ivan would discover the truth for himself. When—not if—that happened, the argument they’d have then would blow this one out of the water.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Erin made her way to the State Library. Walking in past the banner of leaves, she felt her tension ease. The cool, quiet peace of the huge, open space of the Knowledge Walk was always soothing. Climbing the steps to the reference section, she began to feel more like herself. This was what she was supposed to be doing. Researching, looking for answers, gaining information to help her solve the mystery. Within fifteen minutes of beginning her catalogue search, she had a pile of books and retreated to the panoramic Red Box to read.
With a green tinted image of the Brisbane River in front of her, the cityscape across the way standing tall and sparkling in the undiluted daylight, she read about demons and fallen angels and magical rings that could force a demon to do the wielder’s bidding. Scattered throughout the religious connections and the stories of summoners, she saw hints of the reality she’d witnessed and Hawkins had spoken about.
Head full of growing suspicions, Erin left the library and went to Vogon Books. Inside, Jacob was doing brisk trade with several customers. They all seemed to be bickering over the contents of the same book Hawkins had been having conniptions over. Anxiety warring with nervousness, Erin hung back, willing to wait. Jacob noticed her though and hurried his customers out of the store, still arguing.
“Erin, how’s things?” He did a double take at her face and added, “What happened to you?”
Trying not to blush under her bruising and cuts, Erin frowned. “Hawkins didn’t tell you about the accident?”
“No. Accident? Matt’s not been in or called since the other morning. You’re okay?” His eyes widened. “Is he okay?”
“Hawkins wasn’t involved in the accident. Just me.” She came to the counter and lowered her voice. “It was the demon. She decided her job would be easier with me out of the picture.” And then had second thoughts, apparently.
“My God.” But even as he said it, he reached for his ledger.
“I’m actually here to ask you about Lila Reyes, though.”
Jacob paused in his flick through the black book. “Who?”
“Lila Reyes. The demonologist you sent to Hawkins.”
“I didn’t send a demonologist to Matt. Couldn’t find one willing to talk. Who said I knew this woman?”
Erin sagged against the counter. There was a ghost of a pain in her ribs and a twisting in her guts. Jacob had been her only hope of finding some normalcy in what had happened to her.
“You okay?”
She was sha
king her head before reason could stop her. Before Jacob could come around the counter to help her, she straightened and smoothed out her face.
“You’ve no idea where Hawkins is?” she asked.
“None whatsoever. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, but thanks. I’ll give him a call.”
“What’s the deal with this demonologist?”
“I’m not certain yet.” She handed over a business card. “But I’m going to find out. Let me know if Hawkins gets in touch with you.”
She walked out without saying goodbye. In the car, she tried Hawkins. Of course he didn’t answer so she left a message, horrified at how her voice trembled as she spoke. That done, she headed back to the office. The look on her face kept Ivan’s mouth shut as she went into her office. Firing up the computer, she was greeted with emails that weren’t her own.
“Damn it.”
Hawkins had left her computer logged on to his own email. She was about to close the program when something caught her eye. The title of the email was ‘photo’ and it was from Nick Carson of Great White Experience. There was some babbling about when the photo was taken but what jumped out at Erin was the word ‘poltergeist’.
So this was Hawkins’ other case. She clicked on the attachment. A photo popped up of a man and woman on a boat. Behind them was grey sky and greyer water. The couple were snuggled happily against each other, smiling at the camera. He was boyish with a face that would stay eternally young and a lean physique. She was… well, she was a big mess of trouble.
Erin printed out the picture then scrounged out the hard copy of Hawkins’ old file. Slipping the photo into it, she left her office and stopped by Ivan’s desk.
“I’m heading out again, probably for the rest of the day. You may as well go home.”
“I’ve got this report to finish, remember. The one for the Bracus Group.” He kept his gaze on his computer screen, his tone even.
“It’s not due until next week. Take the rest of the day off.”
“I should man the phones in case Sol calls.”
Erin clutched the file to her chest. “Ivan, I’m sorry about before. I don’t like us arguing, but you know there are things I can’t tell you.”
Ivan stared at the computer, fingers tapping at the keys.
“Leave when you’ve finished the report,” Erin muttered and left.
All the way out to Redcliffe, Erin did her best to put the matter of Ivan to the side and concentrate on what she was doing. It was hard. Ivan was the closest thing to a friend she had these days. Leaving a job she loved for one she tolerated in order to earn more money had seen her leave behind her friends as well. William’s friends had slowly trickled away as his disease had progressed, unable to cope with the changes they saw in him or pushed away by the demands of his treatment. He still chatted with them over the phone or the net, but there were no more dinners with discussions lasting well into the night, no more trips to the coast to play at surfing and stand up paddle boarding. Erin knew more about William’s specialist’s life than she did about what her old friends were doing. Ivan was it.
It was hard to distract her thoughts from Ivan because it was difficult to form any firm thoughts about what she was currently doing. There was a vague idea in the back of her head but she shied from thinking about it directly because she didn’t want to get her hopes up, or get so scared of where she was heading she backed off. All she could do was head in one direction and keep moving until she hit a dead end. The rebound would send her off in another direction and she’d follow that path until it got her to where she was going—wherever that was.
She pulled into Matt’s driveway before she really comprehended she’d made it to Redcliffe. Intentionally not thinking about what she would say or do, she got out of the car and went to the front door. It didn’t look as if anyone was home. The front door was closed, the house silent. Of course, Mercy was in there, sleeping away the day, but she barely counted as an occupant while the sun was up.
“He’s not home.” The voice came from the neighbour’s yard. A young woman, perhaps a couple of years younger than Erin, knelt in a patch of freshly turned dirt in a garden bed. She dusted off her thick gloves and stood, dirt clinging to her bare knees, exposed along with the vast majority of slender legs by a pair of tiny yellow shorts.
“So I gathered,” Erin replied, walking toward the woman. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“Not really. Matt keeps odd hours. Are you a friend of his?”
“We’re business associates. What time did he leave this morning?”
“Pretty early, around eight. Usually he doesn’t stir until closer to noon, probably because he’s out till the wee hours most nights. And he was walking, not driving. Went down to the bus stop.” She closed the last distance between them, hand held out. “I’m Sue. I didn’t think Matt had any business associates. We thought he didn’t work.”
Erin pulled a card and offered it to Sue instead of her hand. “He does some consultancy work with my firm. I’m trying to track him down in relation to a job we’re working on at the moment.”
Sue read the card, her eyebrows arching. “Private detective. Wow. Charles, that’s my husband, was convinced Matt was a bum, sponging off rich parents and partying to all hours with the girl who lives with him.”
“As I said, Hawkins only does some consulting for me. Otherwise I’m not privy to his private life.”
“Except the other night.” Instantly, Sue pressed her lips together and looked away. “I’m sorry. We’re not stickybeaks or anything, but Charles saw you with Matt the other morning.”
“Just part of the job we’re on. Nothing personal. You don’t know when he might be home?”
Sue shook her head. “Sorry.”
“You have my number. If you see him come home, can you please call me?”
“You don’t want me to tell him you came looking for him?”
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I think he’s being intentionally hard to find. If he knows I’m actively after him, he’ll just go to ground.”
A small, conspiratorial smile curled Sue’s lips. “Cool. It’s like a spy movie.”
“Yes,” Erin murmured. “Just like one. It was nice to meet you, Sue. Thank you for your help.”
Sue tucked the card into a pocket and waved as Erin left. At the intersection, Erin stopped and flipped open the file on Hawkins. He’d had a decoy house in Ipswich but she didn’t think he would have bothered keeping it after its address became known to the local vampires. It was most likely he was out investigating. She tried his mobile again and once again he didn’t answer. It wasn’t switched off, it just rang out and went to voice mail. Erin didn’t leave another message.
A couple of pages into the file she saw an address that was familiar. It was a long shot, but she had to try.
Time for a stakeout.
Chapter 29
I frowned at my phone. Erin. Again. Calling from her mobile. The one message she’d left was a simple ‘Call me.’ Not very revealing. I mean, she could be either going to tell me about the miracle that saw her doctor release her early or she wanted to give me an ear bashing. I knew which one I’d prefer and I knew which one was more likely. They weren’t the same one.
“Who was that?”
I put the phone in my pocket and smiled at Lila. “No one. Didn’t even leave a message. Can’t have been important.”
She pursed those lovely lips at me. “I don’t think it was ‘no one’. Your expression says it was someone.”
“Okay, it was someone but someone I don’t particularly wish to speak to at the moment.” I pulled Lila close and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m kinda busy right now.”
Lila pushed me away and turned back to the papers she’d lain out on the table. “Busy learning how to send yourself insane.” She sighed. “And here I am, happily sending you on your way with a map and instructions.”
I looked over the diagrams and lis
ts she’d drawn up. “I’ll be okay, I promise you. And thank you again for agreeing to do this.” Pointing to the main picture of a hexagram within a circle decorated with a few symbols I had no idea about, I asked, “So I just need to draw that on the ground and the demon will be trapped?”
“Very basically yes. It is the foundation of your cage. Anyone can draw this, summon a demon and it will be confined to the circle. What most people can’t do is hold the circle for very long, or aren’t strong enough to stop the demon from overcoming the barrier. Once the barrier drops, the demon is free. Then, if it has enough strength left, the demon can return to its own realm, or it can possess the nearest living creature capable of sustaining it.” She gave me a very frank look. “Usually the summoner. Or, if it’s expended most of its energy in breaking the cage, it will probably just dissipate.”
“Because it’s usually just part of the demon’s spirit that’s been trapped, right?”
“Right. The other thing to remember is the basic circle will draw the demon in only. To hold it for longer than a moment or two, you need to reinforce the circle with power.”
“Psychic power?”
“If that’s the label you want to put on it, yes. Faith is another label.”
“And how do I go about putting this power into the circle?”
“Blood.”
Yeah, I should have known. It always came back to blood.
“My blood or the demon’s?”
Lila rolled her eyes. “Yours. A human’s power is closely tied to their blood. A demon’s is tied to its spirit. You put drops of your blood at each point of the hexagram and that will close the circle. Once the demon drops into it, these symbols will act to draw power from the demon to reinforce the barrier.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “The demon helps power the cage it’s in? That’s twisted.”
“It certainly is. When the first warlocks and witches were working out how to trap demons, they realised some demons are much stronger than others. A weak summoner would have no chance of containing a powerful demon. So these sigils draw upon the demon’s own power to enforce the barrier. A strong demon’s power will create a barrier of equal strength, regardless of the summoner’s personal contribution. Problems arise because a weak summoner is more likely to be overwhelmed by the demon’s power and lose control.”
Night Call (Book 2): Demon Dei Page 26
