“Why the hell are you wearing a raincoat?” Zack asked when I climbed out of Scott’s car.
Unfortunately, since Officer Gordon had the passenger seat in front, that meant I’d had to ride in the back—usually reserved for prisoners. I could only imagine what Jill’s neighbors were thinking as Gordon opened the back door to release a raincoat-clad woman into their neighborhood.
I thanked the two officers for the ride, then turned back to Zack as Scott drove off.
“Because I was asleep when the damn thing attacked me,” I grumbled, stalking to the door where Jill was waiting. “And apparently my wards only work against living creatures. And I didn’t have time to grab clothing on my way out my bedroom window. And the only options that were in my car to cover my girly parts were my rain gear or a strategically placed gun belt.”
Zack grinned. “I vote for the gun belt,” he said, then laughed as Jill thwapped him on the back of the head. “What?” He put on an innocent expression. “I was merely thinking that she might need her gun to defend herself!”
Jill snickered. “Oh, yes. Always thinking of others!” She turned to head back into the house just as a screech of tires from down the street caught our attention. A heartbeat later a dark blue Crown Victoria hurtled into the driveway, slamming to a stop millimeters from Zack’s car. I stared as Ryan practically flew out of the car and toward me, dressed only in running shorts, a T-shirt, and untied sneakers with no socks.
He stopped and raked a gaze over me, expression relaxing once he determined that I was in one piece. Then he frowned. “Why the fuck are you wearing a raincoat?”
Zack burst out laughing. I turned to Jill with a pleading look. She draped an arm over my shoulder and gave me a comforting squeeze. “Poor Kara. C’mon, I’m sure I have something you can wear that doesn’t make you look like a sex offender.”
“I’m still voting for the gun belt!” Zack called after us as we headed inside.
Chapter 29
Even though Jill and I could never fit into the same size jeans, she had T-shirts and stretchy-type pants that were suitable for my current needs. And even better, she had a stretchy-type sports bra that fit well enough to keep me from revealing the room temperature. I dressed quickly in the loaner clothing, then returned downstairs.
“First things first,” I said. “I don’t know if that thing found me because whoever’s controlling it drove it to my house, or if it somehow has the ‘scent’ of me. So, we need to be cautious.”
“Tell us what happened,” Ryan said, his voice and gaze cool and professional. I did so, even telling the part about Rhyzkahl waking me up. I expected Ryan to react to that in some way, but his face was an iron mask. Oddly, his control bothered me more than if he’d been upset or relieved. I kinda wanted to see some sort of reaction.
Zack had remained standing near the window during my recitation, occasionally peeking out. I didn’t miss that he was careful to maintain cover. “You touched a nerve with someone somewhere.”
“Yeah, well, maybe y’all can help me figure out what nerve.” I scrubbed a hand through my hair, wincing as I found tangles. Crap, I was probably an utterly lovely sight. I had yet to look in a mirror. At this point I was afraid to. Sleep-tangled hair, no makeup, and borrowed clothing. Sigh. Maybe it was a good thing that Ryan didn’t seem to want to look at me.
“Right now most of the attacks seem connected, but it still doesn’t make any sense,” I continued. “Vic Kerry was thrown out a window, Adam Taylor was tossed down a flight of stairs, and Roger Peeler was chased down and drowned. And Vic loaned money to both Adam and Roger ...” I frowned. The stock purchase. That meant something, but I was too frazzled to figure it out. “The attack on Lida is the one that doesn’t fit.”
“I’m still inclined to believe that Lida’s attack was a publicity stunt that went too far,” Ryan said.
“Okay,” I said. “So we’re down to who might be controlling it. Adam and Roger are out, obviously. Trey doesn’t seem to give a shit about publicity. And Michael only wants to be left alone to play piano.”
“But Vic and Ben Moran were pals,” Jill piped up, shuffling through newspapers.
I frowned. “My aunt told me that Vic and Mike Moran Senior were good friends. Ben and Vic were too? How do you know that?”
Jill lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I freelance for the local paper—go to society events and take pictures.” She smiled. “It’s a pretty sweet gig. Free ticket to the events. Only downside is the mingling with the snobs. Though luckily most people aren’t snobby at all.”
“How about Moran?”
She snorted. “Wanted to be sure his picture was taken any time there was a camera. Loved being popular. But people kissed his ass too.”
“Because he’s on the board of Lake Pearl Bank,” Zack said with a nod. “He has some pull when it comes to loans and business dealings.”
Jill nodded. “And he’ll have even more now that they’re being bought out. He made a lot of stockholders very happy with this deal.”
It hit me. “That’s it,” I murmured. “Vic and Ben were pals? How close?”
Jill cocked her head. “They hung together a fair amount, or at least every time I saw them at a function.”
I stood, excited. “That’s it. All of that time I suffered in white collar crime is finally paying off!”
Zack raised an eyebrow. “Would you be so kind as to share with us?”
I grinned, beginning to pace. “Okay, Moran is on the board of Lake Pearl Bank. He loves being on the board of LPB because it makes him popular and powerful. People kiss his ass and do shit for him. He fucking loves that shit.”
“We’ve noticed this,” Ryan remarked, tone dry.
“So, getting kicked off the board would be about the worst thing that could happen to him, in his mind. He wouldn’t be invited to any of these events and parties anymore. People wouldn’t be kissing his ass.”
Zack and Ryan exchanged a baffled glance and I rolled my eyes. “Okay, if you two are going to try and pass your task force off as a financial crimes unit, you need to be up on the financial world.” I stopped pacing. “Though, to give Moran credit, he didn’t actually break any laws. I mean, until he started murdering people. Though he’d probably be in deep shit with the SEC.”
“Kara,” Ryan said tightly. “Would you please get to the point?”
I took a deep breath. “In the banking world, if Bank A is interested in buying Bank B, then, assuming Bank B wants to be bought, Bank B has to disclose all sorts of information, open their books up, that sort of thing. But the catch is that it’s completely secret until the deal goes through. If a member of the bank board lets it slip that the deal is in progress, they can be kicked off the board.”
Jill’s brows drew together. “Why? What’s the deal?”
“Because, if people found out that a bank was in trouble and possibly needed buying out, it could cause a run on the bank. But also, if someone knew that a small bank was going to be bought out—especially if it was by a large bank with more valuable stock—he could conceivably buy up a big chunk of stock in advance of the sale—”
“Insider trading,” she finished with a nod. “Okay. Got it. So Vic found out and started buying stock?”
I shook my head. “Not quite. Moran and Vic were buddies, and I think that Moran let it slip to Vic that Lake Pearl Bank was about to be bought out. And, Vic—nice, charming, wonderful Vic—decided he could make a bundle. But he knew better than to make any purchases himself since it was known that he was friends with Ben, so Vic very nicely offered Roger a loan and the chance to make a huge profit. And Adam Taylor owed Vic money—probably for stuff related to the studio—so Vic convinced Adam to let him make some investments in his name as well.”
Jill made a sour face. “What a sweetheart. Throw everyone else under the bus. He knew perfectly well what he was doing, and I’m sure that after he sold the revalued stock for his ‘clients’ he would have skimmed off a hefty portion of
the profit.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” I told Jill.
Zack let out a low whistle. “So Moran found out about the big stock purchase and realized that people knew.”
“And by then it was too late,” I said. “An investigation into insider trading wouldn’t be far behind.”
“It’s nothing illegal,” Ryan said, musing. “But for a guy like Moran, losing that social position would be as bad as going to jail.”
“Right,” I said. “That’s why I don’t think that Moran was complicit in the insider trading, other than being indiscreet. He values that position too much. And somehow Moran can control this golem and sent it to take care of Vic, and then Adam and Roger, in an attempt to clean up the mess. With them dead, there’s no way for anyone to prove that Moran was the one to leak the info about the sale.”
Silence fell for a few ticking heartbeats.
“So,” Jill said finally. “How are you going to prove Moran killed them?”
I looked at her. “I have no fucking idea.”
Zack stood. “And, how does this connect to the attack on Lida?”
I set my hands on my hips. “I have no fucking idea about that either, but can you people at least allow me to feel smug about figuring the murders out? Jeez!”
Jill laughed. “Oh. Yes,” she said in robotic deadpan. “You are so brilliant.”
“Bite me, bitch.” I stuck my tongue out at her.
Zack rubbed a hand over his face. “So what do we do about it?”
I sighed. “You mean, how do we prove that Moran sent a magic creature to kill three people? Let’s all say it together: No fucking idea.”
The room grew quiet. A faint scent of vanilla hung in the air from a reed diffuser on one of Jill’s bookshelves. In the other room I could hear her refrigerator cycle on.
“We need him to confess,” Ryan finally broke the silence. He kept his gaze straight ahead.
A chill washed over me. I’d seen Ryan change people’s memories. Only a few months ago we’d been attacked by a demonic dog-like thing at a restaurant, and he’d done something to the people working there—somehow taking away their awareness of the incident. Can you do that? I wanted desperately to ask. Can you make him confess? No, I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to know if he could do that. “Can you read minds?” I found myself asking instead.
His eyes lifted to mine. I expected to see pain or angst or regret or something in them, but he was as controlled as stone. Nothing was leaking through. “No,” he said evenly. “Many things would be easier if I could.” Then he looked away and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Or perhaps not.”
My gut tightened at the subtle jab. Zack cleared his throat in an obvious attempt to cut the sudden tension. “Arrange a meeting with him,” Zack said. “Maybe something will shake loose.”
“This is so cliché,” I groaned, flopping onto the couch. “So we confront him, or set up a trap or sting or something, and he does the mustache-twirling villain and reveals all? No way. He’s too smart and he has too much at stake.”
“But you have the bank records showing the insider trading. That should give him pause,” Zack insisted.
“Except that we have no proof that he was involved,” I replied, frustration seeping into my voice. “Nothing that we could go to the Securities and Exchange Commission with.”
“What about Lida?” Jill suggested. “You think she’s clueless? Or is she too loyal to her uncle to be willing to share any useful information?”
I hesitated before answering. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “And at this point I have no choice but to pressure her. Maybe that will shake something loose with Uncle Ben.” But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true. Ben looked out for Ben.
I stood, thoughts tumbling. “I need to go back to my house. I, um, have something I have to take care of before I do anything else.”
“Let me guess, you’re going to summon Rhyzkahl,” Ryan practically growled. “You’ve already summoned him for the month. What if that golem’s still there?”
Anger flared red hot. This was bullshit. It wasn’t as if I’d set out to insult or hurt Ryan. Fuck him and the way he assumed I was summoning Rhyzkahl. And so what if I was? “You know what, Ryan?” I shot back. “Fuck you. I’m sorry if this pisses you off, but Rhyzkahl saved my fucking life tonight. And yeah, he probably didn’t do it because of some deep and abiding love for me, but he did.”
I didn’t wait to see or hear his reaction. I snatched up my bag and left the house, not quite storming out, but doing my best to give a firm impression of So Fucking There.
I was halfway to the sidewalk when I heard the door slam behind me. “Kara! Where are you going?” Ryan demanded.
“To my aunt’s house,” I said over my shoulder, not stopping. “I’m going to borrow her car. Now leave me alone.”
A heartbeat later his hand was on my arm, turning me around. Fury blazed again and I brought my hand up as he spun me, turning it into a slap instead of a punch at the last instant. I knew I hadn’t hit him very hard, but his head jerked to the side at the blow, and the sound seemed to reverberate down the empty street. I tensed for some sort of retaliation, shocked at myself that I’d struck him. But I wasn’t going to back down from this now.
“Give it a rest, Ryan!” I said, struggling to keep from shouting. “I’m sick to death of tiptoeing around you! I’m sorry if you don’t like the fact that I’m fucking the demonic lord—” I took a deep breath, trying to keep from shaking. “Y’know what? No, I’m not sorry. I’m a grown-up. I can sleep with who I want, and I’m sick of being made to feel like some kind of sleazy whore simply because you don’t approve of him! This is your problem, not mine!”
He simply stared at me in shock. I began to turn to walk away but he caught my arm again. “Wait, please,” he said, putting his other hand up as a block in case I tried to hit him again. Smart move on his part, because I was more than ready to do so, and this time it wasn’t going to be a slap. I was no expert in hand-to-hand, but anger was making up for the lack.
“Kara, I followed you out to tell you that I’m sorry,” he said, voice gruff. “I’m being a dick.”
I pulled my arm out of his grip. “Not gonna argue with you there,” I retorted, scowling.
He sighed. “It’s just that ...” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “You matter to me. Your friendship matters to me.”
My anger shifted to annoyance. “Fine. You want to be friends? Then act like a friend! Stop making me feel like shit all the time!”
Surprise flickered in his eyes, then he abruptly pulled me into a hug, wrapping arms around me before I could react or try to pull away. Though I suddenly had no desire to pull away from him. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “You’re in a shitty position, and I’m only making it harder for you.”
“Yup,” I said against his chest, anger beginning to trickle away. He was making it awfully tough to stay mad at him. He smelled like all sorts of nice manly stuff and I could hear the calm and steady beat of his heart.
He gave me a light squeeze. “Do I have any redeeming qualities left?”
I sighed and tilted my head back to look at him, not breaking away from his hold. “Well, you still give a fuck. So that’s nice.”
He gave me a soft smile, then surprised me by kissing me lightly on the forehead. A thrill raced through me, followed by a massive tsunami of confusion. A kiss on the forehead? What the hell was that? Should I do something? Should I try to kiss him? Was that a “we’re great friends” kiss? Or was he holding back because he didn’t want to get burned?
He tightened the hug briefly, then stepped back, making the tsunami of confusion somewhat moot—at least as far as the “should I kiss him” part went. “I do give a fuck,” he said, still lightly gripping my shoulders.
“I appreciate that. I’m sorry I slapped you.”
He frowned. “You slapped me? I thought that a mosquito had landed—” He ducked and laughed as I swung at him
again.
“You are such a jerk,” I said, trying to glare without much success.
“I think that’s been well established. C’mon, I’ll give you a ride home.”
I hesitated. “Ryan, when I get there, I’m going to—”
“I know,” he said. “You’re going to summon Rhyzkahl.” He gave my shoulders a squeeze. “It’s okay. I know you need to do this.”
I searched his face for any flicker of regret or pain or angst or anything, but if he was feeling it, he was keeping it under unspeakably tight control. “Thank you.”
“I’m trying,” he said, voice low and rough.
“I know,” I said, hiding a smile. “And you have no idea how much that means to me. Which makes what I have to say next even harder.”
His brows drew together in a frown. “What?”
My lips twitched. “I’m actually not summoning Rhyzkahl. You totally wasted all of that control and maturity.”
He smiled. “Well, damn!” he said, though there was relief in his eyes.
“But I still appreciate the sentiment.”
“Good thing,” he said. “I don’t have a whole lot of control and maturity to waste on false alarms like that. So, if you’re not summoning the lord, then why do you need to go back to your house?”
“Well, you were close. I am going to summon, just not the demonic lord. But, I know that you um ...”
“Don’t care to be insulted and growled at by demons?” he offered.
“Well, yeah. I know you’re a real weenie like that.”
He laughed. “You’re definitely hanging out with me way too much. You’re becoming an asshole.”
“I’m learning from the best!”
Chapter 30
Despite our earlier banter, neither of us said much on the drive back to my house. Even though I wasn’t summoning Rhyzkahl, it was guaranteed to be an odd and tense situation with Ryan present, which was why I didn’t intend for him to be in the basement for the actual ritual. This summoning was a bit too crucial and I didn’t want to risk something going wrong because I was distracted by worry over Ryan’s safety.
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