Jenny’s restaurant didn’t have a screen in the dining room, but there was a small one over the bar. We could see it from where we sat, although I knew Kirsten couldn’t hear it. A news story did catch my attention through my elven-enhanced hearing, so I stood and walked into the next room.
The action on the screen appeared to be a military conflict. As I watched, I realized it was an assault on a warehouse complex on the west coast. The attackers were mostly human, but there was a sprinkling of vampires and a number of demons among them. A quick shot showed a sign. The warehouses were owned by a Findlay subsidiary. I watched until the newsfeed switched to a different story. My grandmother’s warnings echoed in the back of my head as I sat down to finish my dinner.
Chapter 40
The rest of the week passed with very little progress on the cases Novak and I were working. I spoke with Justus Benning and gave him an update on my search for his daughter, but I was sure he felt as frustrated as I did when we hung up.
I told Whittaker my suspicions that the massacre at the drug house up by Pimlico was Ashvial evening a score. According to neighbors, hundreds of people, vampires, and demons had been in and out of that house over the previous six months. We had found two witnesses who identified Ashvial’s picture as that of a demon they saw enter the house the evening of the killings. Neither one was willing to testify to that publicly. Unfortunately, demons didn’t have fingerprints, and while we could trace them through their equivalent of DNA, that wasn’t going to help us find the murderers.
The Rift had recently shifted from China to Georgia, and then into the Chesapeake Bay region, and the news vids were filled with stories about shifters coming across. That was better than the vampires who had poured into Atlanta several weeks before.
Friday morning as Kirsten and I ate my breakfast, I caught a story about the Rift destabilizing—a sign that it might move again.
“Maybe I’ll get lucky and the Rift will swallow up the betrothal party,” I said.
Kirsten glared at me. “We’re going to be there, so we’d be swallowed up, too.”
Maybe I’d find out what happened to my dad, I thought, but didn’t say anything.
I had taken a three-day weekend, so I went into work with Kirsten. I helped her prepare for closing up the shop, mostly carrying things for her to put away and checking the automated systems. Primarily, I was concerned about security. I double-checked all the magitek security devices I had installed as backups in case Kirsten’s wards failed.
The party at Findlay would be bringing people into town from all over the world, and it offered opportunities for their enemies. I didn’t want them striking at me through Kirsten, and that shop was her life.
She closed up mid-afternoon, and together with our guardians we rode up to Findlay house. We arrived to what can only be described as an orderly madhouse. Once we entered the gates, our guardians were conscripted for other duties, and we were abandoned to our own devices. That suited me just fine.
“Come on,” I said. “We’ll park our bikes in the family garage.” Kirsten followed me down a long drive behind the main house to the underground garage hidden in the trees. I raised the visor on my helmet, and the facial-recognition software triggered the gate so we could enter.
“Wow! I didn’t even know this existed,” she said after we parked on the fifth level down.
“It’s like an iceberg,” I said. “This whole hill is honeycombed with underground tunnels, bunkers, laboratories, and storage areas.”
And I knew every hiding place on the premises. Most of the Family never ventured beyond the house and the gardens, so there were lots of places where I could get away from them.
I led her to a door, and inside was a funicular that took us up past the garage, labs, and storerooms to the subbasement of the main house. Ignoring the elevator, we sneaked around to the back stairs.
“Why are we sneaking?” Kirsten asked in a whisper.
“Because I’m trying to avoid people. Let’s get up to my rooms, then we can shower, change, and make an appearance.” I stopped and turned to her. “Kirsten, I know all of this is going to seem glamorous and attractive, but we’re walking into a snake pit. Half of my relatives would stick a knife in my back if given the chance, and the other half would cheerfully help bury the body. Watch yourself, and don’t talk about me if you can help it. Okay?”
She bit her lip, then nodded. “It’s really that bad?”
“Yeah. I have rights, inherited from my father, that I’ve never chosen to exercise. I don’t take their money, and other than a few contracts for magitek work that I’ve done, I don’t get involved with their business. It’s safer that way, and I’m happier that way.”
Being presentable was something my grandmother would appreciate, but avoiding my other relatives was my main goal. I had a bottle of whiskey in my room and figured a couple of shots might make it easier to deal with Courtney when we inevitably met.
We made it past the most of the crowd, but waiting at my apartment door was the one person who always knew when I stepped on the premises. She was accompanied by another maid, which was unusual.
“Good afternoon, Lady Danica.”
“Good afternoon, Marjorie. This is my friend Kirsten. She’ll be staying with me.”
“So Lady Findlay-James informed me. Good afternoon, Miss Starr.”
Kirsten shot me a look.
“Marjorie takes care of me and my guests when I’m here,” I explained.
“This is Natalia,” Marjorie said. “She shall attend to Miss Starr. There is a very tight schedule of events starting in about two hours.”
Kirsten shot me another look, a bit more wide-eyed.
“Thank you, Marjorie,” I said, opening the door and ushering Kirsten in. “I’m pleased to meet you, Natalia.”
The maids followed us in, relieving us of our saddle bags and Kirsten’s overnight bag. I led her to the second bedroom.
“You’ll be in here, and your bathroom is that door over there. Those two doors are closets, and Natalia will hang your clothes for you. Your dress for tomorrow evening is probably in the one on the right. If you need anything, including toiletries and makeup, let her know, and she’ll fetch it for you. Also, give her any ironing, laundry, shoes that need polishing, or stuff like that. If you want anything to drink or eat, let her know. There is a minibar and fridge over there, and a full bar in the sitting room. The door to the balcony is that one.” I pointed. “If you go out, turn left. A set of stairs about a hundred yards along the hall leads down. Any stairs leading up go to the guest rooms on the third floor and the servants’ quarters on the fourth, which are off limits.”
She had seen my rooms a couple of times, but never stayed with me. Her eyes were wide as pie plates.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Natalia will also provide you with the stick to shove up your ass so you can pass as one of the family.”
That broke the tension, and she started laughing. Poor Natalia didn’t know whether to be shocked or laugh with us. Marjorie gave me a look that my grandmother would have been proud of.
Chapter 41
Marjorie waited until I showered, then attempted to do something with my hair. In the end she just put a couple of my grandmother’s diamond combs in it and gave me a matching diamond choker to wear. I reflected on the fact that the jewelry I was wearing was worth more than my own personal wealth. But I had long ago learned not to argue. The easiest way to get through the formal crap was to do what people told me until I could escape.
Collecting Kirsten, who looked ravishing, I took her through the normal hallway and down the front stairs to the main level. She had been in the house before, but I made sure to refresh her memory on where things were and what hall led to where. The damned place was so huge that I still got lost occasionally.
Cocktails were served before dinner in what my grandmother called ‘the large parlor.’ In other words, about the size of a basketball court. When I was
a kid, I was afraid to sit on any of the furniture in that room for fear of getting dirt on the upholstery.
I escorted Kirsten around, introducing her while trying to remember everyone’s name. It had been years since I saw some of my relatives, and I realized how many weddings, christenings, and funerals I’d ducked out of. The last time I’d seen Lila, the bride, she was just starting high school.
The occasion was a family affair. Surrounded by two hundred of my closest relatives, give or take a few people like Kirsten, I fought an almost overwhelming urge to run. It felt as though everyone was staring at me, the outsider, the imposter. The granddaughter of the most infamous man in history. Not even fully human, but part Rifter.
The atmosphere of privilege and entitlement conveyed everything I despised about Magi rule. Our talents could have made the world a brighter place and driven the demons out for good. Instead, the Families used their power to accrue more wealth, and they spent it either on gathering even more wealth or on debauchery.
The only time they deigned to acknowledge the problems in the world was when their exalted positions were threatened, or they were personally attacked. Sarah Benning came under the second category. All of the Families could imagine one of their own children disappearing, and she was the subject of several snatches of conversation I overheard.
I also caught my name and references to Kirsten, who, as in almost all settings, was the most beautiful woman in the room.
But mostly everyone was there to gorge on Uncle George’s food and further damage their livers. Some spent their entire lives traveling from party to party, sucking up more resources in a week than most working families produced in a year.
The whole charade might have been comical, if it wasn’t so indicative of the broken world we lived in.
I searched for our names on the place cards at the dinner table. I was put near the head of the long table, and Kirsten was somewhere near the foot with a lot of other young single people. I wished I was with her, but there was nothing I could do about it. I would never know if my place at the table was a purposeful sabotage or just an accident, but I ended up next to my Aunt Courtney.
“Danica! How lovely to see you!” Courtney’s thousand-watt smile indicated a lot more cheer than I was comfortable with. I plastered my own fake smile on my face, and prepared myself to play nice and try to survive the dinner with only minor wounds. I shot a glance at my grandmother, who batted her lashes and gave me a smug smile in return. I was on my own, thrown in the deep end. Probably a payback for dodging so many invitations over the years.
“Such a lovely dress,” Courtney gushed. As always, her chestnut hair was exquisitely done, and her green dress brought out the red highlights. And if I was embarrassed about the diamonds I’d been given to wear, they were drab in comparison with the gold and diamonds that my aunt sported. But she was always flamboyant and unhappy unless she was the center of attention. I made a note to myself to keep Kirsten away from her. That was a pissing contest I didn’t want to see.
“Is that your little friend?” Courtney asked, peering down the table toward Kirsten. “The one who has that quaint little shop by the harbor? You’ll have to introduce me.”
Luckily, most of what she said didn’t require a response, as she simply plowed ahead without waiting for one.
“I’m so glad we have this chance to chat. I’ve been wanting to speak with you. I understand that you’re investigating the death of Martin Johansson. Such a terrible tragedy. You haven’t caught his killer, have you?”
“As a matter of fact, we have. It looks like a murder for hire.”
“Really? Well, that makes sense. We live in such a terrible world. One would hope business rivals would be more civilized, but I guess such things do happen.”
She continued in much the same vein through most of dinner. As if in passing, she mentioned a shooting at a bar owned by her husband and lamented why he would be involved with such a place. “I’ve told him I don’t approve.” Essentially, she was mining information while appearing to simply gossip. I was sure she knew I was involved in that mess, too. But my patience was rewarded when she inadvertently dropped a piece of information I hadn’t known.
“My grandson said that you interviewed him about that missing Benning girl. Personally, I think her parents should bear some of the blame for that. From what I hear, she was pretty wild.”
“Your grandson?”
“Yes, William.”
“William Moncrieff is your grandson?”
She sighed and said, “Yes, Karolyn’s boy.”
“I didn’t know Karolyn ever married?” I knew damned well Cousin Karolyn hadn’t married. Her illegitimate son was the family scandal. I just hadn’t put the kid I met and Karolyn together.
I told her a little bit about Kirsten’s shop, which I was sure she already knew, but she wasn’t interested in listening to me. Instead, she told me about a shop that a friend of hers had a financial interest in. I waited until after dessert and sprang my trap.
“Aunt Courtney, that shop you mentioned. It sounds so interesting. Where is it located?”
She started to tell me, but I interrupted her. “I’m so bad at remembering things, especially after a couple of glasses of wine. Could you write it down for me?”
I signaled one of the maids serving table and asked her for a pen and a piece of paper. When she brought them, I handed them to Courtney. She dutifully wrote down the address.
“Thank you so much. It was nice chatting with you,” I said. “We’ll have to do lunch sometime.” Preferably in the afterlife, assuming I did so many bad things that I ended up in the same place she did.
I hurried away to rescue Kirsten, who didn’t look like she wanted to be rescued, from the dozen or so men vying for her attention. I carried the piece of paper carefully by one corner.
The handwriting was very similar but not exact. More importantly, Courtney had held the paper down with her thumb while writing. A thumbprint plus DNA. I could hardly wait to get it to the lab.
Chapter 42
“How many guests are coming?” I asked Marjorie when she brought our breakfast in the morning. I didn’t want to brave the dining room buffet. A brief visit to my balcony had shown an even larger influx of traffic than the day before.
“About two thousand,” she said. “Only the bride’s and groom’s families and close friends. Wait until next summer. It’ll be the wedding of the year.”
“Where are they going to fit everyone?” Kirsten asked.
Marjorie spooned eggs and sausage onto our plates and said, “The main ballroom tonight, although the barbeque this afternoon will be on the south lawn. The children won’t be at the ball.”
Glancing out the window, I saw dark clouds on the horizon over the bay and wondered if someone was going to magikally manipulate the weather. With his bad heart, I knew it wouldn’t be Uncle George. The thought of an uncontrolled rain shower interrupting the festivities brought a smile to my face.
“There won’t be a sit-down dinner tonight,” I told Kirsten as we made our way outside. “Eat your fill this afternoon, and then drink your fill at the ball tonight. Pace yourself. The first time my mom allowed me to attend one of these extravaganzas, I passed out before the music even started.”
As promised, the food at the barbeque was spectacular, and champagne flowed like water. In addition to the Novak and Findlay extended families, the major figures from both Families’ allies were there. Some of the overseas Families sent only one or two representatives, but since this was the wedding of Frank Novak’s youngest son, every one of his allied Families were represented and came bearing betrothal gifts designed to impress.
Kirsten and I were stuffing our faces when Mychal’s voice behind me said, “May I join you ladies?”
Without waiting for an invitation, he pulled up a chair and sat next to Kirsten. He looked natural in tennis whites, and his slender but muscular build was the sort of thing that came from playing tennis or swimm
ing.
“Hello, again,” Kirsten said with a smile. “I wondered where you were. It’s your twin brother who’s getting married, isn’t it?”
“Yes, otherwise I would have tried to duck out.” He sighed and looked over at me. “I just had to deal with some other drama, too. One of Marco’s girlfriends, already drunk, was giving him a piece of her mind. Very loudly. And, of course, she wasn’t willing to go quietly.”
I chuckled. “Your brother is quite a lady’s man, I take it.”
Mychal shook his head. “Jerk is more like it. She’s a friend of Lila’s and evidently found out he’s getting married when she received the invitation. I assume the bride’s mother didn’t suspect he had other entanglements.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” Kirsten said.
I’m a little slow sometimes, but it took me only about five more minutes to figure out that my participation in the conversation was unnecessary. Mychal was obviously smitten, and Kirsten encouraged his interest. They didn’t even notice when I took my beer and left.
As I wandered across the lawn hoping to find someone interesting to talk with, I ran into Jerilyn Novak.
“Sergeant James!” She had a huge smile on her face. “I hoped you might be here.”
I vaguely remembered Marjorie mentioning that children wouldn’t be at the evening’s ball. And although I was sure Jeri considered herself an adult, I hadn’t attended such events until I graduated from high school and turned eighteen.
“Hey, how are you doing? I’ve got a bone to pick with you. You didn’t tell me Mychal was a twin.”
She shrugged. “You’re supposed to be a detective. I assumed you knew.”
“So, tell me about them. Do they like read each other’s minds and that sort of thing?”
“Dunno. They’re close, but totally different. Marco is really outgoing, works in marketing. Hotshot letch. God’s gift to women, you know what I mean? And Mychal’s a nerd. It’s almost like he’s afraid of girls. But ya know what’s funny? Mychal was dating Lila, and then Marco moved in on her. Got his ass trapped, too.”
Magitek (The Rift Chronicles Book 1) Page 20
