Chapter Two
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THE PARENTS OF THE missing boy were already at the office when Archie got there.
He grimaced when he heard their voices as he walked in, hoping they hadn’t been here long.
He’d been as fast as he could, but traffic was awful at this time of day, and he’d wasted a little time kissing Jasper before sending him out the door on his way.
As much as he wanted to help, Jasper would always come first.
“Here’s my partner,” Braith said as he got up from the chair he was sitting in when Archie walked into the office. “These are Mr. and Mrs. Henderson,” he said. “Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, this is my partner, Archibald.”
Mr. Henderson had purplish skin and completely black eyes, along with stubby horns on his forehead.
He looked a little frumpy, which wasn’t a surprise considering the night he’d probably had.
Mrs. Henderson looked just as tired, with her green skin looking grayish and her long black hair hanging limply around her face.
She was wringing her fingers together, but she stopped when Archie walked in.
Archie dropped the bag with the protein bars he’d grabbed from his cupboard for his and Braith’s breakfast on his desk and offered Mr. Henderson his hand since he was closest. “Archie, please.”
Braith’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead when he heard that, but Archie ignored him. He’d always disliked shortening his name until Jasper had started doing it. Now, he liked it because it reminded him of Jasper.
“Thank you for agreeing to help us,” Mrs. Henderson said as she, too, shook Archie’s hand before sitting back down. “We didn’t know who else to go to. We tried the police, but as I’m sure you can imagine, they’re not interested in finding a monster child.”
“We’ve dealt with them several times, so I do understand what you mean,” Archie said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
The human authorities never did anything for monsters.
Most of them said it wasn’t their place, and maybe it wasn’t, but Archie knew that mostly, they didn’t care.
They didn’t view monsters as important. They weren’t human, so they didn’t matter.
It was one of the reasons he and Braith had created their agency, and Archie had never regretted putting as much work as he had into it.
“Why don’t you tell Archie what you’ve already told me?” Braith suggested once they were all sitting down.
Archie wished he’d stopped for coffee, but it would have to wait. It was clear that Mr. and Mrs. Henderson hadn’t slept in a while, yet they were here. The least Archie could do was focus on what they were saying.
“It’s been three days,” Mrs. Henderson said.
“When we went to the police, they said that Finn is fifteen and that he probably ran away, but I know he wouldn’t.
I realize it’s what every mother thinks of their child, but why would Finn run away?
He knows how dangerous it is for people like us out there.
He would never put himself in danger. More than that, he didn’t have any reason to run away.
There wasn’t any conflict between him and us.
He’s doing well in school. He has friends and family who love him.
He wasn’t bullied or anything. I’m sure something happened to him, but no one will look into it. ”
“We will,” Braith told her.
He didn’t promise her that they’d find Finn. He and Archie had learned the hard way not to make that kind of promise when they weren’t sure they could keep it.
“Just tell us what happened,” Archie gently pushed.
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson exchanged a glance. Mr. Henderson reached for his wife’s hand and squeezed it, and she sobbed once before audibly sucking in a breath and gathering herself.
“He went out with his friends the other night. He has a curfew at eleven, and while he’s been late a few times, he’s always come home before midnight.
I stayed up that evening like I always do, waiting for him.
I started to worry when it was almost one, and I still hadn’t heard from him, so I called his best friend.
I woke him up. He told me that he and Finn had gone their separate ways a few streets down from our house.
He’d gone straight home and hadn’t heard from Finn since then, but Finn had been coming home when they last saw each other. ”
“I went out as soon as she woke me up to tell me that something had happened to Finn,” Mr. Henderson said.
“But I couldn’t find him. We tried calling the police right then and there, and they told us that he’d probably come around by the next morning and to wait.
We didn’t want to, so I went back out and continued looking for him, but I didn’t find him. ”
“And he didn’t come home the next morning,” Mrs. Henderson continued.
“We tried going to the police again, and they told us to wait. When we insisted, they said that he’d probably run away and that he’d be back eventually.
They didn’t care how much I insisted that Finn wouldn’t do that.
I don’t know if it’s because of what we are or because they just don’t care, but they won’t do anything, and it’s been three days.
We just need someone to believe that Finn hasn’t run away, and who will try to find him. Please.”
“We heard about what happened during your last case, and we want you to find our son,” Mr. Henderson added.
Archie and Braith exchanged a glance. Archie wasn’t surprised that the Hendersons had heard about what had happened with Kester. Most of the monsters who lived in the area had. Archie hoped they wouldn’t disappoint them, but for now, there was no way to know.
“We can’t make any promises, but we’ll look into it,” he said. “We just need to know a few more details.”
Mrs. Henderson leaned forward, already nodding. “Whatever you need, we’ll give it to you. We just want our son back.”
More than ever. Archie wished he could promise that they’d get him back, but instead, he pressed his lips together and let Braith take charge of the conversation.
Braith had always been better than him when it came to dealing with people.
He always managed to get information out of them that they didn’t even know they were aware of. It was always useful for their job.
The first thing they’d need to do would be to go out there and visit the neighborhood from which Finn had vanished. Hopefully, seeing the place would give them a hint as to what happened and how. Archie hoped the case would be easy to solve, but something told him they wouldn’t be that lucky.
He always hated when that happened.
* * * *
WHEN JASPER HAD DECIDED he’d go to the monster district today, he thought he’d be doing it alone.
He’d wanted to do it alone because he had no idea what he’d find there.
Instead, he was staring at Cullen, who was standing on his doorsteps.
The man looked like he wanted to run, but he wasn’t moving, just shuffling his feet.
“I’m really sorry to bother you,” Cullen repeated. “I just didn’t know where else to go.”
Jasper was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t thought much about Cullen since the mess with Kester had happened.
He felt sorry for the man for having a father like Kester, and he was willing to help, but Cullen had just vanished, and Jasper hadn’t had it in him to find him.
He’d told Cullen that he’d help, but Cullen hadn’t let him, and Jasper had thought that would be the end of it.
Clearly, it wasn’t.
“Come in,” he told Cullen. He didn’t ask how Cullen knew where to find him. He didn’t want to know.
“Are you sure? Because I think that coming here was a bad idea,” Cullen said as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I really don’t want to bother you.”
“You’re not bothering me. Come in.”
Cullen finally obeyed. He glanced around the apartment as soon as he was in, maybe to see if Jasper was alone.
He was. Corey and Kerry had left to go to work, but he’d stayed behind to shower.
He was planning on leaving soon, so Cullen was lucky to have found him.
“Where have you been staying?” Jasper asked.
Cullen was suddenly very interested in the art hanging on the living room wall. “Here and there.”
“Are you homeless?”
Cullen squinted. “How do you know?”
“You were homeless before.”
“I was on the run from my father.”
“But it’s not that easy to find a home, even now that he’s gone. So? Where have you been sleeping?”
Cullen’s shoulders slumped. “Like I said, here and there.”
“I’m not your father,” Jasper started, only to stop when Cullen snorted.
“Thank God that you’re not,” Cullen said.
“Yes, I’m glad I’m not Kester. But this isn’t good for you. You shouldn’t be sleeping rough.” And if Jasper had to guess, Cullen also wasn’t eating enough.
“It’s not like I’m doing it because I want to.”
“Why didn’t you come here sooner? I told you I’d help you if I could.”
Cullen shrugged. “You’ve already done enough.”
Jasper sighed. It wasn’t his job to take care of Cullen, but he felt responsible for the man. He was little more than a boy. He needed help, and he didn’t have anyone else. “Why are you here today, then?”
“I was bored.”
Jasper could tell that wasn’t true. He wasn’t going to call Cullen out on it, though.
The one thing he’d liked about being a hunter was helping people. It hadn’t happened often enough, but when it had, it had made him feel like it was worth it. Right now, Cullen needed help, and Jasper was willing to provide that help. It might distract him from the mess his life had become.
But of course, Cullen squashed that thought right away.
“So you’re a monster,” he said, still looking around the apartment.
Jasper swallowed. “I guess I am.”
“And you didn’t know?”
“I never even suspected that my parents weren’t my parents, no.”
“Cool.”
Was it? Jasper didn’t know, and frankly, he wished he didn’t have to think about any of this. “We should go and pick up your stuff,” he hoped, hoping to distract Cullen.