33. Chapter 33
Marduk
Bec insisted that a new sign going up didn’t constitute a grand opening, but Lobo Gris disagreed.
When we showed up for the first official day of Masel and Stanhope Investigations, the parking lot was filled up with pack members.
They brought food, balloons, flowers, and one reproduction of the statue from The Maltese Falcon.
“This is so much,” Bec murmured as she stood in the corner of the overcrowded office eating cake.
“We’re all part of the pack now,” Danzig said. “No getting away from it.”
I was on my third piece of cake. “There is no downside to this.”
Someone behind him let out a laugh. Danzig stepped back to reveal Maddy standing there with a plate of cake.
“Said like a wolf,” she said to me.
I nodded. “Good.”
Maddy raised an eyebrow. “Good? You don't mind sounding like a wolf?”
“Nope.”
Danzig pretended to be shocked. “You don’t? Weren't you the same serpent I had to drag to the Lobo Gris party last year?”
“That was then, this is now,” I said. “They all showed up to protect Bec when we were facing off with Lomis. They’re all family to me now.”
Maddy gave him an approving look. “I’m happy to hear you say that.”
“What did he say?” Mikey asked, coming up behind Maddy and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled back against him and held up a forkful of cake to his mouth.
He took the bite and hummed. “Mila’s cake is as good as her pastries.”
“It makes me sad that all the vampires can’t ever taste how amazing her baking is,” Maddy said.
Mikey’s expression turned dark. “It’s the least they deserve.”
Maddy told me that Mikey had a bad experience with a vampire when he was young and despite all the vampires that were honorary members of his pack, he still struggled to accept them.
I heard someone behind him let out a sigh. She looked past Mikey to see Luis squeezing between several people. “Let it go, Mikey. Vampires aren’t all bad!”
“They aren’t good either,” he grumbled.
“Where should I put this?” someone yelled from outside. I looked out the window to find three more Lobo Gris had shown up and were carrying a long, gorgeous wooden filing cabinet.
“What is this?” Bec asked, moving past Maddy and Mikey to the door. People were moving out of the way when they saw the cabinet.
“The metal ones look like shit,” one of the guys said. It took me a moment to remember the guys' names: Sam, Noah, and Jake. Noah was the one talking. “These are much better. More professional.”
“Thanks guys,” I said because Bec seemed at a loss for words. “Bec, that’s Sam with the baseball cap, Noah has the longer black hair, and the one with the red shirt is Jake.”
Bec watched in disbelief as they moved it into place, pushing the old ones to the center of the front area. Everyone quickly started using them as tables.
“This is really nice,” Bec said, finally finding her voice. “Can I pay you guys for them? I have an office budget.”
“Absolutely not!” Jake said.
“Everyone pitched in,” Sam said.
“Do you want us to shift the files?” Noah asked.
“No we shouldn’t,” Sam said. “There might be, like, secret stuff in there.”
Bec chuckled. “Yeah, it's full of client files so I should do it.” She stood tall and bellowed out to everyone. “These are amazing gifts! Thank you everyone!”
There were some general cheers and then they went back to eating, drinking, and chatting.
“When do you think Jim is going to come back?” Maddy asked after making her way to stand next to Bec, Mikey right with her.
“He's planning to start coming in two days a week soon,” Bec said. “If he works too long he gets migraines. I've been learning so much these last few months. He calls and talks me through stuff.”
“We’re learning too,” Danzig said.
“It's fun,” I said. “Different from anything we've done so far.”
Bec tucked herself between us. “I couldn't do this without both of you.”
I wrapped an arm around her, feeling complete with her touching me.
“Are you still going to take the bar exam?” Maddy asked.
“Yes, but I'm not going to stress about it,” Bec said. “I feel like there could be a lot of work for an investigative lawyer.”
Mikey went from looking interested to absolutely fascinated. “If that happens, I'm going to need you to start writing a mystery series.”
“Bec?”
We all turned to see Beatrix and Titan making their way through the crowd.
“We need to talk to you,” Titan said. He looked anxious, and I could feel that we were all worried for them.
“Everyone needs to clear out of the inner office,” Mikey shouted. “Titan and Beatrix need to talk to Bec.”
No one complained and soon Jim's office was empty and there was a clear path for us to all move in there.
It was tight, but Titan and Beatrix squeezed against a wall while Danzig and I all filed in after Bec. She closed the door and leaned against it.
“They can probably hear everything anyway,” Bec muttered.
“They'll be polite,” Titan said. “No one will listen to us.”
“Okay,” Bec said and gave him an encouraging smile. “What do you need to talk to us about?”
“It's me,” Beatrix said. “I just found out I have a sister, and I need you to find her.”
An ecstatic smile stretched across Bec’s face. I felt excitement coming from her and Danzig. We were all thrilled to have our first official case together as the new business of Masel and Stanhope.
“We can help,” Bec said. “Tell us everything you know.”