Chapter 33
“Italy,” Maxim said, looking at the list of properties Heath had spread out on the meeting table in his office. Not all of the houses had been verified as belonging to Highgate for certain, but the Italy one was definitely his.
Heath gave a one-shouldered shrug. “You’d expect that. From the name, right? Laurenzio Highgate. Do you think maybe he kept his first name and only changed his last name for his aliases?”
While Raven had been settling in, Heath had used his considerable skill to make inquiries.
Maxim, on his end, had reached out to people he trusted, people on the ground in places like London to investigate there, look at old files, and circumvent official Forum channels that might have attracted too much attention.
“It’s possible. Not easy to do if he registered with the Forum. Then again, let’s not forget about Raven’s theory.”
Heath looked up from the papers. “Huh?”
“He went to Highgate’s lecture because he thought the man was the original creator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. That it was a pen name, of sorts, although he used a human to hide behind. In a sense, that is an alias.”
“Right. It’s… Sherlock Holmes was always the smartest person in the room, right? So maybe also wishful thinking.”
Heath had printed out maps of where the properties he had discovered were located.
The one in Florence was close to the cathedral with its dome.
Maxim remembered looking up at it during a visit some four hundred years ago.
If Highgate was around back then, if he was not a stone’s throw away from me…
How things would have changed if I had known to stop him then.
It was no use wondering over this now. What was done was done, and the present was all Maxim could control.
“He does think himself supreme, yes.”
Highgate was still in the cell at the end of the hallway in the basement, and the lights there were still on. He’d not yet lost the ability to throw taunts though, or to sing his foul rhymes.
Heath rubbed his eyes. “I don’t like this. I so don’t like this.”
He had his phone next to him on the table, and it vibrated noisily, distracting him while Maxim looked away from the map. Heath flicked the screen on, read, then frowned.
“Jason says Raven wants to go to the Red Clover. What the fuck? Did he say something to you? Jason’s telling me to come along and make sure to get them inside without waiting. Why would he even think I can get them in when you’re everyone’s door opener?”
Maxim felt a pang in his chest like a spot of blame.
Raven should have asked him. They had sat across from each other for hours, Maxim explaining about rooks and pawns, about when to castle and when to sacrifice.
Raven was a quick study, and every now and then, brightness would shine out of him when he got something right.
Maxim knew that this was likely one of Jason’s ruses to get his friend to go out, yet at the same time, he felt like a failure that Raven had not asked him to take them to the club.
And a deeper failure not to have thought of something similar.
“Darling, you can open doors if you want. Recall, the club owner called you specifically when there was a disturbance.”
Heath rolled his eyes and texted. “I don’t think that fae really knows who I am, but fine.
Not like I’d let them go alone. I mean, I trust Raven, but have you seen Jason do coffee runs?
The baristas give him free drinks all the time, and I think he knows everyone who works on this floor, which is most of the legal team and all the accountants.
They all adore him and tell me he’s the best intern ever.
There are strong hints in the air about making sure I hire him right out of college. ”
Maxim looked up. “I don’t know everyone who works on this floor. I wasn’t even aware you had all the accountants confined here. I was certain you kept some in the basement or in walled-off rooms or such.”
Heath made a dismissive sound. “That’s because you’re you. I’m just saying, he’s one of those people who gets everyone to be their friend and loyal supporter.” Heath looked up. “I swear, Jason and that dog are like two guardian beasts, only different.”
“Darling, they cannot be different from each other and also like the same thing. That is nonsensical. Did you do too much accounting, hmm? The club will do you good too, then. Should I go and get you some pocket money to spend on things?”
Heath’s jaw dropped. “I have money. You know I have money. Taking care of the money is my fucking job!”
“Oh dear, don’t get mad now. You need this. Touching grass—what is the expression—IRL? So much better than that grass.”
He pointed at the slice of grass he’d gotten Heath.
Miraculously, Heath had managed to keep the cut of soil and greenery alive, likely through sheer determination and intense care.
Bryan, quite possibly, had helped with making sure the grass had what it needed at all times, but Heath was the one who’d decided to maintain it in the first place.
Heath tapped a finger on the table. “Shouldn’t we be working on the case? Not that I don’t hate everything about this investigation and wish it were over. Fuck, if only this were over.”
Maxim reached out and clasped his son’s hand. “Let it be gone from your mind for tonight, hmm? Watch those two for me. Make sure they don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Heath frowned. “Sure as fuck won’t do that, because what you do should get you in trouble. But then you smile at people and say something funny or smart, and everyone thinks you’re charming.”
Maxim attempted to look innocent. “But, darling, I never do anything that’s worth any trouble, do I? Other than diligently completing my duties and making sure you don’t feel lonely. Don’t drink too much either, hmm?”
“I don’t—you—all the time!” Heath was sort of stewing, with his lips pressed tight and his eyes going all big.
“You say so much stuff all the time!” he eventually added.
“But—you know what? Never mind. Yeah, I’ll go party.
And then I won’t tell you about it because you are nosy.
And Jason won’t tell you about it either.
And we’ll set Raven’s head straight too.
I don’t like the way he’s been talking about your junk floor.
It’s like he likes it up there. I can just smell your bad influence, old bat, and I’m not having that. ”
Maxim beamed. “Aw, has he been saying nice things? He’s ever so helpful.”
“You’re manipulating him into siding with you!” Heath blew out a breath, then stood. “Fine. I’m going. Do whatever old people do.”
Maxim decided not to remind his son that most old people were nosy, overly opinionated, and notoriously meddlesome. He didn't want to upset Heath too much, after all.
Maxim left Heath to get ready to go to the Red Clover.
He took a list of the properties Heath had found upstairs with him, hidden in a plain folder.
Normally, he’d go himself to confirm all the items on the list were indeed Highgate’s.
They should be searched as well, to uncover whatever Highgate did in each of these places, who he spoke with.
But it was out of the question. If Highgate’s influence ran as deep as they thought, doing so would tip off others working with him, and there was little doubt in Maxim’s mind that there were others.
Whether they were like the day shifter in his basement or Pearson in her cell—controlled to the point of being useless as witnesses—he didn’t know, but he didn’t think it was just one vampire behind everything they’d seen so far.
He was still thinking about it when the elevator arrived at the penthouse. Raven was there, and he shot to his feet from his position on the couch, where it looked like he’d been waiting.
“Uh…” He picked absently at the sleeve of his hoodie. “So, uh, Jay came by today?”
“Did he? I can only imagine that Clement has missed him. Did you know, I overheard the two of them the other day? Clement had a list about things that can go wrong in dormitories and reasons why no home should be passed from one person to the next each year.”
Maxim had indeed overheard that conversation, though it had been somewhat one-sided, with Clement behind the bar and complaining while Jason had just been taking a short coffee break and reading the news on his phone.
With every moment Jason had looked at his screen, the bar Lar had grown more frustrated.
“Okay? I don’t know why he went to see Clement, but, well, he asked me to go out with him.” Raven flushed; merely a pinking of the cheeks now that he was a vampire. “Not go out. Go to a club, I mean. Tonight. Is that okay? It’ll be for an hour, tops.”
Maxim made himself look shocked. “An hour?! You will go to a club for no more than an hour? Raven, it is a Friday today.”
“Is it?”
“Very much so.”
Raven nodded. “Makes sense that he asked. No school tomorrow.”
Raven looked at his feet, and Maxim couldn’t unravel what that meant, exactly.
Raven had not brought up his education or any desire to return to it.
Maxim saw the retreat, the desire to keep to what was safe and easy.
Maxim could not fault him for it. All he could do was wait and be there for him when retreating was no longer enough.
“You should try to have a good time, then.”
Raven looked up, insecurity written in his every feature. “You don’t mind?”
“Of course not.”
Raven let out a breath. “Okay. I wasn’t sure.”
Maxim leaned forward. “It’s hardly my place to keep you from spending time with a friend. But will you promise me something?”
Raven’s mouth dropped open in surprise, and there was still a hint of pink in his cheeks. “Yeah?”
“You have my number saved. Call me if you need to. If you need to be picked up or if for some other reason you feel like it. Or text. I enjoy a text.”
Maxim winked at Raven, and the flush in Raven’s cheeks deepened. It was a small thing, and yet it hit Maxim with the weight of a well-aimed punch.
Oh no.
“Sure,” Raven said, adding one of those rare smiles. “I’ll…I’ll go shower.”
He headed to his room, looking back over his shoulder once and giving Maxim yet another careful smile.
Maxim kept his own expression pleasant, still standing there even when Raven’s door had closed. Does he realize? Maybe not. At least this isn’t him offering himself to me in the middle of the night. I shouldn’t encourage it. Did I encourage it?
Maxim thought over what he had and hadn’t done. More than anyone else, he’d just been present with Raven, had filled silences with chatter, had coaxed him into doing things that weren’t thinking or being alone with his memories.
With the clarity of hindsight, Maxim could see how perhaps affection had come as a natural byproduct of being so close.
He could also see and feel in his heart of hearts that it was affection he returned, though whether the depth and breadth of it matched what Raven felt, he didn’t know.
He knew for a certainty he had no right to explore it, shouldn’t even speculate.
Maxim clutched the folder tighter and balled his other hand into a fist. What he felt did not matter. If he acted on it, he’d force Raven to act in turn, and that would be cruel. I will be there for him. I will always be there for him.
A dog nose bumping into his leg made Maxim look down at where Ume was staring up with curious eyes and that smiling face of his.
“What? Have you been lying in wait? Do you read minds?”
The dog cocked his head.
Maxim sighed. “Would you perhaps like one of the handmade treats Heath got for you?”
A low whine escaped Ume, and he made sure to sit, all neat and pristine, eyes focused on Maxim’s.
Maxim sighed and went to fetch him the treat.
They kept them in a ceramic bowl in the coffee corner that Heath had bought especially for them.
It had Shiba Inu designs all over and was covered with a lid, the knob of which was shaped like a smiling Shiba head.
If nothing else, Ume had succeeded in cementing his place in the household and in training all of them quite well.
Once the dog was crunching away next to him, Maxim pulled out his phone and texted the bouncer from the Red Clover about the party of three that was headed his way and how he would appreciate them being let inside after working for it just a little.