Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Next morning, I headed in to work. Penn stayed home, because she had orders to fill from her online store. I had told her about what Vaurice said about family marriage.
“I’ll cut off his dick if he tries,” she said.
“Doesn’t he scare you? He’s full demon, after all.” I admired the way she seemed to face down danger and spit in its eye. And yet, the woman was terrified of getting locked into a relationship.
“He’s nervous around Hecate’s chosen. I plan to remember that,” she said, grinning. “Go, have a good day, and I’ll see you tonight.”
I grabbed my travel mug, which held a quad-shot iced latte, and headed out the door. On my way to work, I noticed I was driving differently. I felt more confident. As I approached work, a text came through. It was from Penn.
i’m telling you, i’m not interested. that asshole is just trying to mess with my head.
what do you mean? who’s trying to mess with you? I asked, using the voice control.
i mean, i’m not interested in your brother. he just texted me. this time he asked me out on a date. i don’t mind taking messages from him, but i refuse to go out with him. he’s trouble.
Fuck. Vaurice was pushing his luck. I could handle it if he kept his efforts focused on me, but he was trying to rattle us. He clearly hadn’t learned his lesson from Hecate if he was willing to bother Penn like this. Or maybe he just liked living dangerously.
okay, i’ll have a talk with him. just ignore his text. i’m so sorry about this.
it’s not your fault, and i get why we have to play nice, but damn it, if seton wants me to go out with vaurice, he’s going to be in for a shock. talk to you later.
I pulled into the lot, parked, and sat there, staring at the steering wheel. Why did I have the feeling we were in for a whole lot of frustration before things got better?
* * *
As I entered the office, Sophia was arguing with Dante. “I asked you last week for those reports, and you still haven’t given them to me. If you expect me to fill out payroll for the end of the month, you need to get them to me.”
Dante sighed. “I did. I left them on your desk yesterday.”
“They weren’t there when I got to work this morning,” Sophia said. She was usually a patient person, but Dante could be a pain in the ass sometimes. But he was our pain in the ass.
“I tell you—oh, come on.” He motioned for her to follow him. They went into his office and I heard him say, “I was sure I put them on your desk!”
“Well, you didn’t. Give them to me, you goose.” Sophia returned shaking her head. “You’ll all be the death of me someday.” But she was smiling.
“Good morning to you, too. I’ve had a frustrating morning. And a frustrating evening, though yesterday was eye opening. I’ll tell you about it in the meeting. We have a client scheduled for today, right?”
“At eleven-thirty. I’m not too sure about this one, but there’s another case as well.
For once, neither one involves a haunted house.
” Sophia chuckled. “I had the feeling it was going to be one of those days when I couldn’t start my car and had to call Carson for a ride.
We stopped on the way and bought breakfast, doughnuts, and coffee for everybody.
Orik’s already here, too, so we’re ready for the staff meeting.
” She gathered her tablet, her notepad a file folder, and headed for the breakroom.
I stopped at my office before joining the others. I tossed my jacket on the sofa, pulled my tablet out of my backpack, and headed in to find out what the day had to offer.
“So, my brother came over last night,” I said, raising my eyebrows.
Dante groaned. “What did he want?”
“My father expects me to join him for dinner tomorrow night, along with Vaurice. We’re meeting at Amané’s.
” I rolled my eyes. “Vaurice was a total jerk when he came over, but I did find out he’s wary of Hecate.
He mentioned something about being young and stupid around her and getting shut down.
But this morning he texted Penn, asking her out. ”
Carson stiffened. “He what?” He was drawn to Penn like a moth, but she had very firmly friend-zoned him so she wouldn’t break his heart.
“He and Penn got into it last night. She warned him not to mess with me, and they started sparring—verbally, of course. But Hecate came through loud and clear, and he backed off. I think he felt he had to have the final word, because this morning he texted her, asking her out.” I shrugged.
“Anyway, I’m meeting my father tomorrow night and I’ll ask him to back off then. ”
“I still think this is too dangerous,” Dante said. “Your father is a demon lord. Who know what the hell he’ll do if he finds out you’re spying on him?”
“I can only guess,” I said, feeling far from as offhanded as I sounded. “I think you’d have a new boss, because I’d either be in hiding or dead.”
“Is it worth it, then?” Carson asked.
“It’s worth keeping him from ruling Seattle.
Seton has been looking into what information he can find out about Ezerian—we don’t really have a lot to go on, except that he…
my father…is from one of the nobility.” I paused, as my words actually sank in.
“Good gods, I’m partial nobility in the realm of Demonkin. I have no idea how to feel about that.”
“You need backup at dinner?” Dante asked.
“I think that’s too dangerous. Okay, let’s move on. What’s on the agenda, Sophia? You say we have two pending cases?” I wanted to sidestep any idea of anybody following me. We couldn’t afford to fuck up this assignment.
Sophia cleared her throat. “I’ve already done an intake interview with the first client. Her name is Wendy Ryle. She’s looking for her husband, Mark, who’s vanished.”
I frowned. “Did he run out on her?”
“She doesn’t think so, though the cops do. They’ve been married for twenty-one years and she said they’ve never had any problems until recently. He left for a club meeting one night and vanished on the way home. He called her and said he was heading home, but never made it.”
“They check the hospitals?” Carson asked.
“Hospitals, morgue, police stations. The cops checked everywhere but found no trace. His car vanished, and his phone hasn’t been used since that afternoon.
However, their mutual bank account was drained.
The bank’s video surveillance shows Mark at the bank that very afternoon, where he emptied the account except for five-thousand dollars.
He took twenty-five thousand dollars. So the cops think he's run off.” Sophia opened the file folder and pulled out a photo, setting it on the table.
We all leaned in. The man in the picture was handsome, though rather nondescript. He looked to be in his forties, with pale hair, a lightly tanned face, blue eyes, and no distinguishing marks, and he was wearing a white shirt with a brown tie.
“What’s his name again?” I asked.
“Mark Ryle. He’s forty-five, and he’s an accountant. From everything Wendy said, he’s never been in trouble, he doesn’t drink, no drugs, no affairs…” Sophia frowned. “They’ve been having a few problems, she said.”
“Did she say what kind of problems? I know she thinks he didn’t run off, but it happens more often than people think,” Orik said. “And usually, one spouse is totally blind to the issues.”
“I suppose, but I have the feeling that she’s right and that he’s in trouble,” Sophia said. “I had a flash when I was gathering her information.”
Sophia was an oracle. She had run away from Olympus when Zeus tried to put the make on her, and now she was hiding out on earth, trying to keep out of his sight. Hecate knew she was here, but had promised to say nothing.
“What kind of a flash?” I asked.
Sophia hesitated, closing her eyes. “I see…saw…a dark passage. I don’t think it’s in the Underground, but maybe the sewer.
And I hear something growling. It’s not a lion, but more guttural.
I smell…I smell ocean brine and I can hear the crashing of water.
Everything smells rotten, like old fish left out too long on the beach. ”
My stomach flipped, just enough to tell me she was onto something. “Anything else?”
After another moment, Sophia said, “The only thing I know is that Mark isn’t walking the world anymore.”
“He’s dead?” Dante asked.
Sophia shook her head. “Not dead…he’s still here, but he’s not here.
That’s all I can see.” She opened her eyes.
“I didn’t tell Wendy because I didn’t want her to be afraid.
And if she told the cops about it, they’d only suspect her.
We don’t know what’s really going on, and I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before.”
“You don’t really think you’re wrong, though, do you?” Orik asked.
Sophia thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess I don’t. My gut says I’m right, but I wasn’t going to crush her hopes. Not until we have proof.”
“Well, where do we go from here?” I asked. “We have to check out the obvious possibilities even if they don’t align with our focus.”
“We check for girlfriends, for groups he’s been involved with. We check the hospitals and homeless shelters. Out of curiosity, are they both human?” Carson asked.
Sophia glanced at the intake form. “He’s human, Wendy’s a selkie.”
“A selkie?” My nail tech, who worked on the bottom floor of the building we were renting, owned a nail salon.
And she was a selkie. “Maybe I’ll talk to Ami.
Not that all selkies know one another, but they’re few and far between.
Maybe she’s somehow heard of Wendy and can offer some sort of insight.
” But even as I said it, I had the feeling that this was far out of Wendy’s realm and had nothing to do with the other selkies.
“Should we take the case?” Sophia asked.