Chapter 3 #2
I nodded. “Call her, get a retainer and make an appointment for Dante and me to visit her. Tell her we’ll look into it, and if we don’t find anything, we’ll let it go for the retainer.
If we find anything that needs further exploration, we can discuss terms. There’s so much we don’t know, yet, and I don’t want to make promises we can’t keep.
And if he wanted to vanish…we don’t have the right to step in. ”
“Sounds good. Where do we start?” she asked.
I glanced at Carson. “Carson, can you research Mark and Wendy’s backgrounds? Sophia, check the hospitals and clinics for any mention of him. Dante and I will talk to Wendy. Orik, go over the intake form again. See if we missed anything. Now, what about our eleven-thirty?”
“If he’s anything like he sounded on the phone…well, I don’t even want to wager a guess.” Sophia rolled her eyes.
“That good, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
As everybody headed back to their desks, my thoughts were a million miles away, stuck between a vanishing accountant, and a demon lord.
* * *
Sophia made an appointment for Dante and me to meet with Wendy at her house at three. I was about to head back to my office when my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. It was Benny.
“Hey, what’s up, dude?” I asked.
Benny was a goblin. I didn’t know why I liked him, but deep down, underneath the cringe, he wasn’t quite the worm he presented to the world.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I felt protective of him.
He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the lamp, and he was always looking for a quick buck, but he was a decent sort.
Mostly, I felt sorry for him. He was trying to make a better life for himself, but his skills were few and far between.
And truthfully, Seattle wasn’t kind to goblins, even when they tried to stick to the right side of the law.
“Legs, I needed to talk to you. It’s about Greg. Remember?”
I remembered, all right. We hadn’t been able to figure out what happened to one of Benny’s friends, though I strongly suspected that aliens had beamed away with him.
Or however they abducted people. It sounded ridiculous on the surface, but everything we had uncovered pointed toward some sort of conspiracy in which the most vulnerable of society—the homeless, the forgotten ones who’d fallen through the cracks—were being picked off by the boys in gray.
Of course, we could be way off base, but there was no real conclusive proof yet.
We’d backburnered the situation for now, but we hadn’t closed the books on the case.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I met one of his friends. The guy was kidnapped by Give A Hand Up, and he managed to escape. I’m hiding him at my house, because he’s afraid to go back to the Soldiers of Misfortune encampment. You want to talk to him?”
Benny sounded nervous. That he was actually offering to hide someone in trouble showed some character growth. At the beginning, when we first met, Benny had been out for himself and only himself. Now, he actually gave a damn about others.
“What’s his name?”
“Dan-Dan. At least, that’s what he goes by.”
I thought about it for a moment, then said, “Yeah. You want me to come over to your place? Is he willing to come here to the office?”
“He’s terrified to step out the door,” Benny said. “Would you mind coming over?”
I skimmed over my schedule. I didn’t have much going on after the visit to Wendy’s house. “I can come over after I get done at the office. Six o’clock okay?”
That would let me stop for a burger or something first, in case it took more time to talk to Benny than I expected.
“Thanks, Legs. I guess I feel that I wasn’t able to help Greg, but maybe…” his voice trailed off.
“Maybe you can make up for it?” I understood, all too well. I had often thought that my choice of professions was based on feeling helpless over my mother’s death.
After a moment, Benny sighed. “Maybe, I guess. I’ll see you at six. You know my address, right?”
I laughed. “Benny, you think I’d know you this long without keeping your current address handy? You never know when I’m going to need to pay you a visit.”
“Right,” he said, then hung up.
* * *
So many of our days seemed uneventful, but then everything seemed to congregate and happen all at once.
At promptly eleven-thirty, we gathered in the breakroom to meet our potential client.
His name was Arthric Joales. Immediately, I could tell he wasn’t human.
I wasn’t sure what he was, but human? No.
Whatever he was, he was annoying as hell. Dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a tie-dye shirt, he looked like a stoner, but there was something sharp about his movements and energy that told me the whole hippie-dippy thing was an act.
“Arthric, please, have a seat.” I motioned to a chair and he yanked out the chair and dropped into it.
I swear, the man flounced over to the chair and yanked it out from the table. While I wasn’t one for small talk, I observed the social niceties that made society run. He slumped into the chair and leaned back, legs stretched out, arms folded.
I waited for a moment, then when it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything, asked, “So, what can we do for you?”
“It’s more, what can I do for you,” he said, handing me a wrinkled piece of paper. It was stained.
I gingerly took it, spreading it flat. “This is your resume,” I said.
“That’s right,” he said, giving me a look like I was nuts.
Frowning, I turned to Dante, at a loss. “Do you—”
He shook his head. “Nope, but I’ll be back. I need to talk to Sophia.”
Dante and I usually did the informal assessments when we were there, otherwise Sophia took all the necessary information. I knew immediately that this was someone I didn’t want for a client and he probably should never have made it through the screening process.
“So, when do I start, and not to be too picky, but what’s your best offer?” Arthric asked.
More confused than ever, I cleared my throat. “I think you have the wrong impression. We’re not hiring. You must have us mixed up with some other business.”
“No, I’m at the right place. Once you actually look at my resume, you’ll realize that you can’t do without me. Your boss will understand when he gets back.” He arched his eyebrows, tilted his head, and I had a sudden flashback to several really bad dates.
Oh my gods. Was he for real? I knew guys like this existed but luckily, had run into few of them. But he was seriously waiting for my response.
“That was a mistake, my friend,” I said, feeling my voice veer into the ‘edgy’ range. “Let me clarify. I’m not hiring. And I make the final decisions. Take your resume and go find someone else to bother.” I didn’t care if he was pissed or not.
Arthric leaned forward, his big brown eyes growing wide. “Are you sure?”
Right then, I knew he was trying to glamour me. Whatever he was, the glamour was there, though so weak I couldn’t imagine it working on many people—Supe or not.
“Knock it off. For one thing, I’m half-demon and you can’t charm me.
For another, if you want a job somewhere that doesn’t include a jail cell, you might want to ease up on the assholery.
All that, together, nets you a one-way ticket out of the office and a big fat, don’t come again. ” I stood, holding his gaze.
He scrambled to his feet.
At that moment, Dante returned. He took one look at me and jumped between Arthric and me. “Kyann—calm down.”
Puzzled, I looked at him. “I’m calm enough. At least I would be if this little dipshit got out of here.”
Arthric took that moment to turn and run.
“Don’t do anything you’d regret,” Dante said, reaching out, taking my shoulders. He was obviously trying stop me from moving.
“What are you going on about?” I asked.
“So, you’re not going to chase him?” Dante asked.
“No, why would I? He’s just some pretentious little punk who thought he could bully his way into a job here. Probably considers himself the next Amazing Kreskin.” I shrugged.
“First, that’s a show I haven’t thought about in years. Second, your eyes were glowing red when I walked in the room and you looked ready to pounce on him. I’ve only seen your eyes do that once before—in the park.” Dante shifted uncomfortably.
The park. I remember all too well. That was the night Dante had saved me…and given me a chance at a new start. I’d never forget, and I would always owe Dante my very life.
“I feel fine. I was fed up, but not about to devour him.” I paused, then a lightbulb lit up.
“Oh! I’ll bet you it’s from my work with Devon.
My inner demon…” I paused. “I can’t even refer to that side of myself like that now.
When I integrated my demon, I think I just accepted all of her and now I don’t disassociate anymore when that side comes out.
So, I guess my eyes glow when that side comes out.
I was really been irritated, but I guarantee, I wasn’t going to kill him. ”
Dante nodded. “Well, that’s good. Seriously, this whole integration thing is good, Kyann. This will help you in the long run.” He paused, then said, “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to have dinner by ourselves. You want to catch a meal this week?”
I nodded. “I’d like that and yes, it has been awhile. How about Thursday?”
“It’s a date,” Dante said. “Well, you know…”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, grinning. “Okay, I’m going to tell Sophia that our door is off-limits to Mister Arthric, and then we’ll get ready for this afternoon’s appointment with Wendy.”
As I headed out to the front desk, I once again thanked the gods for giving me friends like Dante and Penn.