by Gina LaManna
“You’re not scared of me.”
“No, not at all.” I reached through the high slit in my dress and withdrew my gun. “I’ve been uncomfortable all night with this wedged up there.” I kicked off my shoes. “My feet are killing me.” I craned my neck back and forth. “I’ve fought off two bouncers and watched a dead body fall off a carriage. You are the least of my problems.”
“Very well.” Marcus stood. “Then I apologize for making your problems that much worse.”
“Spit it out.”
Marcus obliged, but instead of speaking, he raised his hands before him and projected an illusion. A photograph of sorts marked with a time stamp. I was about to ask what he was trying to do when the image sharpened, and I understood.
“What is this?” I asked, seeing an image of myself and Matthew projected against thin air. It had been taken from somewhere off in the distance at the precise moment Matthew had leaned in to touch my face outside of Felix’s house this evening. While Matthew hadn’t completed the kiss, the image painted a different story.
“It’s exactly what it looks like,” he said, and then flicked to another picture.
This time, it showed Matthew and I dancing at Dust. Closely. Much too closely to be considered professional.
I cleared my throat. “You knew we were undercover.”
Marcus laughed. “Sure. And I’m sure that’s how the chief will see it, too.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Really?” Marcus gave an annoying tilt of his head. “I think I would dare. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Speaking of being here—you broke into my apartment. And apparently, you abandoned the crime scene you were working to come blackmail your colleague.”
“Your brother ordered me home to get some rest,” Marcus said with a snip. “I wasn’t tired.”
I thought some curse words toward Nash but kept my mouth shut. I had enough to deal with right here in my apartment without expanding into family matters, too.
Marcus strode confidently toward me and my loaded Stunner. “I trust you’ll keep this visit quiet. If this gets out, it’ll hurt Matthew far worse than it will hurt you, and you won’t let that happen. You care too much about him, Detective, and that’s your weakness.”
I grasped my weapon more firmly. “What do you want from me?”
“Exactly what I’ve already told you multiple times. I want credit for cracking the case and the promotion I deserve.”
“If you’d just do your job, you’d have gotten both of those things without blackmail.”
“I will have both of those things,” Marcus corrected. “Because I’m good at my job when people aren’t withholding information from me. I’m doing the entire department a favor.”
“Remind me to have everyone send a thank-you card,” I said dryly. “I’m sure the chief will approve of your shrewd tactics.”
“Like I said, the chief isn’t going to hear about this, and neither is your vampire,” Marcus said, taking another step toward me. “If you do as I ask, none of you will have anything to worry about. Once I’m promoted to lieutenant, I’ll be out of your hair.”
“I don’t know, Marcus. People like you have the annoying habit of never quite going away.”
He gave a sad little smile. “Oh, Dani, sarcasm isn’t a good color with that dress. A shame because you do look magnificent tonight. If you weren’t so hung up on that vampire...”
I had battled enough tonight, so despite the overwhelming urge to land one on Marcus’s nose, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let myself get out of control no matter how much Marcus provoked me. It wouldn’t help me, nor would it help Matthew or the missing girls. And they were my real priority.
“Very good,” Marcus said. “I see you’re coming around.”
“You haven’t told me what you want.”
“Sure I have,” he said. “The promotion. That means, I need to be in the loop with everything you and King know. When you crack this case—mark my words, Detective, you will—I want to be there. I want the credit. Because if the vampire wasn’t impeding my information flow on this case, I’d be there, too. I just want what’s rightfully mine. I’m sure you can understand.”
“I’ll never understand people like you,” I said, not bothering to hide the disgust from my voice. “But if you want the promotion, it’s yours. You could have just asked, Marcus. You didn’t have to bring Matthew into this.”
“Oh, but I did.”
“No,” I said, stepping backward and yanking the door open. “Because I would have freely given you credit. See, all I want in this situation are the girls back alive, the bad guys in jail, and you out of my life. Goodnight.”
Marcus’s eyes flashed, but he controlled whatever response had flitted behind his expression. “Very well, Detective. I expect to hear from you soon.”
I closed the door behind him, slow and deliberate, determined not to give him the satisfaction of slamming it in his face. After I’d given him plenty of time to get out on his own, I padded downstairs and locked up behind him—not necessary, since he’d somehow locked the doors himself. So polite, I thought wryly, and then climbed the stairs and fell into the shower.
I washed off the makeup and grime that had accumulated over the night and massaged my aching feet. I’d developed a few blisters that I quickly treated with Aloe Ale before slipping into shorts and a tank top and flopping into bed. I pulled the covers over me, and before I could even sigh with tiredness, I was sound asleep.
Chapter 18
I woke the next morning to the feeling of being watched.
My apartment is somewhat of a revolving door for random strangers, family, and friends, so that wasn’t exactly news to me. In fact, I was on the floor in a crouch with my Stunner pointed at Willa before she could widen her eyes in surprise.
“My, oh, my!” Willa held a hand to her chest. “Well, I guess that teaches me to sneak into a sleeping detective’s bedroom. Stand up, why don’t you, and pull up your shorts. I can see your undies. Very pretty pink, by the way.”
I immediately let my gun drop to the nightstand and adjusted my pajamas to be appropriate. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I’d have to entertain at...what time is it, anyway?”
“Five thirty.”
“In the morning?” I looked suspiciously at her. “When’s the last time you woke up at five thirty?”
“Oh, you know,” she said with a shrug. “Couldn’t sleep. I came here to get a head start on the chopping and to see if...”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You thought you might find Jack spending the night downstairs, and you wanted to talk to him.”
“Maybe,” Willa huffed. “But that’s not really any of your business.”
“No, but the fact that you’re in my bedroom in the middle of the night is.”
“Oh, right. You probably fell asleep like, what, an hour ago?”
“Something like that,” I said through gritted teeth. “I was thinking this might be an emergency, but it appears you just wanted to have a chat?”
“This is an emergency!” Willa clapped a hand to her forehead. “Sorry. Totally forgot. So, anyway, on my way here to see if I could find your brother—and start chopping vegetables early, mind you—I found a little girl in the streets.”
“Is she alright? Where is she? Was she alone?”
“She’s fine.” Willa gestured for me to calm. Then, she winced. “She’s here.”
“Here?”
“I mean—out there. Sitting at your table and eating breakfast.”
“Oh, my, is right.”
“What was I supposed to do, Detective? She’s barely five years old.”
“I don’t know. Call child services? I’m working on a homicide and kidnapping. If she’s alive and well, it’s not my department.”
“But she was looking for you.”
“For me?”
“Believe me, I was surprised too,” Willa said before realizing her misstep. “I mean,
of course you’re lovely, Dani, I just didn’t think of you as kid-friendly all that much.”
“I am too kid-friendly,” I said. “Kids are great, so long as they’re not mine.”
“I still think if you and Matthew ever decided to have some of your own—”
“Tabling this discussion for never, Willa.”
“Right. So, do you want to come meet her? She goes by Tink. She’s an elf.”
Immediately, my hackles raised. “Full elf?”
“Got that Golden District vibe,” Willa said. “I don’t know how she got all the way over here—you’ll have to ask her. As soon as I found her, I brought her here and got her some cereal from your cupboards. By the way, you really need to fill your fridge. Your milk was dangerously close to expiring.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I grumbled. “Okay, let me get dressed.”
A few minutes later, I’d shaken the cobwebs from my sleeping brain and slipped into a pair of black jeans, a black tank, and a black leather jacket. It matched my mood quite well. I had my gun and badge fastened to my hip, along with my travel pack of vials that contained various spells and potions that came in handy while on the job.
I forced a smile on my face that hopefully didn’t look like a grimace and eased out into the living area. I needn’t have worried about first impressions because the little girl seated at my kitchen table had her head bent firmly over the bowl of cereal and appeared to be chasing around her food with a spoon. She had long, gorgeous hair—golden and wispy on the ends like only children can manage. It flowed freely around her thin shoulders all the way down her back, over a cute little red polka dot dress and white shoes that were miraculously clean.
“Hi there,” I said quietly. “My name’s Dani.”
“You’re the detective?” The little girl’s head snapped up with a smile. “I was looking for you.”
“So I heard,” I said. “What’s your name?”
“She already told you.” The little girl’s face scrunched up as she glanced at Willa. “I’m Tink.”
“Hi, Tink,” I said, making my way across the room. I settled into a chair next to Willa and her new friend and pulled the box of cereal and a bowl toward me. “Any chance you could pass me the milk?”
Tink gave me a somber look. “It’s all gone.”
I pushed the cereal away. “No problem. I don’t eat breakfast anyway. I prefer caffeine.”
Willa knowingly pushed a cup of piping hot coffee across the table, and I was beginning to think I didn’t mind this early morning wake-up call all that much when Tink giggled.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, cupping my hands around the mug. “Did I say something?”
Her cheeks turned pink. “No.”
I glanced at Willa, but she looked just as confused as I felt. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself, Tink? Where’s your mom and dad?”
“My dad is a deadbeat,” Tink said in what was clearly word-regurgitation from her mother. “I don’t know him. But my mom and I live in the Golden District. Her name is Lisa.”
I froze. “Lisa... Does she have blond hair?” I paused, realizing that most elves had long blond hair, so it wasn’t exactly a unique descriptor.
“You know her,” Tink encouraged. “She said you found her last night. But she didn’t know you, so she was scared and ran away.”
“And where is your mom now?”
“She had to go away again,” Tink said. “But she said you would help us. You would help me get her back.”
“How did she know I would help?”
“She saw,” Tink said simply with a shrug. “She sees things sometimes.”
“What sorts of things?”
Tink stopped talking as if I’d muzzled her. She straightened, her shoulders rigid as she composed herself before responding. “We walked over to find you, but then my mother had to go away.”
“Go away where? Was someone with her?”
Tink nodded. “We were close to your house when we heard a noise, and she told me to hide in some bushes. Someone came up to her, and they talked for a minute. Then my mom looked toward the bushes and winked at me. After that, the other person took her away.”
“Did you see who your mom went away with?” I asked, imagining she must have offered herself up without a fight for the sake of her daughter. “Male or female?”
“I couldn’t see who they were,” Tink said. “But before she told me to hide, she said she might be gone for a few days, and that I was supposed to look for a detective in a red dress who wears black clothes.”
“Well, that sure sounds like Detective DeMarco,” Willa said with a dry smile. To me, she spoke over Tink’s head. “I found her a block away, wandering down the street, whistling. Not a care in the world. Not scared. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was looking for the detective in the red dress and black clothes. I figured there was a good chance she was talking about you. Did you meet her mother?”
“Last night—on a case,” I said, cryptically so Willa wouldn’t press in front of the little one. “Your mother seems quite powerful, Tink.”
“Yep,” she said happily. “She is, but it’s a secret.”
“She has secret powers?” I asked. “Powers that nobody except the elves can know?”
Tink again went silent, choosing instead to raise the cereal bowl to her lips and slurp the remainder of the milk. When she put the bowl back down, she glanced at me, and another giggle seemed to rupture from the inside. I studied her closer this time, noticing a gleam in her eye, a slight halo around her head. This little girl had been born with powerful magic, and if I had to guess, she hadn’t learned how to control it. It was as if she radiated raw power.
“What’s so funny?” I asked again. “You’ve got a case of the giggles.”
“Because he’s gonna kiss you today,” she said, and then hid her face behind her hands. “He’s gonna kiss you a lot.”
Willa’s eyes got as big as saucers. “Who? What? Where?”
“Nothing and nobody,” I said, standing and clearing the plates. “I’m not in a relationship with anyone, Tink. I don’t know who told you that.”
“She doesn’t understand all that,” Willa said. “Relax, Detective. She’s five. She has an active imagination.”
“Yeah, well, I have to actively find her mother,” I said. “Tink, how do you feel about hanging out with Willa at the pizzeria for the day?”
“Sure,” she said. “If I get to eat pizza.”
“As much as you’d like,” Willa promised. “Er—I mean, maybe a few pieces. I don’t know. Whatever your mom would let you eat.”
“She’d let me eat as much pizza as I wanted,” Tink deadpanned. “I get to do whatever I want.”
“I don’t believe you, and I think you’re too clever for your own good.” Willa stood. “Which means we’re going to have some fun together. Come on, let’s get ready to head downstairs and let the superstar detective get to work.” While Tink hummed along and carried her bowl to the sink, Willa crept close and lowered her voice. “What do you make of all this?”
“It’s hard to say,” I said. “But last night, Matthew and I were trying to stop a kidnapping—Lisa’s kidnapping.”
“Someone wanted to kidnap this poor girl’s mother? Is it tied with the other elfin disappearances?”
“We don’t have solid proof, but I don’t see how it could be a coincidence.” I inhaled a long, slow breath. “I can only imagine that Lisa was called to the club for some reason—work, a friend’s party, something that drew her there.”
I stopped speaking because Tink had turned back from the kitchen and was staring at me with huge, innocent-looking eyes.
“Kids hear everything,” Willa said in explanation. “You can tell me later. Or not at all. I know your detective business is all secretive and whatnot. Anyway, Tink and I have some mischief to do, so we’ll be getting on with it. Right, partner?”
Tink giggled and nodded. “Mischief.
”
“Exactly.”
“Thanks, Willa—I appreciate this a lot,” I said. “Are you sure it’s okay if I leave her here today? I have to go to the precinct and regroup with Matthew and the others. She’ll be safe with you and Jack for now until the chief comes up with a better plan.”
“Of course she will,” Willa said. “Her mother sent her here for a reason, didn’t she, Tink?”
Tink gave an affirmative nod. “And my mother’s never wrong.”
Except about her kidnapper, I thought. If, in fact, she had been taken against her will. I suspected Lisa had known her kidnapping was somewhat inevitable and had chosen to seek care for her daughter, even if it meant exposing herself in the process. She’d probably been forced to make a choice between running to save herself, or getting her daughter to safety and risking her kidnapper’s return.
I locked up my apartment and followed Willa and Tink as they hopped down the stairs and let themselves into the pizzeria. They were singing and chatting and pulling ingredients out when the door opened and Jack appeared. He was wearing the same clothes from last night and had a sheepish grin on his face.
“Oh,” Willa said as she saw him.
“Willa—” Jack froze. “You’re here early. I was, ah, hoping to use your shower, Dani—I think I have some spare clothes in your closet from before...”
“I think you should go home,” I told Jack. “Come back later once you’re presentable.”
Jack didn’t bother to argue; he ducked out, closing the door behind him.
“I’m sorry,” I said again to Willa. “I can have another of my brother’s come by today to help—”
“It’ll be okay.” Tink interrupted me and turned to Willa. She rested a small hand on Willa’s larger one. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I know, darling.” Willa clasped Tink to her. “I know.”
Chapter 19
Matthew and Chief Newton were waiting for me when I arrived at the precinct. I’d requested a meeting with the two of them, crossing my fingers that Marcus wasn’t around to witness our little pow wow.