Kai smacked his palm to his face. “We’re already knee-deep in shit; we don’t need a structural fire to top the day off. Do you think you could convince them to go away?”
“I’ll try.”
“Sweetie!” Grace ran in her high heels, making her voluptuous hourglass figure jiggle. Everyone turned to watch the titillating spectacle, including a couple of smug-faced men who were obviously enjoying the bounce in Grace’s step.
Kai gaped, speechless. “It’s like watching a nuclear device detonate. As the mushroom cloud rises, its deadliness is blinding, yet you can’t look away.”
Grace was first to reach them. She wrapped her arms around Adara, gave her a bear hug, then drew away with a brilliant smile on her face. “Dary, I almost didn’t recognize you! You’re a perfect nymph in that dress. Was this Gisele’s doing? Oh, bless her with a thousand kisses from the goddess!” Her attention turned to Kai. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”
His voice was extra deep and rumbly. “Kai Moana.”
Grace beamed. “You’re A-OK with me, handsome. You look like a Polynesian god.”
He flushed. “Thank you. Actually, only part of me is divine.”
Grace licked her lips. “Which part? Show me.”
Mortified, Adara gasped. This was her childhood in a nutshell. Who could compete with a mother like Grace? No wonder she had learned to cope by becoming invisible to the world while quietly eavesdropping on their thoughts. An introverted existence was all that was left to her, but even that had become an uneasy fit. For Christ’s sake, it was time to stand up for herself.
She stepped between her mother and Kai. “Mom, don’t flirt. It’s too dangerous, not to mention it’s embarrassing me.”
With a wave of her delicate hand, Grace dismissed her. “You’re just being silly.”
“No, she’s not.” Her father, Aldan, gave Adara a kiss on the cheek. “Grace, you go too far. You’re always trying to seduce someone. This was almost as bad as the other day when that poor UPS guy came to the house.”
“And he looked damn good in those shorts. Is it so wrong to tell him so?”
Aldan glowered. “Honey, boners aren’t like Halloween candy. Not everyone who knocks on the door is expecting you to give them one.” He faced Kai. “This is my everyday reality of raging envy and screaming passion. I’m a fire demon, for fuck’s sake. Just once, I’d like to leave the house without her laying a trail of seduction for me to brood over.”
Grace batted her lashes. “You fuddy old devil! You’re so cute when you’re jealous. As a nymph of Venus, you know I’m obligated to keep my seduction skills up to par.” Her attention focused on Burt. “Who’s this cutie?”
Burt offered a half smile and growled.
“I like it.” Graced stroked her hands across Burt’s cheeks. “This man knows how to have a conversation with a lady.”
Burt burst into song. “If I were king of the forest!”
“Yes! Yes! You’re the king.” Grace ruffled Burt’s hair and made kissy sounds. “Oh, who is this wild man?”
“I can’t take it!” Sparks flew out of Aldan’s eyes. The flaming embers landed on the carpet and smoldered, sending the acrid scent of burning acrylic fibers into the air.
Kai hurried over to stomp the embers out.
Adara took hold of Grace’s hand. “Mom, cool it. I’m working and trying to remain professional. These are my colleagues. People have been murdered. We have too much going on inside this damn hotel to handle any more nonsense.”
“Oh.” Grace sobered. “Got it.” She appeared contrite.
“Thank you.” She squeezed her mother’s hand. Flirting was only one side of her; there was another that was pure patience and love that made sunshine feel cold in comparison.
Aldan handed her a brightly printed shopping bag with a large leather-bound volume inside. “I know you’re busy. We’re on our way to Sedona.” His voice lowered. “Your mother mentioned you’d come across a skinwalker.” A somber expression dragged his generous mouth into a frown. “This grimoire belonged to your grandfather. He was a demon hunter and quite a scholar. It’s ironic he ended up marrying a demon. At least he knew what he was getting into with your grandmother. There’s an entire section on dealing with skinwalkers. Protect this book and read it.” He hugged her. “Whatever you do, keep away from those creatures. They’re bad news for anyone, but worse for an elemental like you. Being part human and supernatural makes you vulnerable on two fronts. You can’t predict how the DNA is going to go. You’ve always been my little wildcard. I never know what to expect.” His voice cracked. “I don’t feel good about turning my back on you. Sparky, if you need me, I’ll stay.”
Returning the hug, she longed to say, Please help me kick some skinwalker ass and burn them to the ground. But if she did, she’d never know if she could have managed without him. “Thanks for offering, but I have help.” She glanced at Kai.
Aldan gave Kai a seething stare. “I can see that. Mr. Moana, this is my only daughter. Don’t let anything bad happen to her or I’ll heat you so high you’ll whistle like a tea kettle before you explode!”
Her dad’s overprotective attitude was yet another reason she was still single and seldom dared to date. “Dad.” She stepped away. “Don’t. Just don’t.”
Aldan hung his head. “Sparky, I’m sorry. Sometimes, I just can’t help it.” He sighed. “If we’re really not needed here, your mother and I will get going. We might have dinner on the Strip and hang around for a while.”
Could she handle this on her own? Her gut churned at the thought. “Please don’t worry about me. I love you both and I appreciate your offer but we really need to check in at HQ.”
“Okay.” Aldan wrapped his arm around Grace’s waist. “Call us if you need us.” They turned and walked away. Grace sashayed down the corridor with a smooth stride that made her rounded hips swing provocatively from side to side.
A man drinking an iced coffee turned to stare as Grace passed, his mouth agape.
Aldan glared at the gawker, shot embers from his eyes, and set the man’s shoelaces on fire.
Mr. Hot Foot looked down and screamed. “Holy fuck!” He quenched the flames by pouring coffee on his sneakers.
“Nothing to see here.” Adara urged Kai and Burt to start walking. Burt growled and snarled at hotel guests as they led him along. She could tell by the looks on the guests’ faces that they dismissed Burt as a drunk. Just as well the new arrivals didn’t know what had happened in Ballroom C; no doubt gossip and rumors would soon spread across Vegas like a sandstorm.
They reached HQ without any further incident beyond Burt singing and roaring like he was auditioning for The Lion King. Kai swiped his security pass and they entered the overly air-conditioned chamber lit by the glow of dozens of surveillance screens.
One operator glanced their way and offered a vague nod as the only trace of acknowledgement that they had returned. Everyone else’s attention remained riveted to their screens as they walked to Roy’s office and knocked.
The door opened. Roy had a phone pressed to his head, the cat in his arms, and a second speaker on his desk blaring. The dual conversations were nearly impossible to follow. “Come in.”
Burt pointed to the bandaged cat scratches on his arms and growled at the cat. “You’re at least partially responsible for this. I ate scallops, for God’s sake.”
Earl Gray hissed, leaped from Roy’s arms, and hid under a chair.
“Don’t blame Earl.” Adara tried to soothe Burt. “The buffet was hexed by an industrial wizard named Appledore.”
They entered the office and placed Burt in a corner away from the cat.
“I’m beat,” Burt mumbled. The moment he sat, his chin slumped to his chest and he broke into soft waves of snoring.
With a somber expression, Roy lifted a finger, signaling for silence. “Yes. I understand,” he grumbled into the phone. He switched off the speaker on the desk that had been droning dispatch updates. “Say that
again. … You believe the bead found lodged in Montgomery Coldburn’s throat was made of human bone? Interesting. ‘Human’ is a good place to start, but is it possible to run further tests and narrow the field down a little more? … The bone’s too old? Well, fuck it. It was just a thought. Call me back when you know more.”
Roy clicked the phone off and gazed at them with a look of utter desperation. “Welcome to Bedlam. Forensics isn’t getting far enough fast enough. It’s insane out there. Mass puking. Public diarrhea. It’s a good thing you got out when you did. Marvin Appledore is in custody, but who knows how long we can keep him. Without a confession and physical evidence leading up to how he pulled the stunt off, all we have is Adara’s word on the matter. Frankly, I’d like to keep PHD out of this.”
How Marvin might be prosecuted hadn’t even occurred to her. “He’s guilty as hell and wouldn’t stop boasting. Please don’t tell me he’ll go unpunished.”
“Making him clean the carpets would be a fitting punishment,” Roy huffed. “I might have to pull some strings in the paranormal community, but don’t worry, Appledore will get his just desserts.”
Kai crossed his heavy arms in front of his chest and frowned like an un-bribable bouncer at the chicest club in town. “Is Appledore our killer? He looked guilty to me. What do you think?”
“Appledore was sloppy and loud.” Roy shook his head. “He talked about his crime as he committed it. Adding to that, he keeps shouting the hex will evaporate in two hours. I don’t think he meant to do lasting harm.“ He scratched the cat’s coat. “I’m stumped. I don’t see a pattern yet. The third victim of the day, the human snow cone on the sushi cart, was a Ukrainian computer hacker named Viktor Petrova, who had a penchant for writing incantations into code. Apparently, he was a very competent conjurer. His skills came with a big fat price tag. Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on? Adara, were you able to get a reading on anyone?”
“No.” She drew a tense breath. “But I saw and heard plenty. I think I have an idea of what’s going on.”
“Let’s hear it,” Roy blustered.
Her hands started to heat and she willed herself to remain calm. “First, do we know what the Coldburn brothers specialized in?”
“Yes.” Roy tapped a screen. “The résumé they submitted to the convention organizers claimed they were shape-shifters. Not genetically born shifters. Apparently, they could shift under enchantment for short periods of time. They used their talents to break in to businesses and snoop around.”
Kai rocked on his heels. “So the raccoon in the stairwell and Charles Coldburn were one and the same?”
Earl meowed.
She spoke softly so as not to wake Burt. “Earl is telling me he hates raccoons, and would hide under the bed whenever his under butler transformed.”
Rubbing his jaw, Kai appeared deep in thought. “So why did Charles choose to transform into a raccoon?”
“Maybe he didn’t have a choice?” She shrugged. “Isn’t there an adage that a witch or wizard doesn’t choose a familiar, the familiar chooses them? Think about it. For industrial spying, you could do a lot worse than a nimble-handed raccoon that can work a keyboard. This is a little off topic, but do we know who organized the convention?”
Plopping gracelessly into his office chair, Roy steepled his fingers. “The Occult Arts Conservancy, or OAC, has been in existence since Madame Blavatsky was holding séances in Victorian parlors. But like any well-established group, it eventually went to seed and new management rose to the surface. The Red Eagle Corporation runs it now. They took over several months ago.”
Her intuition tingled. “Who are they? What sort of corporation?”
Roy clasped his hands and stared over his knuckles. “Red Eagle claims Luxembourg as their headquarters, but it’s likely just a tax haven. As far as I can tell, they don’t have a product or service.”
“Or they don’t want that product or service to be known.” She glanced at Kai. “Not only did Marvin Appledore expect to be caught hexing the buffet, he wanted to make sure he got credit for it. He kept referring to a mysterious billionaire and ‘others’ watching the convention from afar. In fact, he even said that he came here to publicly display his skills and build a team. It seems likely Marvin was trying to impress the Red Eagle Corporation.”
“Corporate-sanctioned mayhem.” Kai shook his head. “And to think the day started easy with only one dead body.”
Adara sighed, feeling wrung out on every level. “It’s been a long day and we have a longer night ahead. I worked the morning shift, and I haven’t taken a single break all day. I’m going to end up like Burt, falling asleep in the corner.”
Looking perplexed, Roy lifted his hands. “You’re my PHDs! I need you and Kai to work tonight. As far as the other conventioneers know, you’re still a couple. Got it? Stay undercover with the general population. We now have three murders to deal with and a police department ill-equipped to know what they’re looking for, let alone find it. We represent the supernatural community and we have to keep an eye on our own. Somebody has willfully killed and may kill again. We can’t back down now.”
Roy set the cat on the floor then turned to Kai. “The ballroom is cordoned off. People are being questioned, handed clean clothes. The convention is over for the day. We are not reopening it tomorrow. There’s not much happening now. I want you to take Adara to the penthouse suite. Get some rest. Be ready to work later. I’ll call if anything changes.”
The thought of sitting down and kicking her shoes off was heavenly. She hefted the shopping bag. “I have a little research to complete and I’d like to do it barefoot, preferably while eating a sandwich.”
Kai looked uncomfortable at the mention of food. “To be safe, until things calm down, I think we should order all our meals from outside the hotel.”
“Good idea.” Roy nodded.
A queasy rumble made her stomach flutter. “But not sushi.”
“Uh.” Kai gagged. “Don’t remind me.”
With a paternal gesture, Roy placed a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “You both did good today. Take a breather and we’ll regroup later.”
Kai glanced at her with a faint smile that came and went. “You can go straight to the penthouse if you want and kick back. I’ll pick up dinner. What would you like?”
She caught herself staring at the smile on Kai’s face and wondering what thoughts had shaped it. Why had she never noticed that one tooth had the slightest overlap that made him look friendly and approachable?
“Well?” Kai waited. “Does anything sound good?”
She realized she hadn’t answered. Other than admiring his stunning masculinity, her mind was blank. “I don’t know what I want. I’ll go with you. We should probably stick together.”
His eyes sparkled. “Fine with me.”
Burt snored in the corner.
Adara wished she had a sweater or something to put over his shoulders. “What about Burt?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.” Roy shooed them out of the office. “Go.”
They remained silent as they left HQ, which was unnecessary because the harried security officers were so fixated on the hotel’s many hot spots, they didn’t have a care for the comings and goings of two colleagues.
They headed toward the lobby. The corridor leading to the gambling floor was packed. A group of giggling women wearing cocktail dresses and tiaras strolled past. The Friday evening party atmosphere of Vegas had kicked into full swing.
When they exited the hotel, the sun was setting, the horizon lit orange. The full impact of the day’s heat smacked her in the face like a blast from a hair dryer. She pointed toward a cluster of take-out restaurants across the street. “Let’s head over there. Wow, the pavement’s still hot.”
Kai winced. “I’ll never get used to this. What I wouldn’t give for a gulp of cool ocean fog.”
“If you don’t like the desert, why are you here?”
A conflicted expressi
on tugged at his lips. He looked away. “I didn’t have a choice. I was assigned here as a form of punishment.”
“Since when is being assigned to Sin City punishment?”
“Since the Oceanic Council said to pack my things and get my sorry ass to Vegas.” He took long strides across a broad street lined with taxis and littered with escorts’ business cards. “Maybe punishment is the wrong word. I fucked up. For all I know, this might have been an act of mercy.” His heavy brows creased. “It’s hard being here. I’m literally out of my element.”
They entered an open courtyard surrounded by restaurants that offered too many choices. For a moment they stood still and stared at the lit signs.
She said slowly, “I was raised in the high desert and I’ve never fit in here.”
“Really?” He leaned closer. “You seem so comfortable on the gambling floor. So balanced and calm. That’s probably what I noticed about you first, aside from your smile. I thought, what’s going on inside that woman’s head? I had no idea you were reading minds. It never showed on your face. I’m not sure I’d want to know what everybody around me was thinking. Hell, that must get old.”
She sighed. “It does. It’s weird, but today was the first day of my life where the only soul I could read was a cat’s. I don’t even know how I feel about it. Should I be scared, or relieved? What changed?”
A sweet, smoky aroma wafted their way. Kai lifted his face to sniff the breeze. “How do you feel about Hawaiian barbeque? I think I need comfort food today.”
“Barbeque is fine with me.”
He took her hand. “Let’s get some.”
They entered Castaways Barbeque and were greeted by friendly people who waved when they walked in the door.
Kai glanced around the décor with approval. The walls were covered with large photographs of breaking surf and palm trees. “I’ve been resisting coming here.”
“Why?”
“It seemed like squeezing lemon juice on a paper cut. I didn’t want to make myself homesick.”
“Since you’re employed in a position of trust, is it safe to assume that whatever you did to get yourself banished to Vegas was not illegal?”
Wild Cards Page 10