Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case

by Kristen Painter

  The first bite of that cake took the edge off. The chocolatey goodness kicked in some positive endorphins and helped mellow me out. I scrolled through the pictures I’d taken, trying to make sense of those files.

  I still couldn’t. And my brain was tired of trying. I texted Greyson.

  Does underweb mean anything to you?

  His response came faster than I’d anticipated. No. Are you home?

  Nope. At Delaney’s having cake.

  Stay there.

  Like I was going to leave Tall, Dark and Delicious for Tall, Dark and Suddenly Bossy. I was halfway through that cake and debating a second piece when he showed up. Vampire speed was pretty impressive.

  He slipped into the other chair in a whirlwind of black leather, burgundy silk and gleaming silver. His brocade scarf would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, but on him it was rakish and sexy. More vampire magic, no doubt. He studied me. “How do you know about the underweb?”

  He spoke in hushed tones, but there was only one other occupied table, and that was on the far side of the store. I frowned at him. This was not the greeting I’d expected. “Good morning to you too.”

  He blinked slowly, then smiled. “My apologies. Good morning, Lilibeth. How are you?”

  I shrugged. “Better since this cake.” I started to take another bite, then stopped and stared at him. “How are you here?”

  “You texted.”

  “No, I mean, it’s day time. Come to think of it, the sun wasn’t completely set when I saw you on the street Friday. How do you do that? Doesn’t the sun make you go boom?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Vampires turn to ash in the sun, they do not explode.”

  “Excuse me for not knowing exactly how sunlight kills you.” I shook my head. “You should not be here.”

  “It’s fine. I have Roma magic that protects me.”

  “You’re sure?”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “You think I’d be here if I wasn’t?”

  “Point taken. Thanks for coming, by the way.”

  “You’re welcome.” He leaned in. “Now please, how do you know about the underweb?”

  “I don’t. That’s why I asked you. And you sound like you know what it is, so why did you text me that you didn’t know?”

  He sighed. “It’s not something worth involving yourself with.”

  Well, now my interest was really piqued. “I’m not involving myself with it. I just want to know what it is.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  What could I say? I wasn’t about to confess my little B&E at the B&B. “I think it has something to do with the store employees who’ve left.”

  He snorted softly. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Except that things like that don’t happen in Nocturne Falls.”

  I groaned. His cloak-and-dagger answers weren’t helping. “Can you please stop speaking in such vague terms? What is the underweb?”

  “Keep your voice down, please.” He glanced around, but no one, including the woman behind the counter, was paying us any attention. As I took another forkful of cake, he leaned one elbow on the table and put his hand to his forehead for a moment. “The underweb is a shadowy, unsearchable corner of the Internet. It is devoted to the worst deviances of our kind.”

  I swallowed. “You mean supernatural things?”

  “Yes. And it is best left alone.”

  I put my fork down. “What kinds of things are we talking about?”

  “Transactions in black magic, pilfered magic, assassinations, slaves, unholy spells, sexual deviations of the supernatural variety, blood trade…any unsavory activity you can imagine can be found there. And those who dabble in the trade of the underweb tend to be criminals and miscreants. The very type this town strives to keep out.”

  “Wow.”

  He picked up my fork and helped himself to a bite of cake. “Wow indeed. How did you come to find out about it?”

  “I could ask you the same question.”

  He nodded. “You could.”

  “And would you give me an answer?”

  He stared at me a moment, then got up. “Excuse me.”

  I thought he was leaving, but he only went up to the counter to get some coffee.

  He came back with it, sat down and stared at the oily black liquid steaming in his cup. His gaze seemed a million miles away, and disgust bracketed his mouth in harsh lines. “My last lover was a very wealthy woman.”

  My brows lifted. Sure, I knew logically I wasn’t the first woman to catch Greyson’s eye, but to hear him call another woman lover was sort of…odd. “How nice for you.”

  He shook his head and looked out the window. “Life was good. She was very generous, and while I have plenty of money of my own, she rarely let me spend it.” He glanced back at me. “Let me spend it sounds wrong. I should say I rarely had the chance. She paid for everything and liked it that way.”

  I just nodded and let him go on.

  “Europe was our playground. It’s very different over there for vampires.”

  “She was one too?”

  “Yes. Older. A little more powerful. Well educated. But she didn’t have my street smarts.” A wry smile bent his mouth. “We made a good team.”

  “And you loved her?”

  He hesitated. “Maybe. At least I thought I did. She was certainly entertaining.”

  “So what happened?”

  His smile disappeared. “About a year ago, she started supplying us with exotic blood.”

  “What does that mean exactly?”

  He traced a pattern on the table. “Supernatural blood. Shifters, witches, fae…blood that contained more power than ordinary human blood.”

  “And that wasn’t good?” What did I know about vampires and blood and all that business?

  He rolled his shoulders like they’d suddenly tensed up. “No. It’s an unwritten rule that drinking from another supernatural without their permission is off-limits. In fact, the vampire council maintains that drinking from anyone against their will is forbidden.”

  You learn something new every day.

  “Because of that I was curious about her source. She wouldn’t tell me, just insisted it was all on the up and up. That wasn’t enough for me. I did some digging and found out she was getting the blood from a supplier via the underweb. At that point, I didn’t know what it was either.”

  I leaned in. “So how did you find out?”

  He put his hands around his cup. “A lot of trial and error and subterfuge. But I finally gained access to the underweb, and after about two months of poking around and pretending to be someone I wasn’t in that dark, disgusting corner, I uncovered her supplier. He wasn’t getting the blood voluntarily. I left her immediately.”

  “Good for you. Was she angry?” I would think losing a man like Greyson would ruin any woman’s day.

  His smile was bitter. “I don’t know. I didn’t stay to find out. Just wrote her a note telling her what I knew and left.”

  Just like the store employees. “And now you’re here.”

  “And now I’m here. And you know my secret.”

  “That was a secret?”

  “You’re the first person I’ve told.”

  Things suddenly felt very unbalanced. I bit my lip and tried to ignore that feeling. I failed, but I tried. “I appreciate your trust in me.” Something he’d now demonstrated twice. I tapped my fingers on the table. “Can you still access the underweb?”

  “Yes. But I have no plans to ever again. The place is a sewer.”

  “What if I needed some help?”

  He peered at me with great suspicion. “What are you up to, Lilibeth? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  “No. Not yet anyway.” I took a breath. “I don’t want to go into it here. And I don’t think my apartment is the right place either.”

  “Because I’m not on the approved list or another reason?”

  “Another reason.” I wanted to be on neutral ground when I revealed who I really w
as, so going to his place didn’t seem like a good idea. “Do you know somewhere more private we could go to talk? Somewhere close?”

  He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Follow me.”

  We ended up at Café Claude, which wasn’t open yet. Jacque was in the back prepping food, and after Greyson had a word with him, he promised we wouldn’t be disturbed.

  Greyson stood before me, arms crossed. The restaurant was dark and we were a little distance from the front windows, but even in the watery light of the outside gloom he looked so handsome my eyes hurt. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  I was nervous and rightly so, but this was definitely a rip-the-bandage-off-quickly kind of situation. I put my hand on my bracelet. “I’m not Lilibeth Holiday.”

  His brows lifted slightly. “Then who are you?”

  I pulled the bracelet off. “I’m Jayne Frost, daughter of the Winter King.”

  Greyson’s eyes widened briefly. Then he stared at me a long, hard second. “As in Jack Frost, the Winter King? Which makes you…”

  “The Winter Princess.”

  He nodded slowly. “Go on.”

  His expression was so hard to read I couldn’t be sure what he was thinking. “I’m here to find out what’s happened to our last six employees, and I could use your help.”

  At last, his eyes lit with amusement, and he sketched a bow. “I had no idea I was dating a princess. I am at your service, my lady.”

  “Yeah, yeah, very cute.”

  He smirked. “I take it you don’t think the other employees would be straight with you if you showed up as their princess.”

  “Right. Because I tend to get two kinds of reactions. People either avoid me like the plague or treat me with such false kindness that I can never get a read on their true intentions.”

  He considered that. “Thank you for confiding in me. I will try not to treat you any differently.”

  “Thanks.” That was sweet of him to say, but it didn’t do much to allay the sadness I was already feeling. I knew it would change what was between us. That’s how life worked when you were elven royalty.

  He pulled out a chair for me at the nearest table. “What can I do to help?”

  I sat, and he joined me as I explained what I’d found in Cookie’s office. “Now that you’ve told me what the underweb is, the files marked Orders To Be Filled make a lot more sense.”

  He nodded. “So Toly’s selling something. Makes sense he’d do it from her place.”

  “Well, he can’t do it from his office. The stores don’t use the Internet. A touch-screen register system is as techie as we get. And if he logged on from his apartment, and he was using the company-provided Wi-Fi, there’d be a record of his activities, right?”

  “Right. So what is he selling?”

  “That’s what I was hoping you could help me find out.”

  “I’ll do my best, but it could take a while. The underweb is built on shadows. No one uses their real name or location. Everything is hidden within layers and layers of secrecy.”

  “Makes sense, considering. I guess whatever he’s up to, it can’t be good, can it?”

  “Not if the underweb is his market of choice.”

  I sighed. “I’d thought maybe he was selling toy designs outside of the company, but he wouldn’t need the underweb for that.”

  Greyson shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the toys.”

  “That’s an unpleasant thought.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “Thank you.” I bounced the bracelet on my knee. “Please don’t say a word to anyone about who I really am.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I’m sorry I lied to you. I thought you’d figured me out when you touched my bracelet that night in Insomnia.”

  “I guess I had, but your explanation seemed plausible.” He smiled. “You’re pretty quick on your feet. I can see why you were sent to figure this out.” Then he squinted slightly. “You’re far more powerful than you let on, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. “Yes. Another of my secrets that must be kept.”

  He canted his head, taking me in. “I’m going to assume you don’t really want an interview with the Ellinghams, either.”

  “Not really an interview, but I wouldn’t mind talking to them to see if they know more about the missing employees than they’ve told my father. At this point, if anyone’s poaching workers, my best guess would be Cookie Featherstone, Toly’s granddaughter. And if she is doing it, maybe Toly is somehow wiping their memories.” I sighed. “I really don’t know what to think right now, but talking to the Ellinghams might give me some new info in case my supposition about Toly turns out to be a dead end.”

  He frowned. “You think the Ellinghams might be holding something back? I doubt that very highly, especially when the safety of supernaturals is at issue. That’s the whole reason this town was created; to give our kind a safe haven. I just can’t imagine they’d do that. Not when it could damage the town’s reputation.”

  “They’re not very forthcoming about the Basement.”

  “Protecting town secrets isn’t the same thing at all.”

  I considered that. “You’re sure they’re not holding anything back?”

  “I’d stake my immortality on it.”

  “All right. I believe you. Just like I believe you aren’t going to tell anyone about me, right?”

  He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I won’t tell a soul. Now put that bracelet back on before someone sees you.”

  I did, then glanced at him. He was studying me. “What?”

  “Lilibeth is very pretty. But the real you has something she doesn’t.”

  “What?”

  He shook his head slowly. “It’s not something I can name, but it’s good. A quality of genuineness that shines through.”

  “Does that mean you like the real me better?”

  “How could I not?” His eyes gleamed bright silver, and a mischievous smile caused his mouth to twitch. “Your Highness.”

  The sun showed its face when I was about two blocks from the apartment. The day had turned out pretty well. And with Greyson looking into Toly’s underweb dealings, I finally felt like I was getting somewhere.

  It was almost one o’clock, and despite having cake, I was hungry. I know, shocking, right? I thought maybe I’d run over to Howler’s and have some lunch instead of scrounging something up at the apartment. Then I remembered what I was wearing.

  I really needed to change out of my criminal clothes first. Plus they were damp from walking in the rain.

  Then my phone almost vibrated out of my pocket. I pulled it out to check what was going on but couldn’t read the texts in the bright sun. I doubted Greyson had found anything yet, but who knew? I put the hustle on it and got back to the warehouse as fast as I could.

  As soon as I was through the vestibule, I tapped the elevator button and pulled my phone out again. The messages were from Juniper, Buttercup and Toly.

  Oh boy. Something was going on.

  The elevator opened, and I got on. Then I started scrolling through Juniper’s texts. I stared at my phone, unable to process what I was reading.

  Owen was gone. As in left a note and was never coming back to work again gone.

  That made seven.

  I staggered out of the elevator and leaned against the wall to read the rest of the messages. Buttercup’s were the same as Juniper’s.

  Toly was asking to see me right away due to a change in the schedule. Huh. You think? He was so cavalier about it. Had he gotten that used to employees leaving, or was he keeping things calm because he was responsible?

  I let myself into my apartment and locked the door behind me. How could Owen be gone? I’d just seen and smelled him last night. At least I thought I had. Just like I thought whoever had been with him had been guiding him. I shivered at the thought that Owen might not have been in total control of himself.

  I needed to get downstairs and talk
to Juniper. Toly, too, but he could wait. I wanted to be a little calmer when I spoke to him. Right now, my gut feeling was that he was an integral part of this. I had no idea what his connection was to the person with Owen and whatever was happening in the Basement, but my first reaction was to grab him and give him a good shake until he told me what was really going on.

  Since I doubted that would go over well, I definitely needed to avoid him until I chilled a bit.

  I fed Spider, then changed into something a little less ninja-esque and went downstairs. The light was on in Toly’s office, so I assumed he was in there.

  I kept going, into the store. Juniper had a hollow-eyed look about her, and Buttercup’s eyes were red like she’d been crying. “Hey, guys, I just got your texts. I can’t believe it.”

  Juniper nodded. “He’s gone. Just like the others. Left a note and…” She shrugged.

  Buttercup scowled. “He wouldn’t do that.”

  “Leave a note?” I asked.

  “No. Leave.” She sniffed hard.

  “How did you guys find out?”

  Juniper sighed. “He didn’t show for work. He was supposed to be on the overlap shift with Buttercup, but by twelve ten, he still hadn’t shown. Really unlike him.”

  “Yeah,” Buttercup said. “I told Toly so he went up and checked Owen’s apartment and found the note.”

  “What did the note say?”

  “We don’t know.” Juniper looked at Buttercup before looking at me again. “Toly just said Owen claimed he’d met someone and was leaving with her.”

  The tall slim figure I’d seen Owen with definitely could have been female. “Um…that might be true.”

  They both looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

  Granted, I hadn’t seen them leave the warehouse together, but anything was possible. And if he had left with someone, he’d had to want to leave. Toly’s management style was as good a reason as any for Owen to feel that way. “I told you I saw him the other night headed out on a date. And I think I might have seen him last night with someone.”

  Their eyes widened. “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know.” And frankly, I hadn’t thought it was a woman at the time.

  “No way.” Buttercup crossed her arms. “I’m telling you, the guy hardly ever left his apartment. He lived to game.” She frowned. “Maybe he met someone online.”