“Of course.” Wallis sniffed at the implication he’d ignored his responsibilities. “Every one of them had ID and was on the list we’d been given last week.”
“How about the co-op teachers?” Jase surprised Aidan with his insight. The Jamaican potter and Meagan were both instructors at a Royal Oak art studio, and the rest of the faculty had been invited. “I know all of them, but some brought dates who aren’t long-time companions. You want me to make some calls?”
“If you can do it without raising any hackles.” Aidan picked up his untouched coffee mug and fiddled with the handle. “We don’t want to tip off the kidnappers that we’re investigating rather than waiting for a ransom demand.”
“It may not have been the djinni at the wedding anyway,” Elise reminded them all. “You said he could be nothing more than hired magic. How much easier would it have been for an elf to sneak in? Aidan, you may be right to start looking at your staff again. Or even higher.”
Elise had never trusted the Fae, especially the members of the Seelie Court. Aidan wasn’t sure, but he thought that might have something to do with her Wyndewin training—none of that bunch had ever been overly friendly. Unfortunately, that distrust had been one of the insurmountable problems in their relationship. After the fiasco with Fianna, however, he wasn’t going to discount the possibility that someone from the court had been involved. Only a couple elven nobles had attended the wedding—though the whole court had been at the earlier ceremony held Underhill, which Elise and her daughter had not attended. Still, one of them might have managed to slip in a spy.
“Right. Wallis, let’s you and I head for home. We can round up the staff and start asking questions.” He looked around the room and let his gaze linger on the two werewolves. “Greg, you want to come with me, while George and Jase stay here with Elise?”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Elise stood and glared at him. “I’m coming with you.”
All the men in the room looked around nervously—none of them wanting to tangle with a pissed-off mother who was also a powerful witch. Aidan couldn’t blame them.
“We’ll stay here in case the phone rings.” Jase broke the tense silence with his offer.
“I’ll ride with Novak.” Wallis spoke hurriedly, tossing Aidan the Ferrari keys.
Coward, Aidan mouthed back at his lieutenant, who smiled. Turning to Elise, Aidan sighed. “Fine. Go get dressed.”
Chapter Three
Elise kept her mouth shut on the drive from Birmingham to Grosse Pointe. The sleek sports car ate up the miles at a rapid clip, but she wasn’t worried about that. Aidan’s better-than-human reflexes and perception made him a safe driver at any speed and she was sure there was a spell on the car to keep police looking the other direction.
This close to him, she could still smell him—Scotch, expensive cologne and over both, the scent of Aidan himself, the one she remembered all too well. Touching him again made her feel like an addict falling off the wagon. Her fingers itched to slide over him, even though her brain was entirely locked on Dina. She didn’t say anything because she had no idea what to say. Her toes tapped restlessly against the floor mat.
“I’m surprised you didn’t give her the malachite,” Aidan said finally, about fifteen minutes into the silence. “That would be handy about now. Though I probably never thanked you for loaning it to Meagan. Shocked the living hell out of me when it went off. After five years, I figured you’d probably tossed it.”
Elise reached up and wrapped her hand around the green stone amulet Aidan had given her when they were dating. Sort of a magical GPS beacon, it was keyed to Aidan and she supposed she’d held onto it as one lingering way of keeping him close even after their split, though when her friend had been in danger, she’d loaned it to Meagan.
“She told me.” Elise grimaced. She didn’t want to think nice things about Aidan right now. “Dina has one of her own. It’s pink quartz and it’s keyed to me and Des. It was lying on her floor tonight. Whoever took her must have recognized the magic and taken it off.” She pulled it out of the pocket of her jeans and studied the broken necklace. The silver chain Dina wore it on had been snapped and Elise cringed to think of her baby being subjected to even that much pain and brutality. What were they doing to her now?
“Stop it.” Aidan took one hand off the gearshift for a moment to squeeze hers. “She’ll be fine. There shouldn’t be any reason to hurt a hostage. Whatever they want is from you, or more likely, me. In order to bargain, they need to keep Dina in one piece.”
“You’re right.” It had always been uncanny, how he’d known what she was thinking and feeling. Reading surface thoughts was a common Fae ability, but most of them couldn’t get past Wyndewin shields. That immunity was one of the things that made Wyndewin enforcers effective against the Fae. With her and Aidan, though, the shields hadn’t mattered. They’d been that attuned to one another.
“We’re going to get her back, Elise.” She was surprised at the rough emotion in Aidan’s normally steady tone. “I promise you that, on my life and honor. Whatever it takes.”
“She’s not yours, Aidan.” How often did she have to remind him? She couldn’t have him getting too attached, not even to the idea of Dina.
“She could have been,” he muttered in the gruffest tone she’d ever heard him use. “She should have been. Even if there’s no biological link, if you’d told me, I’d have accepted her.”
“I know.” Deep inside, she had, she realized. She simply hadn’t allowed herself to think about it. “But it still wouldn’t have worked. The problems between us—they were just too overwhelming.” She’d been telling herself that for almost five years. The mantra had helped keep her sane.
“It doesn’t matter anyway.” Aidan pulled his hand away to shift gears. “We’re still going to find her. Nobody should ever get away with abducting a child, no matter who her parents are or aren’t.”
They reached the mansion that housed the portal into Faerie, usually called Underhill by the Fae. For the second time in twenty-four hours, Elise found herself ensconced in a chair in Aidan’s library, though this time it was in the larger room, not his private den. For a pirate-turned-corporate raider, the man sure appreciated books. She’d always loved that about him—the complexity that kept him from being merely another soulless suit.
The ruthless pirate face was back in evidence, however, as he paced back and forth in front of his assembled household staff. Pictures of Dina and a description of her pajamas had been printed off and passed around the table. Wallis and Greg guarded the double doors to the rest of the house, while Toby, Aidan’s most faithful retainer, stood beside the unobtrusive wooden doorway that led to the inner sanctum where she’d chatted with Aidan earlier. That room also, she guessed, housed the portal to Underhill. Toby had a wicked-looking cutlass in his hand and a martial gleam in his brown eyes. No one would be escaping by that route.
All the live-in servants were sidhe—elven, brownie, pixie, or gnome, so there was no need for Aidan to hide his nature from any of them. He was even more imposing with his glamour dropped. Even Elise might have been intimidated if she hadn’t been too caught up with worry about Dina. She twisted her fingers, anxious to do something, anything, rather than sit here and wait.
“You’ve all heard by now that Ms. Sutton’s four-year-old daughter has been abducted and that at least one Fae was involved. First of all, let me make a one-time offer.” His voice was like icy silk. “If any of you know anything about this kidnapping, anything at all, you have thirty seconds to tell me and I’ll let you live. Starting now.” He paused and she could almost hear him mentally counting the seconds. When had he developed a tic beside his jaw?
There was no response from the dozen or so nervous sidhe sitting around the large reading table.
Exactly thirty seconds later, Aidan bared his teeth, his expression so violent, even Elise shivered. “Mercy is now off the table. Anyone involved in abducting my daughter is going to die. Slowly. Is tha
t clear?”
There were a few gulps and a couple of nods of agreement from the assembled staff.
Aidan continued in his same smooth, frigid tone. “I’m going to go around the room. Each one of you will tell me in excruciating detail exactly what you were doing from the moment the reception ended until you were dragged in here five minutes ago. Let’s start with you, Mairead.”
The middle-aged…gnome?…pursed her lips. “I supervised the clean-up in the ballroom.” She wrinkled her brow, as if working to remember. “Kept an eye on the hired crew to be sure they didn’t walk off with anything.” The ballroom had been set up as additional reception space for those guests who preferred not to sit outdoors. With large French doors opening into the garden, it had been a natural extension of the reception area and full of people coming and going all afternoon.
“After that, I joined some of the other staff in the kitchen for leftovers and a chat,” Mairead continued. Ticking off her fingers, she listed five others who’d been there, including Toby, who nodded. “We played some cards, before I…ummm…retired.”
Elise could have sworn Mairead blushed, right to the roots of her silvery hair.
“With me,” Toby interjected, his own weathered face turning red. “She was with me all night.”
The twitch in Aidan’s chin moved up to his lips, but he didn’t quite smile. “Thank you, Toby.” His gaze moved around the table to his housekeeper. “Bronwyn?”
She’d been involved in the card game as well and had retired alone shortly after midnight. So had the butler, the cook and one of the security guards, who was apparently Toby’s nephew.
One of the two maids had spent the night with the groundskeeper, the other had gone out with a wedding guest—she’d just walked in the door when Wallis had pulled her into the library. The young elf trembled visibly, as if she knew how bad the situation looked. “I left with the band.”
“I saw her at the bar with them afterward.” Greg cast her a reassuring wink. “She was pretty busy with the guitar player and the drummer. They didn’t leave until closing time. I doubt she had time to get up to anything else.”
The other two security guards had been on duty, which accounted for everyone—not that their stories could be verified, at least the ones who’d been asleep alone when the kidnapping had occurred.
“Very well.” Aidan nodded crisply. “The house is on full lockdown until further notice. Nobody in, nobody out without my express permission. Mairead, cancel all my appointments for the next several days. Wallis, Toby, stay. Security—you know the lockdown procedure. Get to it. The rest of you go back to bed for an hour or two.” It was a good thing none of the wedding guests had stayed the night. That would have complicated matters tremendously.
“Of course, my lord.” Each of the staff murmured something to that effect as they moved toward the door. Mairead, Aidan’s secretary, came over and took Elise’s hand.
“I’m so sorry,” she said kindly. “If there’s anything you need, miss, you let me know. Anything at all.”
“Thank you,” Elise said. “I don’t know…” All she needed was to have her daughter back. It was too hard to think about anything as simple as physical needs.
“I know we never met before, but we’ve spoken, many times.” The small, wizened woman patted Elise’s hand. “I was Lord Green Oak’s secretary before he moved the corporate headquarters to Michigan and I came out of retirement after Fianna…left.”
Ah, that’s why her voice seemed so familiar. Aidan’s secretary had always been kind to Elise when she’d called on her boss’s behalf to cancel dates or reschedule weekends together. It wasn’t Mairead’s fault that Aidan should have taken care of such personal tasks himself. Despite the situation, Elise managed to smile. “Thank you, Mairead.”
The motherly gnome bustled off and Elise turned her focus back to Aidan and the other men.
“Greg, did you pick up any obvious lying?” Aidan had turned to the werewolf who’d been leaning negligently against the foot of the library table. The taut lines of his body belied his casual stance.
“No. Though I’d keep an eye on the groundskeeper—Dylan, I think his name was—and his pet maid, Jennet. There was something shifty about those two. And for all they implied, they didn’t smell of sex.”
Elise cringed. She’d forgotten how sensitive a werewolf’s nose could be.
“Thanks.” Aidan tipped his head. “I want you to wander around and see if you pick up the scent of a djinni anywhere in the house or garden.”
Greg nodded curtly and strode from the room.
“What can I do, Cap’n?” Toby’s tone was gruff and concerned.
“Toby, I need you to go gather information.” Aidan continued to pace. “You’ve still got some connections with the…less highbrow sidhe. I need to know if anyone has heard anything about a djinni working with Owain Le Faire’s movement, or one doing freelance work for any other elf. Also find out who’s running the purity faction now that Owain is dead. I assume it’s his son Oswald.”
“Got it.” Toby saluted Aidan, bowed to Elise and took off toward the portal.
Elise recognized the name Owain Le Faire as the elf who’d tried to kill Meagan last summer. Ric had killed Owain in a duel, but much like human supremacy groups, the elven one always sprung a new head when the old one was cut off.
A shudder raked through her as she remembered that Meagan had been targeted partly because of her mixed blood. Dina might not be half-Fae, but as long as anyone thought she was, she was in the same kind of danger. The only thing that kept Elise from screaming was the knowledge that if murder had been their intent, they wouldn’t have had to take Dina with them.
“Wallis, you’re monitoring phones and internal security. The wolf gets to go wherever he wants, but keep tabs on everyone else. Keep in contact with George and Jase at Elise’s apartment. Put a call through to Sir Alaric’s hotel in Paris—tell them to stay the hell put, but they’ll gut me if we keep them in the dark on this. Tell him we’re keeping him poised in case we need someone in Europe.”
Wallis nodded and left the room. Aidan approached Elise’s chair and held out a hand.
“I should go home…” She let him help her to her feet and didn’t even argue when his arm wrapped around her waist. A huge yawn split her jaws and her eyes filled with tears. How could she even think about sleeping when her daughter was in danger?
“You’re exhausted, leannan. It’s almost six in the morning and you’re in shock, whether you realize it or not. You won’t do Dina any good if you make yourself ill. I’m going to take you upstairs and we’ll both grab a power nap while Toby is working his own brand of magic Underhill.” Before she could protest again, he swept her up into his arms and carried her out of the room.
***
Aidan saw Mairead suppress an approving smile and Greg openly smirk as he moved past them in the hallway.
“There are some night things laid out in the blue bedroom.” Bronwyn, the housekeeper, stood behind Mairead in the hallway. “Can I send up anything to eat or drink?”
“No thanks,” Aidan replied. He carried Elise up the stairs. She weighed next to nothing—even less than he remembered. Had she been taking care of herself or running herself ragged with her daughter and her business?
“You told your people that Dina’s your daughter.” Elise spoke into the side of his neck. Her tone made him think she wasn’t sure whether or not to be angry. “Why?”
Aidan grimaced. She’d caught that, had she? “I didn’t want to decrease her value as a hostage, if that’s the point. If the kidnapper is targeting me for ransom, or something else, I don’t want him to think he might have made a mistake. If Dina isn’t valuable to me, she becomes worthless to them, which makes her a liability rather than an asset. Whoever this is probably doesn’t know me well enough to know it wouldn’t make any difference.”
“Then he’s an idiot.” She yawned again and snuggled into his chest.
Aidan sm
iled at the unintentional compliment. Even when they were together, words of praise from Elise had been infrequent. The cherry-blossom scent of her shampoo drifted into his nostrils, reminding him viscerally of all the times he’d held her close and how long it had been since the last time.
His body made a half-hearted attempt at arousal, despite his own fatigue and tension, but fortunately, Elise didn’t seem to notice. He toed open the door of the blue guestroom—right across the hall from his own suite and well away from anyone else in the house, bless Bronwyn’s romantic heart. There was a high-necked white linen nightgown on the foot of the turned-down bed, along with a terry-cloth robe and a pair of slippers.
He set Elise down on the bed and stepped back before he could do something stupid—like climb in with her. “Is there anything else you need?”
Elise looked down at the jeans and sweater she’d thrown on before leaving her house and shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine. I can put these on again when I get up.”
“Set them outside the door. Someone will make sure they’re clean.”
“I’ve only had them on for two hours. They’re fine.” She stood and moved toward the bathroom on wobbly feet, but Aidan resisted the urge to help. “Get some rest yourself, Aidan. And—thank you. For everything.”
“Thank me when Adina is safely home,” he growled. “Not before. I’m right across the hall—I’ll leave my door open a bit. Give a shout if you need anything.”
It took all his willpower to turn and make his way into his own suite. Ignoring the bed, he moved directly to the bathroom, where he stripped off his clothes and left them in an uncharacteristic heap. He turned the cold water on full blast and stepped into the oversized marble-lined shower.
Once he was in the enclosure, he sank down onto the built-in bench and let the icy water sluice over his skin from the multiple jets in the wall and ceiling. Closing his eyes, he propped his elbows on his knees and dropped his face into his hands. What was supposed to have been a day of celebration had turned into a disaster of epic proportions. First finding out about Adina, then being told she wasn’t his—that had been enough to handle for one day. Now the thought of losing her, even if she wasn’t his biological daughter, had brought all his old feelings for Elise right back to the surface. In eleven hundred years, he’d never loved another woman the way he did the tiny Wyndewin. He’d looked for her after she left Detroit, left him, until her brother had told him in no uncertain terms to stop—that she never wanted to lay eyes on him again. After that, he’d buried himself in his work, trying to forget the woman who’d claimed his heart.
Motor City Witch Page 4