***
I opened the to-go box and angled the crème brûlée to the peephole of Vanessa’s hotel apartment with one hand while I rapped on the door loudly with the other. I waited for what felt like an eternity before I heard Vanessa’s muffled voice through the door.
“Is that one of Amy’s?”
I pressed my mouth into the edge of the door, trying to push my voice to her without screaming in the otherwise quiet hallway. “Yes. I had her come in early to make one for you.”
There was silence until finally her voice returned. “I’m still really mad at you.”
“I know. But I need to tell you some stuff, and I need to say that I was wrong.”
The bolt flipped over in its lock, and the door flew open. Vanessa was still in her pajamas, a pink flannel two-piece number with black cats and brooms all over. Her hair stuck out in various directions, and she had black makeup smeared under each eye. “Did you say you were wrong?”
I couldn’t help but smile. She had opened the door, and that felt like the first big step toward fixing everything. I handed her the box of food and grabbed the take-out bag and my purse off the floor to come into her suite. “I was wrong. Not only was I wrong, but I was wrong about a lot of stuff. No more secrets.”
She closed the door and walked over to the small kitchenette to dig out a fork. Though it was on the top floor, it wasn’t really a penthouse room. It was big but not enormous, which made sense since the super-fancy rooms were kept for paying customers. Hers was smaller and wedged between two rooms that we had explored a few times. This room had a kitchenette, a living room, a bathroom, and a separate bedroom. The finishes were perfect throughout. Not that anyone could see the granite countertops or high-end furniture, because every last inch was covered in things. Her clothes were strewn on every piece of furniture along with the floor leading to the bedroom. She must just take off whatever she was wearing and drop it on the spot. Makeup covered her kitchenette, and shoes lay on the floor but never in pairs, as though each set had suffered a terrible fight and were no longer speaking to each other. Much like Vanessa and me.
I pulled out the second box in the bag, the crème brûlée for me, and cleared a sequined dress and some yoga pants off the tiny table near the kitchenette.
Vanessa was digging in the drawer and tossed me a fork. “Everything else is dirty.” She sat opposite me. “I’m waiting to hear that you were wrong.”
I nodded and got down to the serious business of baring my soul to her. This would change our entire relationship, and I hoped for the better. “I was wrong.”
She smiled and ate a bite of her dessert. “I can’t ever hear that enough. So tell me what’s going on.”
“Bear—he has the security firm the floor under my loft—was best friends with my dad, and he has been training me in the evenings along with Badger, the guy on the first floor. He asked me to go undercover at the Cauldron Festival because there have been a series of overdose deaths, and he doesn’t think they are an accident.”
Her eyes bugged out a little, and she swallowed hard. “What? I don’t even know where to start. You have been going home from training and training more?”
Given that she already thought we were training too much, I wasn’t surprised that was the part that stuck out to her. “Yes, they were my dad’s two closest friends, and they have no idea why Dad hid me away. They are trying to prepare me. I haven’t told you about them because they asked me not to, but no more of that. You’re my best friend and like family to me. No more secrets. I have to trust someone, and I choose you.”
She sat and blinked at me. The fork was halfway to her mouth before she dropped it. “That is like the nicest apology I have ever gotten. Not that you are done making it up to me. You really hurt my feelings. And I can’t believe you’ve didn’t tell me about your neighbors.” She dug into her dessert.
I could feel only the slightest hints of her emotions: hurt mixed in with satisfaction. That in and of itself was encouraging. If she had really been friendship-endingly mad at me, the bond between us would have been broken, and I would have been able to use all my talents on her. I had discovered that the tie between us muted some of my magic, and if the bond broke, I would be able to read her emotions. I had discovered that when Vin had gotten mad at me for declaring myself a Monza. The fact that I could only dimly sense her emotions meant that she still considered me her friend, as I considered her mine.
“I know I hurt your feelings. I was keeping secrets because… well, I guess I had gotten used to it. Used to pushing everyone away.”
“But I love you. You’re the sister I never had. Mom loves you too.”
“I know. Someone pointed that out to me.” I sat awkwardly. We had gotten over the first hump, but I wasn’t sure exactly how good we were.
She licked the aluminum container clean and tossed it in the overflowing trash can. “So the first thing you can do is tell me all about the investigation and let me help you solve it.”
So I did. I ran her through my investigation, starting with the victims then going chronologically through what I had found. It took a while, and just saying it out loud helped to clarify my thoughts, mostly that I didn’t really have any suspects, but I did know that whoever was behind Legacy needed to be stopped.
“And all the death visions were the same?” Vanessa munched on peanut-butter-stuffed pretzels, offering me the bag.
I grabbed a handful and sat back. “Mostly, though I haven’t found the one for Janie and Stacey, but I have a lead on that. I worked something out to get a key to their room. I’m going over later today to pick it up and get a reading.”
“We should go right now.” She stood and looked around before digging her purse out from under a discarded leather jacket in deep purple.
“Wait, hold on. I still have a lot to tell you.” I gave her a big smile. I had saved some of the juiciest bits for last. “I met a guy, and he is really into me.”
She sat back down. “What? But… what?”
“So he doesn’t care that I’m a Monza. In fact, he thinks the whole celibacy thing isn’t true.”
“But everyone knows that Monza are celibate.”
“Who’s everyone? Prove it.” I realized that I was worked up. As if she were trying to snatch back my favorite toy. I blew out a sigh. I wasn’t about to throw away being a Monza on the word of one person, but I so hoped what he said was true. Apparently, I hoped more than I had even realized, because my reaction surprised me too. “Let me start over. He is interested in spending time with me even if nothing happens. He just likes being around me.”
Vanessa pursed her lips. “Mm-hm. That is what all guys say.”
I thought of Thomas behind the curtain, his hot hands and lips all over me. I was sure I would have stopped him before he kissed me, probably. Most likely. But definitely nothing else would have happened. My face heated up.
Vanessa narrowed her eyes at me but seemed to let go of whatever suspicions she had to try to be supportive. “Fine. I’m happy for you. Tell me about him.”
“He’s really handsome and works for the Magia as a liaison for events. That’s how I met him. He showed me around the first day. He was so polite, and did I mention handsome? And he just…” I let out a dreamy sigh, which surprised even me.
She laughed. “What’s his name? What’s he look like? When do I get to meet him?”
“His name’s Thomas, and he’s taller than me but not like crazy tall, but has these gorgeous violet eyes. I know that sounds girly but—what?”
Vanessa’s face had fallen at my description and slowly turned to horror. “Thomas Ricci?”
“I don’t know his last name.”
“Handsome. Can be kinda formal? Dates a ton of girls?”
“Well, yeah, but he said he wasn’t really serious with any of them. He just—”
“That’s not the issue! Thomas Ricci! What are you doing with him? You go and declare yourself a Monza to hide who you are from the mars
hal and everyone, then you start hanging out with Thomas Ricci?”
I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach even though I still didn’t understand the problem. “Who is he?”
“Thomas Ricci. Ricci? Like Marshal Felix Ricci? It’s his son.”
I sat back hard. Of all the people in Rambler, that was the single worst person to have gotten mixed up in my love life. I had declared myself a Monza because the marshal had demanded to know my family and background, a question that he had a right to ask. Being a Monza was the only way out, as it was supposed to cut ties to my family, name included. It was protecting me.
“But Marshal Felix is super old. Maybe Thomas is like a great-grandson or something.”
“Nope. Definitely his son. His only son. No one really knows how old Thomas is—probably not as young as he looks, though. Did you say that the casino was trying to cover up the overdoses? Thomas is probably behind that. You know that Marshal Felix owns the casino and Thomas runs it.”
“No, I didn’t know that. Thomas said he was the event liaison for the casino.”
She snorted. “Probably because he can meet more girls that way. Get them into VIP events and—” She caught sight of my face and stopped herself. “I’m really sorry, Ella. I’m sure he does fancy you. You’re awesome and beautiful. But he might have other motives as well.”
“Do you think he knew I was there to investigate?”
She shrugged. “Maybe?” She drew out the word as though she didn’t want to confirm but also was pretty sure I was right. “But even if he didn’t know about that, it could be that his dad wanted to find out who you are and Thomas is helping him.”
All that talk about trusting him. Had that been what he was after? “And maybe he was just trying to get me to kiss him so he could say I wasn’t celibate and wasn’t a Monza.”
She sucked in her breath through her teeth the same way she would if she had seen a violent injury, but the only injury was to my heart. “Oh, Ella, I hadn’t thought of that.”
I nodded then slumped over so my head fell onto the table as I blinked away tears. I should never trust anyone, especially not men. I was two for two. I waited for my heart to crush under the weight of all this new information, but I just felt dull and hazy. Perhaps it was all the emotions and magic I had experienced the past several days. Maybe I was worn all the way out. Or maybe I never really believed any of it. I wanted to cry and wail, to sob deeply from the bottom of my soul, but nothing was happening.
“I guess this is another reason that I should tell you everything the second it happens.”
She nodded but had the grace not to say anything.
“I’ve only known him a few days. I’ll be fine.”
“Yes, of course you will. Besides, guys are nothing but trouble, right? I didn’t tell you this, but remember how DJ Wiz was all over me at the Snakebite Room the first time we went? The second he noticed Britney dancing, he ditched me and went to get a drink for her. I guess they used to date.”
“Wasn’t that just a few minutes before she overdosed?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Maybe she had the Legacy on her for a while, but more likely, she had gotten it right before she took it. “Which bar did they go to? If it was the one with Bert, then maybe he is more involved than I thought.”
She scrunched up her face in deep thought. “I’m pretty sure it was the same one where I saw you with the Legacy pill.”
“So she left the dance floor with DJ Wiz and went to the bar where we know a Legacy dealer was working. Shortly after that, she started to overdose.” I rubbed my chin. I would need a lot more proof, but I felt as if I had a lot of pieces of the puzzle, but I still wasn’t connecting them right. “I wish I knew more about Legacy. Is there anything that you know that you haven’t shared with me?”
“I don’t think so. We could go talk to Beth.”
I slapped my forehead. “I forgot to tell you. I took her to rehab yesterday. She was doing really, really badly.”
“I told you that we should have checked up on her, but you were like, ‘She’s fine.’”
“I know. I think I need to make some big changes.”
She perked up. “Really? I mean… less training?”
I nodded reluctantly. “I don’t want to get into it now, but I need to do some thinking. But right now, I want to get over to Olivia’s and get the keys to the file room. Hey, is there a company or anything with a feather icon as a logo?”
“Probably, but I don’t know any offhand. Why?”
“There was a feather on the side of the pill, and it seemed really familiar, but I can’t say why or where I might have seen it. Are you sure we can’t go to the Magia first and investigate their room?”
One of the things I had forgotten came to the surface. “Oh no. I’m supposed to get the keys from Thomas. He made me promise to consider bringing him along. I’m such an idiot.” I buried my head in my hands. He probably knew exactly why I was looking at their room. He probably even laughed behind my back about how naïve I was.
Vanessa winced. “You’re right. Let’s look at the files first, and we can figure out how to get the keys later. But we still need to perform later. I’ll call Natasha and tell her that we made up.” She pulled her phone out of her purse.
“Hold on. I’m actually banned from the whole festival. Someone heard our fight last night, and the festival decided they didn’t want me investigating anymore.”
“No one ever wants you to investigate, but when you find the killer, they’ll feel differently.”
“I hope so.” I grabbed my purse off the ground and wiped crumbs off the bottom. “Let’s see what we can figure out together.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Once we explained what we wanted to do, Olivia sighed and got up from her desk. “All the files are down the hall. We tried putting them on a computer, but you know how that goes.”
She had opened the door and given us a key to unlock the file cabinets lining the walls and making aisles through the center of the room. The files were organized by date and would take a year to comb through if we couldn’t use magic. A computer search would have been convenient but obviously wasn’t possible, or they would have done it already. Who knew that being a mage was a bit like being stuck in the previous century?
I picked Legacy as our search word and activated the searching spell. It would have to be reactivated from time to time, but at least I didn’t need to read every file in the place. The drawer would glow green if a file inside had the word, then when the drawer was opened, the file tab would glow. Once we looked inside, the word itself was highlighted. The file cabinets for the early years didn’t glow at all. In fact, the first appearance was about ten years before, but the second was eight, and that was when the first overdose occurred. The frequency increased over time, but overall, there were a lot fewer occurrences than I expected.
Many of the files involved complaints from rich parents that were upset that their kids were exposed to drugs while staying at the Golden Pyramid Casino. Those files were quickly scanned and put back in the appropriate place.
Several files from three years earlier were from a very short-lived Legacy scam ring in which someone had been selling aspirins as Legacy. The case was closed when the alleged dealer was found shot in a rough part of town past the airport. The shooter was never found.
We had split up and occasionally updated each other, but nothing seemed all that relevant, but we pressed on. About a month before Michael had overdosed, a girl named Harriet also overdosed. She had a bad break-up with a guy named Nick Elazegui, and they had looked at him for a while. There were some notes handwritten in a messy script.
“Do you remember someone named Harriet Marble?”
Vanessa’s head whipped around. “Yes, Vin dated her. Why?”
“She overdosed on Legacy.”
“No!” She dropped the file she was looking at and raced to my side. “I had no idea. She was gorgeous and d
ated tons of handsome guys. DJ Wiz, Vin, Thomas. I didn’t know she died. I must have been out of town.”
“I’m sorry. Can you read this?” I pointed to the scribbles on the side of the page.
She narrowed her eyes then leaned in before finally flipping it over to look at it upside down. “Is this even English? It does remind me of Uncle Edward’s writing. His handwriting was so awful that several times, Vin and I opened the wrong Christmas gifts.”
A chill went down my spine, and something tickled the back of my brain. I had read Edward’s death vision but always passed out when I tried to go over it. Once I saw the vision, it was forever tucked away in my brain, even once it faded in the location. Thinking about it gave me a slight headache, but I knew where I had seen the feather before. It had been on a folder with my father’s name on it. The folder had been on Edward’s desk the night he was killed, and when they discovered the body, it had been gone.
I swallowed hard. It was overwhelming to think that I could finally have a clue not only to Edward’s death but also to the murder of my father. “Vanessa, this could be really important. I don’t know what it means, but…”
“But we’ll figure it out. That’s what we do. Put it in the stack.” She gestured to a growing stack of files that we would photocopy.
I was going to give it another look over, when my phone beeped. I pulled it out, and after it went on the fritz and restarted, I pulled up the text messages to find one from Thomas. He wanted to talk to me and asked that I stop by any time after three since he was heading into an hour-long meeting and wouldn’t be back until then.
I grabbed my purse and dropped the folder in the pile. “Come on, Vanessa. We have our chance. If we get over there right now, Thomas will be out of the office, and maybe I can get the key without him knowing.”
***
I found the door that Thomas had described right next to a small plaque that read Thomas Ricci. He had no job title listed, and when I opened the door, I was shocked to see an expansive waiting room that rivaled Olivia’s. Vanessa had said he ran the casino, and looking around, I didn’t doubt it.
There's No Business Like Mage Business Page 15