Remy, who’d missed out on dinner, sat and began shoveling in leftovers with relish.
As she used the last biscuit to scrape the final drop of gravy off her plate, her phone rang. “Hmph?”
Sharp as his ears were, he missed nothing, but he let Remy share her findings with Hadley.
“Four says Sue went straight to the hotel on record and right to her room.” Remy stole Hadley’s glass and chugged sweet tea. “From her vantage, she couldn’t see anyone in the room waiting on her. The kids might have been asleep or in their rooms playing on their phones. She booked three total. Who knows? But unless the hubby was in the bathroom, or with the kids, he wasn’t there.”
“Ask Four to keep an eye out,” Hadley decided. “We need to know who she brought with her.”
“I’ll update you when I hear back from Four.” Remy stole the rest of the cookies and shoved them in her pockets. “I’m going to veg. I had a long flight, and I’m tired of people-ing.”
“Hold on.” Hadley snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot to ask. Can I borrow your phone?”
The number Hadley left at Lockdown made a lot more sense now. “That’s the contact you left them?”
“Keep it.” Remy tossed it to Hadley. “I’ve had it six weeks. It’s time for a change.”
The OPA gave Remy an allowance for burner phones, for her and her counterparts, since they lost them with all their multiplying and subtracting during the course of their activities. It shouldn’t surprise him that Hadley would keep tabs on Remy’s ever-changing numbers.
“Thanks.” Hadley set it on the counter. “I’ll toss it when I’m done.”
Remy let herself out, trailing crumbs, and Midas began clearing the table to give Hadley time to think.
About the time he finished loading the dishwasher, Hadley’s phone rang.
“Reece,” she answered, switching it to speaker. “Go ahead.”
“Sue bought seven plane tickets, but only one got punched. She picked up a compact rental at the airport and drove straight to her hotel, where she booked three rooms for seven days. She’s ordered in food every day she’s been here, but she only purchases one meal.”
The inconsistencies in her behavior troubled Midas. Sue was covering some of her tracks while leaving others exposed for anyone looking to find. The mixed signals further confused his predatory side.
“She came alone.” Hadley frowned at the chair where Sue had sat. “Why not be upfront about it?”
“No one would have expected her to bring her family into a tense and possibly hostile situation,” Midas agreed. “Faking it has only drawn attention to her, not diverted it.”
“We don’t have the same resources in Phoenix that we do here,” she addressed Reece, “but tell me you can work your magic.”
“It will take longer, but I can do it the old-fashioned way. Give me twenty-four hours.”
“Sounds good.” She exhaled. “We’ll be here.”
The call ended, and Midas knew beyond a shadow of a doubt his mate wouldn’t sleep today.
Not without help.
He went to her, cupped her face between his palms, and breathed, “I love you.”
He pressed his lips to hers, tasted her frustration and doubt, and challenged it with a firm nip on her ripe bottom lip. Impatient noises rose up her throat, and her hands slid beneath his shirt, yanking on the fabric until he tugged it over his head to give her more access.
“I love you too.” She branded the words into his skin with tender kisses over his heart. “So much.”
Scooping her into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut.
He made love to her until her eyes slid closed, and then every time they cracked open before dusk.
Seven
I was sore.
And it was all Midas’s fault.
I don’t know what inspired him to prove sex was superior to Ambien, and I didn’t care. I felt amazing. Like I could climb mountains, swim oceans, leap buildings with a single bound. Except not today. I wasn’t sure if I could sit, let alone play Superwoman, until I got some ibuprofen in me. Maybe one of those inflatable donut cushions too.
“You’re walking funny.” Remy smirked at me. “I bet I can guess what you guys did last night.”
“I ran halfway across town to Lockdown to apprehend a suspect.” Not a lie. “Of course I’m sore.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Don’t mmm-hmm me.” I huffed. “I’m a happily mated woman, about to be a happily married woman. I do what I want.”
“In other words,” she said helpfully, “Midas.”
Cloaking myself in dignity, because I was sure I had a scrap of it tucked somewhere, I ignored her.
“We’re here, ladies.” The Swyft driver saluted us. “Have a nice night.”
“I’m sure we will.” Remy winked at him as she exited the car. “Nice is my middle name.”
I managed not to choke on my own spit at the blatant lie, but I couldn’t do more than nod to the man.
“Fancy hotel, right?” Remy planted her hands on her hips. “Wife-ing must pay well.”
“I don’t know what her husband does.” I hadn’t asked during our super awkward dinner. “Maybe she’s still practicing.” A detail she left out at dinner. “She’s a High Society necromancer. Otherwise, she couldn’t resuscitate humans with more money than sense.”
“Sense or cents?”
“Ha-ha.” I walked right into that one. “It’s not cheap to retain a necromancer for a resuscitation. Let alone one who was in training to be the POP at the time. The husband has—or had—money to burn.”
“Ask Bishop.” Remy set out for the side of the building. “He was digging into her financials.”
Several large grassy plants with lush tassels lined the side path she chose, and a few small shrubs too. An ornate drainpipe with dragon heads that vomited water when it rained anchored to the building, leading all the way up to the top.
Seeing that, I got a bad feeling about what she had planned for us.
“Your face.” She cackled. “You look like someone spat in your café mocha.”
“How are we going to hide what we’re doing?” I scanned the full parking lot. “People will notice.”
A metallic click had me searching out the cause as another Remy stuck her head out the emergency exit.
“The coast is clear.” The new Remy waved her arms. “Make it quick.”
“The door is on a delayed timer,” the Remy beside me explained. “Sixty seconds then it starts wailing.”
“Jerk.” I broke into a run and slid past the second Remy with a snarl. “You’re all real pieces of work.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Remy absorbed her other self after nudging the door back in place. “We know.”
“Did you have to pull my leg like that?” I rubbed my chest. “I had legit heart palpitations.”
“Heh.”
“So, that’s a yes.”
“Maybe.” She checked her phone, waited out the rest of the timer. “And…we’re good to go.”
The easy way Remy moved through the halls convinced me her other self had done a thorough recon.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a room key then patted herself on the back. “Nice.”
“You really are your own mutual admiration society,” I marveled. “And yet…”
“It’s deserved.” She grinned, elastics on display. “Feel free to be impressed by me with me.”
Drawing on Four’s intel, she led the way to the elevators and mashed the button for the second floor. She exited the car after the chime and guided me down a long hall to a set of doors with do not disturb signs hung on their handles.
Remy swiped the card, and we entered the first room as if we had every right to be there.
“This is the first of the spare rooms.” Remy let me perform the search. “Neat as a pin and empty.”
“She’s not stashing anything in here.” I examined it top to bottom. “Let�
�s check number two.”
A text chime had Remy consulting her phone. “Hall’s clear.”
“Did you peel off again, and I missed it?”
“Nah. Four needs to recharge. Two’s out there.”
Trusting Remy, all the Remys, I exited the room. She used her card, what I realized was a master key she must have pickpocketed off a maid, to gain access to the next room. It was likewise empty, spotless, and showed no signs Sue had ever entered it.
After finishing my walk through, I was more confused than ever. “Another dummy.”
“One more left.” Remy’s eyes glittered. “Ready for the big time?”
“Not really.” The empty rooms gave me the creeps. “I don’t like what’s going on here.”
That didn’t stop me from following her out again, after Two gave us the all clear, or from entering Sue’s space without her permission. This room was utter chaos. Clothes on the floor, fast food containers stacked on every available surface. It smelled. Bad. Chinese didn’t keep without refrigeration, and she had elected not to use hers.
“Nothing about this fits the woman we met.” I couldn’t wait to get back out into the fresh air. “She takes care with her appearance, she’s organized enough to raise five kids with only her husband for help, and she’s smart enough to keep her head down rather than draw attention to herself.”
A scrapbook, the kind mega crafters created for each of their kids, sat open on the bed.
It was the most Sue item in the room.
“I’m not sure seeing and being seen in the city is what I would call keeping her head down.”
The OPA was tracking her, but Remy was our woman on the ground. “You have someone on her?”
“Usually Four takes point, but Three is filling in while she refuels.” Remy nudged me into the hall. “Sue is working the city in a grid, walking farther each day.”
Four was Remy’s combat specialist self, which spoke volumes about how she viewed Sue.
“Walking? Not running?”
“I would say she’s taking the scenic route, but she’s visiting places no tourist wants to be caught alone at midnight. I would call it aimless wandering, but it’s methodical. She’s on a mission, and it bothers me we don’t know what it is. I would also go as far as to suspect the vote has nothing to do with it.”
“What is she looking for then?”
“Maybe it’s not a what.” Remy gestured to the empty rooms. “Maybe it’s a who.”
Midas and I had been thinking the exact same thing. This was as good as confirmation.
On our merry way out of the hotel, I spied Bishop, who lounged near the emergency exit.
Remy hung back to coordinate a schedule with herself while I went to meet with him.
“The clan master responsible for Wesley Proctor and Dean Richards is local.”
“That’s lovely news.”
“Bjorn Van de Berg.” Bishop filled me in. “He also owns Lockdown.”
The mention of Lockdown reminded me I still hadn’t received a call from my note on the bulletin board.
It had been worth a shot, even if it was a long shot. Without a callback, we were mounting evidence against Clan Van de Berg. That was progress.
Noticing a bag in his hand, holding some variety of adapter, I asked, “Are you heading back to HQ?”
“Yep.” He shook the plastic at me. “That bastard monitor is taunting me, but if this doesn’t fix the problem, then I’m going to punch a hole through the screen.”
“Good plan.” I patted his shoulder. “That will definitely remedy the situation.”
Rolling a shoulder, he booked himself a ride. “It will definitely make me feel better.”
“Be safe out there.” I shook my head at him. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Lines like that are the best part about your upcoming promotion.” He chuckled. “There’s not much you wouldn’t do.”
Clearly, I had created a monster. No. He had already been a holy terror. I had just enabled him. Encouraged him. Let his shopaholic, murderous, technology-addicted self truly shine.
That’s what friends are for, right?
No sooner had we parted ways than my phone rang. “What’s up, Bish?”
That question never got old for me. It was always good for a chuckle. On my end. Not so much on his.
“We found Sue Billiard’s family.”
“Yet you don’t sound happy.” I paced the parking lot, waiting for my ride to arrive. “Where are they?”
“In a magically oxygenated bubble anchored at the bottom of Lake Lanier.”
“I’m sorry.” I struggled for the right words but came up empty. “I couldn’t have heard you right.”
Water repelled magic. Dispersed it. Erased it. A magical underwater construct required big magic.
Vampires had no magic, aside from what animated them, and they couldn’t access that to use it.
“You heard me just fine,” he assured me. “Guess we know why Sue chose Atlanta.”
“They took her family.” I was tempted to bang my head against the streetlight. “They lured her here.”
The eligible candidate pool must be small, small enough they had to search as far as Phoenix to find one.
A contender the Grande Dame would have no reason to refuse when she petitioned to join the trial.
A woman with enough to lose they felt confident in their ability to control her and her actions.
“Black witches are my guess.” Bishop plowed on. “I’ve called in our tactical coven friends to get started on the wards. Once those are down, we can focus on how to get the Billiards out without drowning them. I touched base with a water sprite who lives in the lake. She’s agreed to monitor them underwater in exchange for a few cases of freeze-dried shrimp. Apparently, her kids are fans, and she wants to surprise them.”
“How did you find them?”
“Reece gave up sleep, that’s how.” He hesitated. “Look, kid, I want you to listen and listen good.”
“Give me a second.” I counted to ten. “Sorry, I had to remove the cotton balls from my ears.”
“Very cute, smartass.” He huffed a laugh. “The OPA can handle this. Stick to your leads. Find Neely.”
“Are we sure he’s not in the water too?”
“Lake Lanier’s surface area is thirty-seven thousand acres. That’s fifty-nine square miles. The max depth on record is one hundred and fifty-six feet, but that was before the aquatic paras moved in. They’ve dug it deeper, rebuilt parts of the town. It’s a warren, and visitors are not welcome. We’ll never clear it all before the gauntlet, even if the entire tactical coven works around the clock once they’re in place.”
“The kidnapper told Cruz what it would cost to get Neely back.”
Since it cut both ways, I wielded the reminder like a dagger as much for him as for me.
“They didn’t tell us squat,” he growled. “A threat is not the same as a ransom.”
“The gauntlet is a public event.” The words tasted like ash. “If we exhaust our leads, I’ll step down then.”
On the night of the gauntlet, the whole city would bear witness to my choice, words, and actions.
One word from the kidnappers, and I would walk away and let Sue have the city to save Neely.
With the discovery of the Billiard family, I had gotten my first clear glimpse of the bigger picture.
“What guarantee do we have they’ll honor the bargain?” Bishop demanded. “What proof do we have he’s still alive?”
“The Billiards are alive.” I closed my eyes for a beat. “We have to believe Neely is too.”
“We only know that because we found them. We might not get so lucky a second time.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “I don’t know what else to do, Bish.”
Muttered curses in languages I couldn’t decipher spewed hot over the line until his temper cooled.
“You need to make the call about Sue.” He let the other subject drop.
“Do we tell her, or do we wait?”
Tell her now, and I backed her into a corner where she had a lot of explaining to do.
Tell her later, and I risked making an enemy. She wouldn’t forgive me if I cost her family their lives.
“I’ll talk to Sue.” I would snag Midas for backup since Bishop was busy. “It’s the right thing to do.”
I remembered all too well the frantic churn of my gut when Boaz and Addie were taken. I would have done anything for a scrap of hope. Anything. Including inviting myself to dinner with a predator who could smell when I lied. She lived with a shifter. She knew what she was doing when she came over.
Now, so did we.
Finding Sue was simple, thanks to the Remys, and I made a mental note to give them a raise.
Scratch that.
They gave themselves raises almost daily. I would give them pats on the head. Much cheaper.
“She’s at the Peaches and Dreams Bar,” Three told me on speaker. “She’s been there for three hours.”
Midas’s lips mashed together, and I wasn’t far behind. Alcohol and grief don’t mix.
“Meeting someone?”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
She rattled off the address, and I fed it to yet another Swyft driver then ended the call.
The trip was quick, barely enough time to get my game face on, but I couldn’t stop the churn in my gut.
Ambrose, scenting magic on the patrons, stirred himself to join us as we entered the bar.
It was peach scented. Like they piped in an artificially fruity smell. I could choke on its sweetness.
Midas sneezed and sneezed and sneezed until I worried his brain might fly out his nose.
And I became suspicious. “Wait outside.”
Water poured from his red-rimmed eyes as he set his jaw.
“Please.” I touched his arm. “Ambrose is with me.”
Without another word, maybe out of fear he would suck down more of the stink, he left.
The bar was close to empty. I counted four patrons, one of whom sat at the bar hunched over an empty glass. I aimed straight for her.
“This is an anti-shifter bar.” I helped myself to a stool, reining in my temper. “Odd choice for you.”
The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6) Page 8