“Divorce?” My hands balled into fists, anger tugging on my heart. My parents got divorced?
“Yes. Now, don’t blame your father. He’s a good man, but Georgie just needed something more. Well—”
I held up my hand, similar to how my mother would silence me. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to find my mother.”
“Oh, umm, well, of course, dear.”
Without looking back, I stormed away from Henry. So she wasn’t setting me up with him, but she wanted me to meet her new lover? After she divorced Dad without telling me?
Why did nobody ever tell me things.
I charged through the crowds until I saw a glimpse of Mother’s red dress.
“Mother!”
She turned her head, disapproval at the brim. “Don’t shout, Lucy.”
The tone of her voice made me shrink, but it didn’t stop the anger raging through me.
“You and Dad got a divorce?”
“Oh, right. Didn’t I tell you?” she said, carelessly sipping from her cup as if it didn’t matter.
“Ummm… No?”
“Oh, sorry, darling. It must’ve slipped my mind.”
Overcome with disbelief and annoyance, I was lost for words. How could she not tell me? How could she do this to him? Why hadn’t he talked to me about it?
“Where’s Dad now?”
Mother studied her long fingernails. “How would I know? He moved out. Don’t ask such stupid questions, Lucy.”
“But—”
“Tututut, it’s a party. Don’t spoil it with all your questions. Can’t you just behave for once?”
Speechless, I grabbed a goblet from a passing tray and took a big swig from the blood wine. The metallic and bitter taste was truly terrible, but it was the only type of alcohol served at Mother’s soirées and right now, I really needed it.
Anything that helped me cope with Mother.
On second thoughts, maybe not. I dropped the goblet back onto a passing tray and tried to ignore the queasy feeling in my stomach. I wasn't sure why I'd never gained a taste for the alcohol laced blood that was always served. It just felt off to me. Thankfully, William felt the same, which meant I had company in the not-drinking club.
"Why do you have to be so ungrateful all the time?" Mother sighed dramatically.
"Just because I don't want to drink?" I frowned, that made no sense.
"If you're not careful, people might start to think you're pregnant. It would explain the weight gain at least."
"Mother!" The urge to point out I couldn't be pregnant because that would have involved having sex, was high, but I refrained. Quite frankly it was none of her business. Though apparently it was now William's. I couldn't believe he'd suggested I should date Watson. What a ridiculous notion.
"I'm just telling you the truth, darling. Someone needs to."
I rolled my eyes. "You still haven't explained why you thought it was a good idea to not tell me about the divorce until I was at the party."
"That's because you never call, dear. If you did, maybe I'd tell you about important things in my life."
I held back the scowl that wanted to break free. That was the worst part about being around mother. Despite everything she said and did, a little part of me wanted to abide by her rules and not let anyone see that I'd been bothered by what had been said.
"If that's everything, dear?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Oh good, I need to spend my time with people who actually matter." She turned away before I could even think to respond. No doubt I'd think up the perfect retort when I was trying to fall asleep later.
"Fangs for nothing, mother," I muttered.
At least I could go back to my task of finding Jonas' father, a man apparently known as the Captain. What a stupid name. A lot of vampires wouldn't take to the water very much. There was too much of a risk of slipping into a blood lust and slaughtering everyone on board. It had happened a few times in the thirteen hundreds. Lucky for us, pirates had taken the blame.
A man leaning against the opposite wall looked up from what he was doing and stared right at me.
Bingo. That must be the Captain right there. I should have guessed from the stupid hat and suit he was wearing. He stuck out like a sore thumb.
I fiddled with the skirt of my dress, being careful not to raise it far above my feet. Sometimes, I preferred full formal ball attire to this odd in between. A ball gown didn't allow for many ankle showing accidents, the kind of formal dress I was wearing now, did.
Though really, I just wished for the much shorter kind of skirt I was used to wearing out in the human world. Even if they meant having to wear tights, they allowed for a much better amount of movement than this.
Sighing, I pushed past the Buchanans, arguing as normal. No doubt Lord Buchanan had engaged in another affair and was being called out on it. The real irony was that his wife was doing the same and just hiding it better. Maybe William's views on openly dating multiple partners was actually far more enlightened than I thought.
"Captain?" I asked as I approached the man I'd seen.
He held a finger up to his lips and gestured for me to follow him down the corridor. That seemed ominous, but at least it wasn't another alcove.
I glanced around, checking that no one who mattered was watching, and kind of regretting that I'd dismissed William and Watson so easily. I'd kind of appreciate their back up right now.
My heels clacked against the floor despite the fact they weren't very high ones. I refused to wear anything that would turn me into an unnaturally tall giraffe, I was clumsy enough without adding other dangerous things to my wardrobe. And I wouldn't be changing my mind any time soon, unless Derek could make my heels into tiny daggers, that would be kind of cool.
"Are you the Captain?" I asked once we were away from the main soirée.
The man nodded and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and looking at a watch.
One I recognised.
"Is that..."
He shushed me again, like he knew what I was going to say and didn't want me to voice it out loud.
I didn't say anything. But not because he'd told me not to. More because I was really confused by the whole situation. Why the fangs would he have taken his son's watch only to use it so blatantly in front of me? Maybe he didn't realise that I knew Jonas?
"Can I have that?" I asked, pointing towards the watch. I wasn't going to lie, this seemed too easy, but if I didn't at least try asking, then I'd never know if it was quite as simple as that.
To my surprise, he unstrapped the watch and held it out to me.
"Thank you." I took the watch from him gingerly. There were so many things I wanted to ask right now. Mostly to do with the purpose behind this all. If Jonas' father had the watch the entire time, then why did he need me to go get it? Or did Jonas not know that his father had been behind all this?
Only one thing was certain right now, I had a lot of questions for my client, and, if he didn't give me the answers I wanted, then I wasn't going to stop until I got them. No matter my personal feelings about Watson, there had to be something in his warning to me or he'd never have bothered with it in the first place. That was the thing about Watt, he knew exactly what he was saying a hundred percent of the time. If he didn't mean it, the words wouldn't leave his mouth.
I waited for the Captain to actually say something about the exchange, but all he did was dip his head and disappear back into the party, leaving me speechless and even more confused.
"There you are," William said, relief colouring his tone as he started striding down the corridor. "I've been worried about you."
"I've only been gone for five minutes," I pointed out, still a little bit dazed.
"With you mother about, that's more than enough to start getting worried."
I grimaced. He wasn't wrong. She'd once dragged me into another room, stripped my dress away and started telling me where she thought I needed plastic surgery. It had been both humil
iating and completely pointless.
"What is that?" he pointed towards my hand.
"What I came here for," I said weakly.
"Please don't tell me you had to make out with Jonas' father to get it." He chuckled deeply.
"No. But why is that funny?" My brows furrowed together, unable to hide my confusion.
"He looks like a walrus and a lobster created a love child," William admitted.
"I thought it was the Walrus and the Carpenter?" I said absentmindedly.
"What?" Now it was his turn to look confused.
"Alice Through the Looking Glass. You never read it." A pang of sadness went through me. Watson would have gotten the reference. It was one of the things we'd done together. Alice hadn't been my favourite, but his rendition of The Walrus and the Carpenter had been unforgettable. I could still picture him waddling around my childhood bedroom while I'd rolled around in laughter.
I shook my head. Focusing on my past with Watt wasn't going to help me. The two of us together were a thing of the past and I didn't think I was ready to properly change that, even if I had William's go ahead to do it.
"That doesn't sound like Jonas' father, though," I said eventually, turning to look at William properly.
"It does? I've known the man for years."
"This is Jonas' father." I pulled my phone out of the secret pocket in my dress, dropping the watch in there in the process. A few swipes later, and I had the photo Jonas had given me. "This is Jonas' father." I held out my phone to William, but he just shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Lucinda. I don't know who this man is, but it's definitely not who you think it is."
I turned the screen back to me to check I was showing him the right picture. "But this is the photo Jonas gave me."
William’s look said enough. This was not the Captain, at least, not the real one. But then, what was going on? Why did Jonas give me a wrong picture? Who was he? Why did the man just hand me the watch?
So many questions, and no answers. But I was going to find out.
Chapter 15
I should’ve asked for Watson’s help, but that would involve admitting he was right. And I wasn’t about to do that. My pride stopped me, but my curiosity brought me here. To the one other man I could ask for help.
As soon as I knocked on the heavy, steel door, it swung open and a tight tank top opened the door. “Hello.”
“Hey, Derek.”
“Good to see you.”
Even though vampires didn’t need an invitation to cross a threshold, it was polite to wait for permission. That was just good manners.
Derek smiled, his muscles rippling under his white tank with the slightest movement. “Come in.”
“Thank you.” Careful, I crossed into the garage he called home. I’d been here to pick up new gadgets, but I’d never actually been inside. It didn’t disappoint.
Rows and rows of shelves with the most bizarre items and inventions. Metal arms, piles of leathers, boxes of springs, nuts, bolts, and anything else an inventor could need.
A well-used workbench was the centrepiece of the workspace. Stained with oil, paint, and varnish, it was a masterpiece in itself.
In awe, I let my eyes travel across the multitude of miscellaneous things. There were entire rows of electronic compartments, an entire vat of old mobile phones, and more old batteries than I’d ever seen in my life. Arrays of lightbulbs, buttons, handles, anything I could imagine and more.
“Wow. This is like one of those find-twenty-items picture game,” I joked, running my finger along the workbench. The wood was both rough and smooth, and pleasant to the touch.
Derek smiled proudly as he gestured around him. “Welcome to the Bat Cave. This is where the magic happens.”
“Wow. That’s not what I expected. This is your home?”
“Yup,” he replied, the pride beaming off of his face.
I looked around. “Where do you even sleep?”
“Oh, there’s a small flat in the back.”
“Cool…” I touched a brush, enjoying the tickle of the rough bristles. “You have so much stuff. Where do you even get all this?”
“Garage sales, car boot markets, outlet discounts, the trash. Anywhere and everywhere. I’m always on the look-out for a good find.”
“Aha. I’m not the only treasure-hunter here then.”
He smiled knowingly. “No, you’re not. What can I get for you today? A lipstick flamethrower? A pick-pocket alarm? A miniature laser knife? I’m currently into mini gadgets.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. He was truly something. His brain never stopped and I admired, envied the endless stream of ideas. How could one person come up with so many things and never run out?
Like a never ending waterfall, concepts cascaded from him onto his workbench where he made them in reality. Not all of them turned out as great as he described, but they were all interesting and intriguing in their own way.
“I’ll pass on the flamethrower, but if you’re looking for more ideas… Knife heels?”
He snapped his fingers. “Knife heels! Amazing. You’d need enforcement in the heel and a durable, but light metal. Stainless steel would be good, but it might not support the actual weight. Maybe titanium? All the ideas.”
“Sounds fun. Go crazy. But that’s not really why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
I reached inside my pocket, but halted before I revealed the watch. “Can I count on your discretion?”
“Always.”
I pulled out my notebook and scribbled a note on it: Just for good measure.
“Huh?”
“You’ll see.”
I placed Jonas’ watch on the workbench. I should’ve brought it to him the moment I acquired it, but instead, I waited till the next morning and came here. Something was off, I just knew it.
I flipped to a fresh page: Can you make sure it’s not recording in any way?
“Okay.” Carefully, Derek took the watch from me and placed it on the workbench. “Can you get the lights?”
“Sure.” As I walked towards the door to flick off the switch, he pulled his smartphone from his low-hanging jeans and hovered it above the ticking menace.
I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I trusted him.
An immediate darkness settled on the garage as I turned the light off. Every corner and window was expertly blocked off and it was pitch black in here.
The only light source was the faint glow of his phone.
“Hmmm,” he hummed, as he carefully inspected it. “Good. Please turn the lights back on?”
“Alright?”
The sudden returning lights hurt my eyes even if we hadn’t been in the dark for very long.
Derek rummaged through one of the drawers and pulled out a monocle and a set of miniature tools. With utter concentration, he screwed open the back and placed the entire thing back on a little piece of cloth.
“As I suspected, no recording device, audio or visual.”
“Oh, good.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I could think of no reason why Jonas or someone else would’ve put a recorder in the watch, but I wasn’t about to get caught red-headed snooping.
“So… What’s the deal? Why am I examining a watch?” Derek asked sternly. His voice lowered just a bit, falling into a very pleasing register.
I couldn’t help but lean in, wanting to be closer to the man attached to that voice. I could listen to him talk all day.
“Lucy?” he asked, looking at me in confusion. “What are you doing?”
I stepped away, holding back from presenting myself like a cupcake on his bench.
Huh… Maybe William was right. Maybe I should ask him out on a date… But how was I supposed to do that?
Hi, Derek. Would you like to go on a date? No, don’t worry. My fiancé suggested it.
No, that was ridiculous. I couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t go for it… Would he?
“Earth to Lucy.” He waved his hand in front of my face, his palm c
alloused from all the work he did.
“Sorry.” I blushed, pushing the inappropriate thoughts out of my head. Maybe William was okay with it, but I wasn’t yet.
“What’s with the secrecy? What am I looking for?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted honestly. “Can you see anything that looks out of place? But be careful, my client can’t know I opened it.”
“Hmmm…” Derek ran his hand along his stubble as he examined the watch. The tiny cogs and screws were miniscule in his large hands, and somehow, the thick veins on his forearm were really attractive. And not from a blood-drinking perspective either.
Those arms looked like they could swoop me up in one go and carry me up stairs like a princess. All the way up to my bedroom...
Damn it, my thoughts were wandering again.
He tinkered a bit more and I turned my attention to the various things he had on display. Not because they were particularly interesting, but more because I couldn't handle watching him any longer. If I wasn't careful, I was going to end up drooling over him and making a complete fool of myself.
Then he'd never date me.
No. That wasn't what I was supposed to be thinking. I didn't need to be dating anyone at this point.
"Hmm. You're right, there's something odd about this watch." His voice cut through my thoughts, making me jump.
I turned around to find him grinning at me. "If you're going to tell me it's not a very good make, I got that already."
"Oh, no. That would be the most boring thing ever about this watch."
"And are you going to tell me what's more interesting?" I asked, stepping forward and trying not to think too much about the sway of my hips as I moved. A little part of me hoped he was watching. Another really didn't.
"That depends."
"On?"
"Whether you're going to pay me for information rendered."
A fake gasp of shock escaped me. "And just how do you intend on me doing that? I'm nothing but a humble private investigator." I clutched my hand to my chest, affectioning the best fake weakness I could. Not because I actually wanted him to think I was weak, more because I thought he'd find it funny.
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