Page 45 of Bent Out of Shade
I blinked, positive I hadn’t spoken out loud.
“Though I’ll admit that your cloaking came in handy.” He tapped his finger against his lips. “Sabrina Mayhew was reported missing last night.”
“Was she?” Good thing he didn’t hear my racing heart. “By a colleague or a partner or…”
“A friend.” Eli regarded me with a shrewd expression. “Missing persons is coordinating with us because of the connection to the Hastings Mill gang.”
“Makes sense. Well, I’m sure she’s got the best possible people on the case.”
“I’m sure she does. I have to get to work, but in answer to your earlier question, Hastings Mill has a variety of business interests.” He named a café, a couple of bars, and even a bubble tea shop, all of which provided a public front for the organization’s activities. With all the cash that poured through those kinds of establishments, they were also a great way to launder money.
“Eli?” I clicked the pen I’d used to scribble down the business names. “I appreciate your confidence in me. On the Consortium case,” I hurriedly amended at another achy throb.
He pressed his lips together and looked away. “I wasn’t the one who asked for your help finding Teresa Wong. Deputy Chief Constable Esposito suggested it.”
“Oh.” I’d been ecstatic when Eli wanted to partner up. This respected detective had wanted me to work with him as his equal, but with this admission I felt transformed from a sleek thoroughbred racing alongside him to a donkey he’d been saddled with.
The blood magic warning signal stayed dormant, but my back twinged.
“I was wrong,” he said. “Okay, not wrong—”
“No. You were doing fine with that description.” I tore off the notepad paper I’d written on. “You saw what I was capable of during Raj Jalota’s murder case.”
“I saw some of it. The parts you finally shared. And one case didn’t equate to years of training and experience. So yeah, I still had some doubts.” He nudged my foot. “They were blown away when we worked together to save those players. You blew me away.”
Blushing, I tossed my hair. “Obviously,” I muttered.
“You’re more plugged in to the magic community so anything you learn about these murders, I expect you to share. Off the record, of course.”
I hesitated, but the blood oath didn’t have a problem with that. Noted. Murder intel okay, just keep Sabrina out of it. “Why, Detective Chu, are you using me as a mole?”
“Yup.” Laughing, he sidestepped my swat and left.
How did a vampire going after Zev affect my case? Sabrina jailed Paxton Craig, failed to make her wedding to a vampire, and then some fellow bloodsucker started tearing out gang members’ throats. I drew fangs on the paper I’d jotted my thoughts down on, unable to find a reason for Sabrina to be caught in that. There was nothing about the Sapien lawyer that could be used against Zev.
Unless this rogue knew that Sabrina was Vincenzo’s fiancée, and they intended to set BatXoha on Zev as a distraction for Vancouver’s master vamp while they made their power play?
Vincenzo withholding information about his second being killed was understandable; hiring us to find Sabrina and not mentioning a rogue vamp as a potential suspect made no sense at all.
I moved over to the sink and ran hot water over the dirty dishes. Beyond the Vancouver connection, was there any other reason Vincenzo came to us for assistance? He had vamps who worked for him. Was he staying mum about something that directly impacted Zev and using us to sidestep vamp politics? Because if that were the case, Sadie’s deal wouldn’t be my most pressing concern.
Whether it was the rogue or one of Craig’s minions who’d caused Sabrina’s disappearance, I’d find them and bring them down. She’d chased her dream of being a prosecutor and successfully put away criminals who had previously evaded justice. It would have been so much easier for her to go into divorce or even corporate law, but she refused that path, striding confidently along the one of her choosing.
It was one thing to brace Vincenzo for the worst, but I’d keep the faith she was alive and act accordingly. Her abductors would rue the day they ever touched her.
After drying off my hands on a tea towel, I looked up addresses and opening hours for the various businesses that Eli had given me. Most didn’t open until later, so I phoned Tatiana to update her on our paying gig, speaking over the clacking of her manual keyboard while I ran a lint brush along my precious velvet sofa.
“You’re working on your memoirs and not another letter, right?” I said.
“Ye of little faith.”
“That’s a no, then, is it?” I teased.
While she agreed that a vamp power play was a strong possibility, she didn’t like the ramifications any more than I did.
“Hopefully you’ll find something useful today,” she said, “because Vincenzo phoned. I hear you told him to prepare for the worst.” She clucked her tongue. “It’s a hell of a thing for anyone to accept, never mind a vampire, but you were right to bring it up.”
One thing I loved about my boss was that she didn’t often caution me about investigating things on my own. Not because she didn’t care about my well-being but because she assumed I could handle myself. It was refreshing to have a person, especially a woman who’d survived in a dangerous field, set the baseline of my capabilities so high.
