Fire Song (City of Dragons) (20 page)

She pointed at me. “I see that wistful look you’re getting in your eyes. And listen to me, despite whatever it is that you think, you are not done with love. Didn’t you say that you thought you might be ready to try again just a little while ago?”

“I was being stupid,” I said. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that fresh, new feeling.”

She grabbed both sides of my face. “Then you need to. Get back out there.” She turned back to the washer. “Why don’t you just ask the detective on a date?”

“He’s not coming around anymore,” I said. “It’s too bad, because I really liked the idea of helping out that way. But I think I can help people other ways, like the way I helped everyone with the vampire gang.”

“Why isn’t he coming around anymore?”

“He’s mad at me for taking the law into my own hands,” I said.

“Well, maybe we should have gone to the police,” she said.

I glared at her.

She shrugged. She added detergent to the washer. “I’m not saying it would have worked, but if we’d tried that angle first—”

“No,” I said. “The police aren’t equipped to deal with magical creatures.”

She thought about it. “Yeah, probably not. We did what we had to do. Which reminds me.” She pulled the talisman that Ophelia had made for her out of her pocket. “You want this back?”

“Are you kidding? That’s yours. Wear it for protection,” I said. “And to do magic if you need it.”

“I don’t know how to do magic,” she said. “And I don’t really want to know.”

“Well, for protection, then,” I said.

“Okay.” She eyed it, and then put it over her head and tucked it inside her shirt.

“You know, knowing you have that makes me feel better about you being with Jensen all the time.”

“Jesus, Penny, he is
not
going to hurt me.”

“Right,” I muttered.

We were quiet.

I scuffed my toe against the floor. “You want to grab breakfast at the Flamingo? We’ll be back in time for you to switch stuff over to the dryer.”

“I ate at Jensen’s,” she said. “But if you want company—”

“Nah, it’s fine,” I said. “I’ll see you around, okay?”

“Yup.” She went back to the washing machine.

I left and wandered out into the lobby. Becky was working there again. She was slouched behind the front desk, staring at her phone.

“Slow morning?” I said.

She jumped, sticking her phone behind her back. “Ms. Caspian! I didn’t know that you were—”

“It’s okay, Becky, I don’t care if you do personal things when there’s no one around to help,” I said. “Just don’t ignore customers.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I smiled. “So, nothing’s up?”

She shook her head.

“What are you doing on your phone? Playing games?”

“Nah, I was checking the news. They found that girl, the one who’s missing? The dragon girl?”

My heart stopped. “Dahlia Brooks?”

“Yeah.”

“Is she okay?”

Becky shook her head slowly. “She washed up on the shore like the others.”

I shut my eyes, feeling sick to my stomach. Some part of me had known this was the only way that Dahlia could ever be found. But some other part of me was angry, especially with myself. Why hadn’t I been able to figure out who was doing this? Why hadn’t I been able to stop him?

The worst of it all was knowing that I was helpless now. Without Flint, how was I ever going to stop the killer?

*

I was staring at my phone, telling myself to just swallow my pride and dial Lachlan. “Tell him that you’re sorry, even if you’re not,” I said to myself aloud. “Just lie to him so that he’ll let you back on the case.” For some reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I picked up my phone, and then set it back down.

Damn it.

The phone started ringing.

Damn it. It was Flint. I picked it up. “Hello?”

“Ms. Caspian? Uh, Penny?”

“Yeah?” I said.

“I, uh, wanted to apologize.”
He
wanted to apologize?

I was stunned. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“No, you’re right about the police being ineffective against the magical creatures in this town. It’s a problem. I may not agree with the way that you chose to solve the problem, but I appreciate your position. So, I’m sorry.”

“Well, it’s really fine,” I said. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have taken the law into my own hands.” That was how he’d put it, right?

“Like I said, I understand.”

“Well, good.”

“Good,” he said.

We were quiet.

He cleared his throat. “I guess you saw the news about Dahlia?”

“I did. How awful. I was actually just about to call you.”

“Really? So, you’d still be interested in helping me with this case?”

“Of course I would,” I said. “I feel… responsible for her death, like I should have already caught this guy.”

“You sound like my captain,” he said grimly. “I’m under a good bit of pressure here. When I showed up at this precinct, they were happy enough to relegate me to the magical creatures cases, whatever they might be. Most of them are pretty low profile. But now that the dragons are involved, well, that’s not good. So, unless I can make an arrest soon, I’m going to be pulled off this.”

“No!” I said. If Lachlan was pulled off it, then I couldn’t work on it either.

“Anyway, I could really use your help.”

“I’m here,” I said. “What do you need?”

“Well, about going to see the house?”

“Brody’s house,” I said, remembering. “The gargoyle.”

“Yeah, him. You said you’d come.”

“And I will. You want me to meet you there?”

“No, I’ll pick you up.”

*

“This is all, then?” Flint asked the real estate agent. We were standing in the empty living room of the house, which was a modest little three bedroom north of the city on the border of Delaware. Out here, there were still some places that were a little bit remote, unlike down in Sea City, where all the real estate was packed on top of itself. The house sat in the woods, and there were no other houses in sight. “There’s no basement or anything?”

The real estate agent laughed. “Basement? Out here? It’d get flooded. You’re not from around here, are you?”

“He’s from Texas,” I said helpfully.

The real estate agent winked at him. “I thought I recognized that accent.”

Oh, Jesus, she was flirting with him.

Lachlan seemed to realize it too. His demeanor changed, and he suddenly transformed into the charming sweet talker he could be. He laughed too. “Well, it’s a bit of a change of pace here, I will admit.”

“What part of Texas?” she said.

“Near San Antonio,” he said. “Uh, about the buyer? He tell you why he wanted this house?”

“He didn’t, but it was pretty obvious that he and his girlfriend intended to move in.”

“Girlfriend?” said Flint. “Another gargoyle?”

“No, I think she was human,” said the agent. “But it’s hard to tell with vampires. I assume she was his girlfriend, anyway, I didn’t really ask. She came with him to look at every house we saw, and they spoke as if they’d both be living here. Of course, he did purchase it on his own. He owns the house, not the both of them together, so maybe I’m mistaken.”

“Well, it’s good to know either way,” said Flint. “Did you happen to catch this woman’s name?”

“Sure, her first name was Debby,” said the agent. “But I guess that’s not much help.” She thought about it a second. “Actually, he did say her last name once. She gave him a hug, and he said, ‘Well, Debby Adair, will this work?’ And she said yes, and kissed him.”

“Thank you very much,” said Flint, grinning.

*

Flint hung up his phone. “Got an address for a Debby Adair. Want to head over there?”

I nodded. “Sure, I’ve got nothing but time.”

“It’s strange, then, isn’t it?” said Flint. “For him to have a girlfriend?”

“Especially a human one,” I said.

“This could be the thing that he was hiding, the reason why he lied to his family about Gina,” said Flint. “If we can confirm he spends all that free time with this Debby person, that would be enough to cross him off the list, I think. It would answer all my questions about him, anyway.”

“Mine too,” I said. “That would be a good thing, eliminating someone.”

“I need to make some damned progress on this case,” Lachlan muttered.

We got in his car and started driving back to Sea City. I watched the scenery through the window. Up north here, everything seemed a little subdued and sophisticated. There weren’t any gaudy Sunsations on every block and there weren’t any twenty-story hotels on the coast. We were a bit inland, and the narrow road went past small strip malls and over bridges and past marshes. Birds soared over everything, white gulls against the blue sky. I had to admit it was peaceful up here.

Still, I thought I might prefer the bustle and excitement of the area near my little hotel.

Then I saw a sign that made me feel cold all over. “There’s one of those Brotherhood lodges.” I pointed. The Brotherhood had set up as if they were some kind of service fraternity, like the Lion’s Club or Kiwanis. But they were just an organization where bigoted humans could gather and spew hate at each other over beer. It was galling when I heard that anyone took their money, but they did manage to give to local schools and libraries, and it made me sick.

“We should go in,” said Lachlan, slowing the car.

“What?” I said. “Are you crazy?”

“Look, we think that Otis Sanders is associated with the Brotherhood, and this is the local chapter, so he’d probably be a member here. And Killian Henderson, the strip club owner, said something about the Brotherhood. We’re right here. We might as well check it out.”

“I’m a dragon,” I said. “I can’t go in there.”

“They’ll never know that.” He pulled the car into the parking lot.

I dragged my hands over my face. “Maybe I should wait in the car.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said. “Come in with me. You should hear this if you want to help out with the investigation.”

I sighed. But then I got out and followed him inside.

*

The Brotherhood were in a building that looked like it had once been a fast food restaurant. The drive-through window was still on the side of the building.

The front of the building was all made of glass, but it had been hung inside with black fabric to keep anyone from being able to see in.

Lachlan pushed open a swinging glass door, and we entered.

The room we emerged into was lit with fluorescent lights and mostly empty. It was big and open, with two long stretches of rectangular tables running up the length of it.

At the edge of one table, in the far corner, were three men.

They were all a little thick in the middle with protruding beer bellies. All of them had on leather jackets and jeans. One wore glasses. Another had thinning hair. The third was missing one of his front teeth.

When we came in, all three of them stood up.

Flint got out his batch and flashed it. “I’m Detective Lachlan Flint. This is my associate Penny Caspian. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions.”

The men all approached us.

“About what?” said Glasses.

“Just general kind of questions, I suppose,” said Flint, giving them a reassuring smile. “About the Brotherhood.”

“Our organization is officially called Humans for a Wholesome Tomorrow,” said Thinning Hair.

“So, you don’t want to be called the Brotherhood?” said Flint.

“We just want to be understood as an organization that cares about the future,” said Glasses. “People get the wrong idea about us.”

Lachlan nodded. “I bet they do.”

No Tooth regarded us with suspicion. “If you’re cop, then you’re probably here because you suspect we did something. Well, we didn’t do it.”

Flint raised his eyebrows. “I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot, now. I’m here solely because I’m curious about what you guys do. Believe me, I can sympathize with your position. As a police officer, with all these monsters running around this city, it makes my job tough.”

“Look, we don’t want to hurt any of those magic mutts,” said Thinning Hair. “We just want to keep things separate.”

“Right,” said Lachlan, smiling. “Pure.”

“Exactly,” said Glasses, smiling as well.

“Let me ask you, do you have a member by the name of Otis Sanders?” Flint asked.

No Tooth coughed. “You can’t judge us by just one member. We’re an accepting bunch here, but we don’t condone what he does for a living.”

“Like I said,” Thinning Hair put in, “we don’t want magical creatures to get hurt. So, him being a slayer and all, that’s not what we’re about.”