His nod was decidedly regal; then he offered me his arm and said, “As you wish.”
I slipped my arm through his and we walked down to the park, where I found a bench seat near the fountain and had my snack, listening to the dance of water and the songs of the birds in the trees. It was, I thought, another one of those rather pleasant—almost ordinary—moments to treasure in a life gone crazy.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Just as I tossed the empty Coke can into the nearby bin, my phone rang. I dug it out of my handbag and hit the vid-phone’s ANSWER button.
“Stane,” I said. “How’d the date go?”
“Ah, the date,” he said, a somewhat bemused expression on his face. “You could say it wasn’t what I expected.”
“Meaning it was worse, or better?”
“Better is something of an understatement.”
I smiled. “So your mother wasn’t so far off the mark when she arranged this blind date?”
“Nope. Holly Green is not only pretty, but she’s a gamer.” He sighed. “I think I’m in love.”
“You haven’t invited her around to your place yet. She might yet be a clean freak.”
“No one who is a gamer can be a clean freak. The two are totally incompatible.”
My grin grew. The lone wolf had been snagged, and bad. “I take it you’ll be seeing her again—sans mothers this time?”
“Oh, hell yeah.”
I laughed. “Is that the only reason you’re ringing? To boast about your hot date?”
“Uh, no.” He composed himself, his expression becoming a touch more serious. “Got a hit on that storage locker. Someone just came out of it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m running a scan, but nothing has come up yet.” He disappeared briefly as he scooted from one screen to another. “I just sent you a picture. It’s a woman, so it might be Genevieve Sands.”
“How long ago did she actually leave?”
He hesitated. “Just going out through a side door now.”
“Let me know the minute anyone else enters or exits. And thanks, Stane.”
“No probs.”
As I hung up, my phone chimed, telling me a message had been received. I pulled up the pic, then glanced at Azriel. “You want to take us there?”
He nodded and did so, depositing us again in the side parking lot near all the shrubs. I swung around, but didn’t immediately see anyone matching the image on the phone. Then I spotted the tail end of a white overcoat disappearing around the Hoddle Street corner and raced after her.
As I ran into Hoddle Street, I spotted her. Like the woman in the photo, she was tall and thin, with short dark hair and a long, almost manly walk. She also was twenty yards away and heading briskly for a taxi.
“Miss Sands?” I had to yell to be heard over the roar of passing traffic. “Can I talk to you?”
Thankfully, she paused and looked over her shoulder, a frown marring her pale, lightly lined features. I’d expected Genevieve Sands to be a much older woman, for some reason, but she looked to be in her midforties, if that. “Do I know you?”
I slowed to a walk, dug my badge out of my handbag, and showed it just long enough for her to see the badge but not read the finer print that said I was vamp council rather than anything more official.
“I need to ask you a couple of questions.”
She frowned, her amber gaze skating my length briefly before rising to mine. I had the feeling that I’d been found wanting—and it oddly reminded me of Lauren Macintyre’s initial response to my presence.
“In regard to what?” She looked down the length of her long, Roman nose at me, her voice cool and collected.
I hesitated. “John Nadler.”
She turned fully around, her handbag clasped in front of her like a shield and her expression puzzled. “Who?”
“John Nadler, a businessman who recently died.” I stopped in front of her and forced a smile. “I believe you’re one of his three beneficiaries.”
She blinked. “In what way?”
“As in, he’s dead and you’ve been named in his will.”
“Why on earth would I be named in the will of a man I don’t know?”
“I don’t know.” I frowned. If she was putting on an act, then it was a good one. And yet there was something about her, an energy radiating off her that had the hackles rising at the back of my neck. “You haven’t been contacted by his lawyers?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” She hesitated. “But I’ve been out of town on business for a few weeks. It is possible that their communication is being held at the post office along with my other mail.”
Which was a perfectly legitimate excuse, so why didn’t I believe it?
“Is that why you’re using one of the storage units here? Because you’ve been away?”
She frowned. “What on earth has my renting a storage unit here got to do with being the beneficiary of a man I don’t know?”
“Please, Ms. Sands, just answer the question.”
She huffed somewhat haughtily, then said, “I’ve been renting the unit for several months now. My house is quite small and I needed somewhere secure to stock several valuable items.”
I pulled my phone out and pretended to look up some notes. “And is your unit G-18?”
“Yes.” She frowned. “I’m really not seeing the connection here.”
“It’s in regard to the ongoing investigation into Nadler’s death,” I said. “We believe there might be some connection to your unit. Would it be possible for us to have a look at it?”
“No, it would not. Not without a warrant.” She paused, looking me up and down. “Produce one, and I’ll be more than happy to comply.”
“That will take a few hours. It really would—”
“I do not care about what is easy or not,” she cut in coldly. “The law is the law, young lady, and I will not be railroaded into doing anything that might not be advantageous to myself.”
“I’m not implying that you’re in any way involved—”
“Then what are you implying?”
“As I said, I’m merely trying to tie up some loose ends.”
“Well, this is one end that will remain loose until you get the proper paperwork, and not before.”
Okay, then. I forced another smile. “If you happen to remember just where you know John Nadler from, could you perhaps give me a call?”
“That I can do.” She took out an old-fashioned notebook and pen, then looked at me pointedly. “Number?”
I gave her my cell phone number, then added, “I’m sorry to have delayed you so long, Ms. Sands.”
She nodded, tucked her notebook back into her bag, then turned and strode to the still-waiting taxi.
“What do you think?” I asked, as she climbed into the cab and slammed the door.
“I could not read her.”
I glanced at him, surprised. “That seems to be happening an awful lot these days.”
He shrugged. “There are humans we cannot read.”
“You said it was rare.”
“It is. We just seem to be coming across more of them than usual.”
“So she is human?”
“Yes.” He glanced at me. “Why?”
“Because there was something about her that didn’t feel right.”
“Well, given she was exiting a storage locker containing a sorceress’s transport gate, it is very possible she is either in league with said sorceress, or the sorceress herself.”
“It can’t be the latter.” I watched the taxi’s blinker come on as it readied to pull away from the curb.
“Why not?”
“Because she didn’t have the same build as Lauren Macintyre.”
“I cannot see—”
“Face-shifters can change only their facial shape, not their bodies.”
“That does not mean there cannot be those who are able to do a full-body shift.”
“If there is, I’ve never heard of them.” As the taxi pulled into the traffic, I added, “I’m going to follow her.”
“Be careful.”
“That goes without saying.”
“But given your somewhat reckless nature, it bears repeating.”
“If I had the time, I’d be offended by that statement.”
“It can hardly offend when it is the truth.”
“Only as you see it. Meet you back home.” I dropped a quick kiss on his lips, then slung my handbag over my shoulder and called to the Aedh. She came in a rush, and within a heartbeat I was trailing after the taxi.
We followed Hoddle Street, went under the Swan Street rail overpass, then followed Punt Road for several miles until the taxi turned left into Greville Road and stopped at a redbrick and concrete house that looked totally alien among all the more traditional terraces.
I waited until Genevieve had stepped inside and slipped in after her. A quick look around her house didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. It was neat and obviously well lived in, with plenty of clothes in the wardrobe and little dust on the furniture. I briefly wondered how long she’d been away, because surely if it had been any length of time, there would have been dust. And if she’d had the time to dust, why wouldn’t she have collected her mail?
She dumped her coat and bag on her bed, checked her answering machine, then headed into the bathroom. I waited until she’d filled her bath and climbed in before I gave up and retreated.
“Anything?” Azriel grabbed my arm as I reappeared in my bedroom, steadying me.
I shook my head, gulping down air as dizziness swept me and my stomach briefly rose. But this time, there was no my-head-is-going-to-explode pain accompanying the shift back to flesh form, and though my legs felt weak, they didn’t collapse underneath me. Although no doubt Azriel’s grip had something to do with that.
