Night Marks (7 page)

“You know you aren't getting around this, so don't try. We will go up and I promise to stay in the background. Two sets of eyes are better than one, even if the main set of eyes is yours, Princess.”

“Fine. Let's get this over with,” I say hopping out of the car.

As we walk in the front door, which I have to say I am surprised there isn't a level of security there, I start picking up faint traces of something that smells like strawberries. We climb the stairs to the third level and the closer we come to our destination the stronger the smell gets.

“I have a feeling your case is about to get exponentially more complicated,” Jonas tells me as we stop in front of the door that says 324.

“Why would you say that?” I ask raising my hand to knock. All I pick up is the dang strawberries and I doubt there is a giant strawberry army behind the door.

After I tap twice, I turn to him. “Because there has been a demon spending an awful lot of time behind that door, if the stench is any indication.”

“All I smell is strawberries. What do you smell?”

“Sulfur. It's clinging to the air pretty good. For as strong as it is, I would say within the last month a demon has been in residence here.”

Hmm. Interesting. Something to put away for later. I go to knock on the door again, but it swings open to reveal a very pregnant woman. At least I hope she is pregnant because while her belly is huge, the rest of her looks frail and petite.

“I didn't order anything,” she says glaring between me and Jonas. Oh joy, a pregnant chick with attitude.

“Would you happen to be Jillian Murphy?” I ask.

“Who wants to know?” Maybe I shouldn't have shown up in my combat gear. I did leave most of the artillery in the car, so she should be thankful. Now that I think about it, my weapons are all hidden, so I don’t know what her problem is.

“I am Nyx Slaughter and this is my associate Jonas. I have been hired to look into the disappearance of Felicity Willard. This is her apartment, correct?”

After giving us both another once over, she steps back and opens the door. “You might as well come in. It wouldn't be prudent to have this conversation in the hallway.”

I imagine in a place like this, being seen with the likes of me and Jonas wouldn’t put anybody on the tenant of the month ballot.

We walk in and she leads us towards a sofa. The apartment has a wide open feel similar to mine, but I can see a couple doors that probably have the bedrooms behind them. The furniture and décor is straight from the 70s. There are bean bag chairs, shag carpet and lava lamps. Not at all what I expected and the smell of strawberries is overwhelming. I can just imagine how Jonas must be enjoying it.

“You have a very nice home here, Ms. Murphy,” I say working on my politeness.

“Yeah, well, Fliss did the decorating. She was in a hippie phase and wanted to do something that would appall her mom at the same time.”

“After meeting Mrs. Willard, I imagine the decorating had its desired effect.”

“Her parents came over once and have never been back, so I suppose you are right.”

“Jillian, I hope you don't mind if I call you that, I want to find Felicity as soon as possible so I don't have to deal with her parents again. Can you help with that?”

“Straight and to the point. I think I like that. Would you like any refreshments? I have to ask, my mother would be appalled if I didn't and right now I kind of need her to be behind me,” she says while looking down at the giant pumpkin that has become her stomach.

Having no tact, I say, “Is the father not in the picture?”

That induces a cynical laugh. “Now there is a great story. Would you believe I am only three months pregnant?”

I glance down at her stomach again. I don't know much about babies, but I do know they don't become all that noticeable until the fourth or fifth month, even with how small she is to begin with. At her current size, something is wrong.

“You having quads or something?”

“Nope. The doctors can only find one of them in the ultrasounds. They have no logical explanation for the reason that my fetus is already developed to the size of an eight-month-old fetus.”

I know that other species have shorter gestation periods, but no shifter would knowingly impregnate a human and Jillian is all human.

I still have to ask, “The father is human, right?”

“I would call him the lowest scum on the planet, but genetically, yes, he is human and so is the baby.”

Being sidetracked from my mission isn't usual, but this is kind of a bombshell she has thrown at me.

“And you aren't confused about the date of conception?”

“Nope. I have been regular all my life and had been on the Pill until just recently. The dad, Pete, works with me and I have secretly had a huge crush on him. One day he asked me for lunch and I couldn't believe it. I mean, I know I am not a dog or anything, but Pete is gorgeous. We started dating and about a week later, he asked me to go on a trip with him. It was to Barbados, how could I say no?” she asks pausing apparently expecting a reply.

“Barbados, hot guy, you're right. No one could say no to that.”

“Exactly. Anyway, we get down there and almost immediately, we head to the bedroom and don't come out for the whole week. Greatest sex of my life. Totally ended up missing taking my contraception the full week. When we finally come up for air, he says he forgot about an appointment and had to get back, but I should enjoy the last couple of days myself. By the time I left the island, my clothes already weren't fitting quite right.”

“He doesn't happen to have any witchy friends does he? Maybe he had a spell that accelerated development.”

“That's the great part in all of this, tests have proven the baby is most definitely his, but he claims he has never met me. Not only that, he wouldn't have sex with me if I was the last person on earth.”

“How the fuck does he explain the watermelon?” I ask pissed on her behalf.

“No explanation. Doesn't remember any of it. Claims he blacked out for about a month.”

“That pig!” I yell letting my anger out.

“Believe me I have called him names much worse than that. Anyway, enough about me. There isn’t anything that can be changed and I have come to accept my situation. You are here about Fliss, so why don’t you ask your questions?”

“We should probably get back on that subject, but if you want me to, I can go remove Pete's stick and berries so he doesn't get away with what he did,” I offer.

“That is a nice thought, but I really need to put it behind me. He will never know his son and that is good enough for me right now.”

“I will leave my number in case you change your mind later. As far as Felicity goes, do you know where she and Harvey are? Her parents seem determined he kidnapped her, but I am not jumping to that conclusion.”

“They are idiots who think Harvey isn't good enough for her. Smalls and Fliss wanted to get away for a while, so they did. No harm in that. Actually, I talked to her yesterday and she said they are coming back tomorrow. She just didn't want her parents to get in the way of the wedding.”

“So they eloped. Did you mention that to the police? They are treating it like a kidnapping.”

“Of course, I told them everything was fine, but the senior Willards have most law enforcement agencies in their back pocket, so they will only believe what they are told.”

I look over to Jonas. “You know, at this point, I am pretty happy I never had to deal with my own parents.”

He smiles. “Can't speak for your mother, but I highly doubt your father would have been that bad.”

“Well, I thank you for your time Jillian, but I don't think I have anything more to do here. Do you know what time the newlyweds will be back tomorrow? I am going to have to stop in and have a chat, so I can collect my fee.” It is going to be the easiest fee I have ever picked up, but it is still my money.

“I think she said her plane was landing around one in the afternoon. I am supposed to pick her up at the airport, but I might just have to call her a cab. I am to the point where I don't move around all that easily,” she says finally taking a seat. I should have probably insisted she did that before now.

“If you want, we can take care of that. I need to meet with her anyway.”

“I couldn't ask that of you.”

“It's no problem. I have a large SUV, so I will have plenty of room for them and their luggage.”

“Wow,” she says starting to tear up. “Sorry, my hormones are all over the place. You are so nice. First offering to castrate Pete and now playing chauffeur for me.”

“I am pretty sure you are the first person to ever call me nice. How about you write down the flight information and me and Jonas will get out of your hair.”

She quickly jots down the information on a piece of paper from the table beside her. With the paper in hand, me and Jonas rise to leave.

“Thanks again for your time, Jillian. It was nice to meet you and I don't say that to too many people. I hope everything goes well with you and the baby.”

“I am sure we will be fine. Thanks for allowing me to do a little venting.”

She remains sitting and looks to be about to fall asleep as we make our way out of the apartment.

“See, that was a piece of cake, just like I said it would be,” I say leading the way, skipping just a little, back to Jake and the Suburban.

“Get any good leads on the missing heiress?” Jake asks as we climb back into the vehicle.

“Yup. Airport. Tomorrow. One o'clock,” I reply.

“Is that someone landing or us taking off?”

“Landing. The happy couple will be returning from their honeymoon then.”

“I am guessing that means we don't get to watch you kill somebody.”

“That would be correct. Unless, of course, you decide to really get on my nerves and need a firsthand demonstration,” I reply starting up the car.

“Now come on, we both know you could never kill me. I'm like a brother to you,” he states acting innocent. Sure, a very annoying brother that I would have tried to sell as a child.

“No, you are like a persistent fly that has a death wish,” I say ready to move the conversation away from my irritation with Jake. “Do we have a set place we should stay tonight or am I looking for a hotel?”

Jonas, picking up on my cue, quickly says, “Alex has a safe house here and wants us there. Since the sun is down, I imagine Smitty is already there waiting for us.”

“Great. Tell me where to go. I am getting a bit hungry. How about you guys?”

“When we get to the house, one of us will go to the store to stock the kitchen, if it hasn't already been taken care of,” Jonas replies.

“He means me,” Jake says sulking. “For some reason, he has decided I am low man in the pecking order.”

I totally agree with Jonas' thoughts on the matter and follow the directions to the safe house, after turning on the radio to end any bickering that would indubitably occur otherwise.

Chapter 9

What? Squirrel? Where?

The safe house isn't in the city proper. Thank God. I have decided being around humans makes me itchy. I wouldn't be surprised to find I have broken out in hives under my clothes.

As I pull in the drive, Smitty walks out to greet us. He is dressed in a black dress shirt and matching slacks. If he hasn't had dinner yet, I imagine he is looking for a high-end donor.

“I see you mutts have kept her safe today. Did you run into any issues?” he asks walking towards us to help carry my bag.

“I can carry that myself you know,” I say throwing a mock fit. If he wants to pretend he is a gentleman, I won't really stop him, even though a few weeks ago I would have probably challenged him to the death for doing such a thing.

“Since your boyfriend isn't here, he requested me to act in his place, as far as taking care of you goes. Since he is my master, I cannot refuse the request.”

“I can imagine how much it grates on you that he asked. Don't worry. I will tell him it was just like having him around and you can act like you normally do around me.” In Smitty’s case, that is usually with a high dosage of disdain.

As I have been making “friends” with the wolves, I have found it hard to find much common ground with Smitty and Marcus. We aren’t really hostile towards each other; we just kind of give each other all the space allotted when we are forced to be together.

I guess, Marcus and I have made up some ground, but I have a feeling Smitty believes I am some sort of an abomination. Being what I am, I cannot really fault him for that belief.

“Oh, if it were just that simple,” he says sighing and leaving us for a second to put my bag in my room. “You didn't tell me how the mission went.”

“It was fine. We are meeting the missing girl tomorrow when her plane lands. No stress or problems at all,” I reply as I find the kitchen and investigate the protein situation. Sadly, Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards are bare.

“That's good. I hate being out of Night Owl and in the human world. Their manners are atrocious and they kind of smell,” Smitty says as we meet back up in the living room. Jonas and Jake also return from dropping off their bags in their respective rooms. Smitty's attitude towards humans is kind of funny when they are his main food source.

“Speaking of smells. The apartment we were in today reeked of demon. The roommate had a crazy story about her pregnancy and I am not sure how the two of them fit together. If they don’t somehow link, I would be amazed. She said the father is human, baby tests human and the pregnancy is in its third month, but the baby is eight months along,” Jonas informs the others.

“Interesting, but hardly worth our concern. Humans cannot always be relied upon to know what is going on with their bodies. With all the drugs and other stimulants they take, they tend to be clueless,” Smitty says in his pompous voice. Something has really crawled up his ass tonight.

“He is right. The pregnancy and demon really aren't our concern. Jillian seemed cool, but maybe she made a deal with the demon and was just playing us. She was really obsessed with that Pete guy. Demons like to play tricks, or so I have heard. Maybe she made a deal to get the guy in the sack and the demon twisted it that Pete forgot all about it after the fact,” I state. Now, that I am away from the hormonal pregnant woman, my charity seems to have vanished.