Living With the Dead Read online

  "That was a video."

  "Close enough."

  Karl glanced over, brows arching.

  "Savannah," Hope mouthed.

  He rolled his eyes. He didn't have much patience for the nineteen-year-old witch. Hope liked her well enough, but it seemed she had a soft spot for cocky, overconfident supernaturals.

  "Okay, so I'm opening this photo and if I die, I am so going to haunt your ass. Let's see. It's - " Savannah let out a shriek. "Holy fucking mother of God. What is that thing?"

  "You like?"

  "I think I'm blind now. That's the curse, isn't it? Look at the picture and - Wait, isn't that Jasmine something-or-other? One of those Paris-lites?"

  "You read the tabloids, Savannah? Say it isn't so."

  "Are you kidding? I'm the ward of two well-educated, cultured individuals. I read the New Yorker, Harper's and sometimes National Geographic, but only for the half-naked guys. I do, however, indulge in True News on occasion, to enjoy the journalistic stylings of their in trepid paranormal reporter. Call me crazy, but I think that girl knows of what she speaks."

  "You think?"

  "I do. So why would you be sending Paige and Lucas a photo of what's-her-name, other than to scar our retinas - Holy shit. Portia Kane. Paige said your friend went to L.A. to do PR work for some celebutante. It's Portia Kane, isn't it? And now she's dead and... Hey, is this a case? 'Cause if it is, I've got the weekend off, and I could - "

  "It's not a council case. About the photo, it's actually the people in the background I'm interested in. There's a young woman and - "

  "Uncle Josef! No, wait, that's Cousin Irving. I always get them confused. God, I haven't seen ol' Irving since... well, since the last Nast family reunion they didn't invite me to."

  While it was true that sorcerers don't father girls, that didn't apply when they had a child with a witch, who only had daughters. So Thomas Nast's granddaughter was being raised by the son of his bitter rival, the Cortez Cabal CEO, the same son who'd devoted his life to fighting Cabal injustice, until recently when he began dividing his time between that and reluctantly helping prop up his father's sagging empire. And yes, that was all just as complicated as it sounded.

  But for Thomas Nast and most of his clan, one thing wasn't complicated. Savannah was not his dead son's daughter. No Cabal sorcerer would ever sleep with a witch. Well, except Lucas and... yes, it was complicated. Anyone who saw Savannah, though, with her distinctive big blue eyes, knew exactly who her daddy had been.

  "So it's a Nast?"

  "Yep, and I'm ninety percent sure it's Irving. That would be my dad's cousin, so my second-cousin or first cousin once removed or whatever. We should have a dossier on him. If you need more, I can put you in touch with Sean to answer any questions. Discreetly, of course. I wouldn't want to get him in trouble."

  "We'll try to leave your brother out of it. Now, as for that dossier..."

  "It's on the way..." Keys clicked in the background. ". . . now."

  The man in the picture was definitely Irving Nast - it matched the one in his dossier down to a small mole by the corner of his eye. As for the rest of the dossier, it was... interesting.

  Cabals are run by a central sorcerer family. If you are a member of that family, you're guaranteed an office on the executive level. In the case of Irving, that family connection seemed to be the only reason he got that office. He was VP of some division Hope had never heard of, in charge of a very small department.

  According to the dossier, Irving didn't even warrant a bodyguard. Being the CEO's nephew and not getting a guard told the supernatural world you were so low on the totem pole you weren't worth kidnapping - you weren't privy to any secret intelligence and they wouldn't bother ransoming you back.

  One reason a family member might rank so low was simple lack of ambition - you were content to coast along on your name, like Lucas's brother Carlos. But it looked as if Irving dreamed of more. The dossier included a string of "independent ventures," where Irving had tried to get innovative and prove his worth... and instead had a run-in with Lucas or the council.

  "He's a screw-up," Hope said as she finished reading aloud to Karl. "If this photo is Irving and his very young mistress, it might explain what happened. He's already on thin ice with the Cabal, so he came up with a plan to get the photo back."

  "And fucked up royally."

  "Yep. On the plus side, though, not rating a bodyguard means it would be easy to interrogate him, if it came to that."

  Karl checked his watch. "He should be sleeping. We could - "

  "I said 'if it came to that.' Kidnapping and questioning a Nast VP would get me into the kind of trouble even I don't enjoy. So don't tempt me." When he opened his mouth, she went on, "And don't say that you aren't bound by council rules. You're bound by Pack rules, as much as you like to pretend otherwise. Relations are strained enough between the Pack and the Cabals already. Jeremy doesn't need that kind of grief."

  Hope navigated to MapQuest. "If we don't find leads by tomorrow night, we'll reconsider. In the meantime, I have a home address. It might be wise to swing by, get the lay of the land."

  "And if he happens to be out for a late jog or walking his dog, he might be inclined to chat."

  She smiled. "Exactly."

  Irving Nast was not out walking his dog or running. He was, as far as they could tell, inside with his family - a wife and two preteen sons according to his dossier. Even Karl wouldn't suggest a home invasion when children were involved.

  They circled the block, then parked a street over and walked back, playing strolling couple again as they got a closer look at the property and made a note of the vehicles and license plates, anything that might later help them nab Irving if a "chat" was required.

  On the way back, they finally picked up dinner for Robyn. As Hope returned to the car, she nearly bumped into Karl, walking around from the building rear.

  "They have a bathroom inside, you know," she said as he took the takeout bags.

  He only gave her a look, the thought that he would ever piss behind a building clearly not warranting comment.

  "What did you see?" she said.

  He waved it off, but she could feel the fading chaos vibes still flowing from him.

  "Karl?"

  "I thought I was being watched. He ducked behind the building. I followed."

  "And?" Hope prompted.

  "Apparently, he didn't find the restaurant facilities to his liking."

  "Ah. See, I was partly right. My psychic skills are improving. Some one was taking a leak back there."

  He opened her door and waved her in, shaking his head.

  * * *

  ROBYN

  Robyn lay on her side, staring at Hope's hair fanning over her pillow. It had been that hair, twelve years ago, that made her decide she would not like Hope Adams.

  By that point, Robyn and her classmates had pretty much decided they weren't going to like any of the girls they'd been teamed up with for the fund-raiser. After all, they were private school brats, rich little snobs. The popular clique times ten.

  Robyn and her friends didn't envy those girls their manicured nails and platinum credit cards. Perish the thought. No, they pitied them. Those poor privileged girls, destined for a life stuck in a fifties time warp, as pampered and petted housewives who would one day be chugging back Cosmos at the golf club, whining about their husband's fling with the nanny, while Robyn and her classmates worked in board rooms and surgeries, changing the world.

  And Hope Adams? The moment Robyn had been assigned to her as a partner, she'd known who'd be doing all the work - and it wasn't the pretty girl with the flawless skin and long black curls.

  That had been Robyn's first lesson in stereotypes. While Hope could play debutante with the best of them, she was happiest in blue jeans, kicking back with friends or chasing down one of her weird tales, not giving a rat's ass what anyone thought of her.

  Now Hope was here, sound asleep beside her, exhausted after find
ing Robyn, nursing her out of her shock, then racing off trying to solve two murders, which Robyn was suspected of committing. And what had Robyn done? Sat on her ass in a hotel room, scarfing down brownie bites and watching TV, like the pampered princess she'd once thought Hope.

  When Hope called to say they had the laptop, what had Robyn done? Asked whether her apartment was still under guard? Whether the police had searched it? Whether Hope had looked at the photo yet? Nope. Total disinterest in the situation.

  That had to end. She'd had twenty-four hours to recover from the shock, wallow in self-pity and clear her head. Time to start helping herself.

  A key turned in the door lock. Robyn went still. Hope rolled onto her back and pushed up onto her elbows. The second bed was empty. Robyn shut her eyes as the door creaked open.

  "Is everything okay?" Hope whispered.

  "It took a while to find an open drugstore," Karl said.

  A rattle, like pills in a bottle.

  "Ah, thank you," Hope said. "You're a saint."

  "Credits. Rack in' 'em up."

  Hope's soft laugh. Pills clicked again, Karl shaking them into Hope's hand. A gulp of water. The mattress moved as Hope lay down again. A soft voice, too low to make out. Robyn cracked open her eyes to see Karl bending over Hope, whispering. She nodded and murmured, "Good," then pulled the covers up.

  Karl stood there, watching Hope. His expression made Robyn ache. She knew they were being careful around her. No embraces or kisses. No words of affection. Sleeping in separate beds. It didn't matter. What hurt most were the little things that she'd always taken for granted with Damon, the touches, the looks that said "I love you" better than any words.

  At Damon's memorial, her sister, Joy, had sat with her, holding her hand, saying, "He loved you, Rob. He really loved you." Now, as she watched Karl looking down at Hope, the envy and the yearning cut deep, and she understood what her sister had felt all those years, watching her and Damon, yearning for something Joy had never found.

  Robyn should call her sister. It had been weeks since they'd spoken. Her family respected her need for privacy and trusted Robyn to climb back onto her feet, because that's the kind of person she was. She'd failed them, retreating deeper into her hole, no longer even looking for a way out. If they ever found out, they'd blame themselves for giving her that space.

  Well, no more. It was time to fight.

  * * *

  FINN

  Finn's phone rang at 3:45 a.m. He answered on the second ring.

  It was Luis Madoz, one of the detectives helping on the Kane murder. Another officer had picked up a guy trying to fence a diamond bracelet to an undercover officer. The officer ran it and discovered it was registered. The owner? Portia Kane.

  When they'd brought the guy in, Madoz had noticed he was wearing shoes with a distinctive tread that seemed to match a partial print found in Kane's blood.

  "I've sent it to the lab for a definite answer, but it sure as hell looked like it to me. And the guy still has a stamp on his hand from Bane Thursday night. Thought you might want to come down."

  When Finn arrived, he found himself looking for Trent. He wasn't really hoping to see him, but he wouldn't have been disappointed if he did.

  Madoz updated him as they walked through the station. They'd lifted a single set of prints from the gun, but until they had Robyn Peltier, they couldn't test for a match. Her record was spotless - not so much as a traffic ticket.

  The dress they'd found at Judd Archer's - matching the one Peltier had been seen wearing - was being tested for gunshot residue. If it came back positive, great. Otherwise, it didn't prove anything. The residue wouldn't necessarily transfer onto a dress with short sleeves.

  As for the gun itself, the serial number had been filed off, but poorly, and the techs still hoped to lift something. The missing serial number suggested premeditated murder or, at the very least, someone who carried a gun presuming he might need to use it.

  Neil Earley was a junkie college kid, a type that, in Finn's opinion, wasn't nearly uncommon enough.

  Finn had gone to college himself - Oklahoma State - and it had been a struggle. Not the work itself. He was no genius, but he showed up and did the work, and most times that was all it took to succeed at anything in life. The tough part had been paying for it. His family couldn't afford college, and where he came from, credit wasn't an option. You paid your way up front. Paying for tuition himself meant he sure as hell showed up for every class and got his last nickel's worth. Drinking and shooting up and clubbing your way through college? Made no sense to him.

  Maybe in ten years, these kids would look back and regret it. Or maybe they'd look back and yearn for those carefree days. One thing this particular kid would regret was being at Bane that night, heading for the bathroom, hearing a hysterical server telling her colleague that there was a dead girl back there who looked like Portia Kane.

  Earley hadn't been too stoned to see an opportunity. He'd snuck back, cell phone in hand, ready to take pictures of the dead celebutante. Then came regret number two - that he'd invested his money in drugs instead of a better cell phone. The pictures had been too dark - Finn could barely make out the shape of a person let alone identify it as Kane.

  As Earley had been looking for a light switch, he'd heard people coming and saw, glittering on Kane's wrist, the second opportunity to profit from her misfortune. Having no idea how to sell a diamond bracelet, he'd gone to the only criminal contact he knew. His dealer was another college boy who knew zip about fencing jewels, but had offered to ask around for a cut. So Neil Earley had ended up in an alley, offering the bracelet to an undercover cop.

  Finn would make sure someone followed up on the kid's story and charge him with theft - maybe that would make him appreciate college more - but he had little doubt Earley was telling the truth. That meant he needed a suspect, and Robyn Peltier had regained her spot as the person he most needed to question.

  "We've got her family," Madoz said as they grabbed coffee. "They're in Philly. Parents still married, still residing in the same house where Peltier grew up. He's an engineer. She's a nurse. No criminal records for either."

  "Shit," said a voice behind Finn. "You'd better get the SWAT team up there, pronto. I'm sure they're harboring their dangerous fugitive daughter, got the place rigged up like Waco."

  Finn looked over to see Trent sitting on a desk two rows away.

  "Good thing I came back," Trent continued. "Because, man, if you were any farther a field, you'd be standing in the parking lot."

  "If she's innocent, why'd she run?"

  "I... don't know," Madoz said, eyeing him as if this was a pop quiz. "Do you think she is?"

  "Sorry. I was thinking out loud."

  Madoz tried to look as if this didn't bother him and failed miserably.

  "She ran because she's scared," Trent said. "She's never had any trouble with the law and all of a sudden she's caught over the body of her dead client. She panicked. Now she's trying to figure out how to fix it, and splashing her photo across the papers isn't going to help."

  "Finn?" Madoz said as Finn listened to Trent.

  "Sorry, you were saying about the parents... ?"

  Madoz hesitated, making sure Finn's attention wasn't going to wander before answering. "I've persuaded a couple of Philly detectives to stop by and talk to the parents, save us the trip. Is there anything specific you want?"

  "Ask if they know Robyn's friends. I'm specifically interested in a young woman who might be in L.A. right now. Probably Indo American. Could be a journalist. Maybe high society."

  "Sounds like a gossip columnist."

  "Just tell them to take down information on any friend who could pass for Indo American."

  Trent sighed. "You are so far out in left field, you're - "

  "Can you hold on a sec?" Finn asked Madoz. "Be right back."

  "Rule one," Finn murmured when he and Trent were in the empty hall. "Don't talk to me with others around."

 
; "Hey, you don't have to answer."

  "Rule two, if you're going to take off, warn me."

  "I didn't take off. I tried to get your attention when you left that apartment, and you couldn't see me. Then I lost you, so I hung around the apartment, seeing if I could find anything you missed before coming to the station to wait."

  Finn had a good sense for when people were telling the truth and when they weren't, and one glance at Trent told him the split was about fifty-fifty.

  Trent hurried on before Finn could call him on it. "While I was at the apartment, though, I saw something. There was a kid trying to break into Robyn's apartment after you left."

  Finn stopped walking. "Break in?"

  "With lock picks, no less. One of your guys spotted him, but he hid those picks and spun a story so fast your officer let him go."

  "I'll follow up on that."

  "Good, because this woman you seem so set on - "

  "Trent?"

  "Yes?"

  "Did you see me interviewing a kid a few minutes ago?"

  "The dumb-ass college boy? Sure, but - "

  "He's being processed. Go keep an eye on him."

  "But - "

  "Go."

  Finn walked back into the detective room and found Madoz at his desk.

  "Do you have the paperwork on Robyn Peltier's husband?"

  "Right here." Madoz thumbed through his stack. "I don't see a connection. Just a random act of stupidity. Classic case of why it might not be wise to let Joe - or, in this case, Jane - Citizen carry a gun."

  "What happened?"

  "Woman was mugged by gangbangers. Gets herself a gun. Few months later, she's on the highway at night, blows a tire. Guy pulls over to help. She sees a black guy coming at her car with a tire iron and shoots him."

  "Black guy..."

  "With a tire iron. Like maybe so he can change your tire, you dumb bitch?" He handed Finn the file. "The guy was a junior high teacher coming home from a conference. Wearing a dress shirt and slacks. Driving a Honda. Clearly a badass carjacker."