Part 10

The three of us spent the next four hours looking over the files Her Frosty Majesty had given me and comparing them to the info Trish and Gordan had already gotten together. Through whatever vampire-y process Trish couldn’t explain in terms I understood (something about fang sizes and pheromones), the queen had determined that nine of the eleven murders were the work of the serial killer, the girl I was tracking being one of the two not linked to the case. Also included was a list of possible suspects, which Puremount was on, thank God, and possible sources of more information. It was all neat, tidy, and way too composed. By the time I was done reading I was half convinced Gelina thought Puremount was the killer, which was ridiculous.
Trish and Gordan also had a surprising amount of information. From the list in the vampire file, they eliminated everyone except Puremount and someone called Lionel Kazarra, who was visiting a wizard named Alexander Webster, who lived in a loft over an antique store in the older parts of the city. The pair had been planning on visiting Kazarra and Webster the next afternoon to ferret out (or fabricate, since Pure was our target now) some proof to take to the queen that would get him off the list. Everything already seemed to be pointing to Pure, which had Trish and Gordan fist bumping and high fiving when we finally put the files away.
“I was afraid at first that the queen’s insights might snag our plans,” Gordan said as he walked with us out to Trish’s car, “but this is perfect. If Kazarra is innocent-“
“Which I believe, totally. Alex wouldn’t harbor a serial killer,” Trish chimed, grinning.
“Then it really is Puremount, and he will die before he can hurt anyone else.” Gordan patted my shoulder as I passed him on the way to the other side of the car. He stayed by Trish and, if I had been paying attention to them, the secret glance they exchanged would have been very interesting to poke Trish about on the car ride home, but I was miles away, trying to figure out what the uneasy feeling in my head was.
I rubbed my forehead and sighed, staring at the passenger car door as I waited for Trish to dig out her keys. “It’s too neat..”
My bestie’s head snapped up and she almost dropped her keys. “What?”
“I… I don’t know. Something feels off about this. Isn’t framing someone supposed to be hard? Don’t you guys find it weird that this is all falling neat as a set of dominos and we haven’t even done any framing yet?”
“He’s a nasty SOB, Dee. He’s always been that way. Do I believe the b*****d that almost drained you in an alley has killed people before? Hells yes. Isn’t this what you wanted?” Trish shook her head. “You’ve just been unlucky recently is all. You’re just being paranoid. Don’t overthink it, Jimmy. Pure’s a sick b*****d, and he’s our guy. It’ll be fine.”
With that Trish got in her car, and Gordan gave me a look that I knew meant that he, too, was aware with how easily this was going. We had worked a lot of cases together in the past few years, and we were both good at our jobs. Just because there were magic people involved didn’t change what our job was, at heart. We solved problems, and more than once before the easy solution had also been the trap.
“We’re due at Webster’s loft for tea at one thirty. I’ll meet you two there. And dress nice, please. Webster has a fondness for your type.”
“My what?”
Trish poked her head out her window. “You know, the small cute smart girls with sarcastic mouths. I can’t charm nothing out of him, you know since he changed my diapers, but you could smile all kinds of little tid bits outta him if you tried.”
“He changed your diapers?? How old is he?”
“I’ve no idea. Wizard that powerful tend to stop aging after thirty some years, especially if they have Fey blood like we both do. Did I mention he’s my cousin on Da’s side?”
“Is there anyone in this town you don’t know or are related to?” I asked with exasperation as I slide into the car.
“Not really. I got connections.” She laughed as she rolled her window up and left, waving goodbye to Gordan. “But really, Alex is awesome. You’ll like him. Remember Valentine’s, our third year at Cornwell, when I tried to get you to go on a blind date?”
“Yeah but I had to go back home for my yearly ‘Look Jimmy’s Alive” weekend at Grandmother Willow’s.” Trish burst out laughing at my father’s mom’s name. Yes, the woman’s name is Willow but she’s not a tree from a Disney movie. I groaned. “Oh stop it.”
“Sorry. It’s still hilarious. Anyway, Alex was the one I had been trying to set you up with. Trust me, Dee, you’ll want to look nice tomorrow. I’d wear your boots.”
“I’m being stalked by a crazed vampire that thinks he’s in love with me and is so jealous that if he can’t have me I have to die. Do you really freakin’ think I should be putting out sexy signals for ageless fairy wizards? Are you crazy?”
“You haven’t dated since Greg Ulman our last year at Cronwell and I don’t believe that sex with him was worth the time it took to get naked. You are stressed, and lonely, whither you admit it or not. If Orango could talk he would agree with me. Besides, Alex could roast Puremount in seconds and without repercussion since you know crazy fangs would go at him crazy. Self-defense would work with Her Highness better than it would in human courts.”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Okey, I’ll give it to you Greg was terrible and I’m stressed, but I am not lonely. I’m fine. Actually I think Orango might be the lonely one. He keeps doing weird stuff that I assume is because he’s never been around other cats. You know anyone with kittens that need a home?”
“No more cats, Jimmy Dee, I am NOT letting you become a crazy cat lady. You can either dress your version of ‘nice’, or I am bringing an outfit that’s my version of ‘nice’ and making you wear it. I don’t care if all you do is smile at him or laugh at his jokes, but I am not letting you throw in the love towel just ‘cause you got one creepy stalker.”
“Did I tell you the part where he’s been stalking me for seven or eight lifetimes?”
“Still doesn’t change my mind. You’re not meant to be alone all your life Jeemyma, no matter how secretive you prefer to be. We all need someone, or someones, to be whole. It’s how humans work. No one is truly happy alone.”
“Happy isn’t the issue here, Trish. It’s not safe.”
“Now you’re making excuses. You’re scared. It’s understandable, I’m freakin’ terrified I can only imagine what you are feeling, but you can’t let a b*****d run your life. Not now, not ever. Me, though, you can trust me to run your life, it’ll be great.”
“Fantastic. Not.”
“Come on, Dee. Trust me. You’re new to the game, but I’ve been here my whole life. Same with Gordan. We know how it works, and we got your back.” She stopped in front of my building and gave me a huge grin and a wink. “Besides, now I don’t have to keep secrets from you. You have any idea how hard it’s been to not chatter about half of my life with my bestie?”
That one finally got me to crack a smile at her. She really does have a talent for making me grin at the oddest times. I said good night and slid out of the car, and while I still couldn’t shake that uneasy feeling that said everything was going too well, I did feel better about, well, everything. I’d never tell Trish to her face, but she was right. I had felt alone up to that point, struggling and lost in the dark waters with a very hungry shark, but now I felt like I was in a boat with a harpoon gun in said dark, shark-filled waters. Not as good as a beach in Bora Bora, mind you, but beggars can’t be choosers.