Page 35 of Fire Dancer
Pippa nodded, then froze. “Wait a minute. You’re not suspecting them of something?” She stared at me, then sighed. “Of course you do. You suspect everyone.”
Ouch. That hurt. Doubly so because it was true.
I clenched my fists, already formulating a plan for sneaking in for a closer look. Sure, I ought to go by the books and do more investigating first — the kind that might turn up something I could use to make this case official. Things like tracking down delivery firms, interviewing employees, and scouring agency records. But all that took time.
Too much time,my wolf side warned.
I thought of Stacy. Of Pippa. Of all the other nice young men and women who would never hurt anyone, so they never suspected someone might hurt them.
People like Bridget.
My heart beat harder. “Who bought it?”
Pippa shrugged. “Someone very rich and a little loony, I guess. Who else would spend seven million on a place like that?”
Rich. Loony. That certainly rang a bell.
“You don’t know who?” I held my breath.
“Nope. But if you’ve seen one rich guy, you’ve seen them all.”
“Which you know from knowing so many rich guys?”
She gave me a haughty look. “I’ve worked in catering, mister. I’ve seen them all.”
And clearly, she wasn’t impressed.
Which was good, in a way. I wasn’t dirt poor, but I definitely wasn’t rich. So, I had that going for me in the unlikely event that I would someday bring every single criminal to justice and find myself with nothing to do. Unlikely, but hell, a man could dream.
“Harlon was a rich guy,” I pointed out. “And dangerous as hell.”
“Well, we showed him.”
Yes, Pippa, her sisters, and Nash had definitely given that warlock what he’d deserved. But it could have gone either way, and she knew it.
“What else do you know about La Puebla?”
She studied my face all too closely. “Let me guess. You think a diabolical warlock has moved in and is currently plotting to eradicate all of humankind.”
No, I suspected a diabolicalvampirehad moved in and was currently plotting something bad. Possibly even to eradicate all of humankind.
“Just tell me what you know,” I said in as neutral a tone as I could.
Pippa made a face, but she did indulge me.
“Some superrich guy from Illinois. Wait. Indiana. Or maybe Ohio…”
It was all I could do not to nod atIndiana, where Victor Jananovich hailed from.
“Anyway, somewhere over there.” She motioned vaguely, like those states were right behind Schnebly Hill. “I’ve heard he comes and stays for a few weeks, then leaves it empty for a while,then comes back. A snowbird warlock, you could say, if that’s what he is.” She chuckled at her own joke.
Snowbird vampire,my wolf muttered.
“Anyway, he brings guests with him. Paying guests,” she continued. “So, it’s like a club, I guess. A super-exclusive one.”
“How exclusive?”
“By-invitation-only exclusive. They must have done a hell of a renovation…” Then she stopped. “Uh-oh. You have those cunning wolf eyes.”