Page 93 of Bright Dark Curses

“He didn’t use Bagley?” I asked.

“He always said why go for the jack of all trades when you can hire the expert?”

I was so saving that for the next time Bagley said something rude. Which would be about ten seconds after I freed her from her plastic container. I could hardly wait.

“I remember that,” Ian murmured. “Mom said he used to say that a lot.”

“Oh, I know, believe me,” Hutton said dryly. “He all but tattooed it on my forehead.”

The two men shared a glance, and something seemed to thaw between them. Ian’s straight line of a mouth softened, and Hutton’s shoulders lost some of the tension they’d gained as he’d mentioned their dead father.

I stood, walked up to Hutton, and gave him a hug.

“What are you doing?” he exclaimed, disentangling himself from my arms.

“You looked like you needed a hug.” I sniffed loudly.

“What? No!” He sounded so outraged I wanted to laugh.

Instead, I moved to Ian and sat on his lap to give him a hug too. “You also get one,” I whispered into his ear.

“I was getting worried,” he murmured back. He caught my gaze and kept it.

Dru threw a piece of bagel at my head. “Concentrate, Hope.”

“Sorry.” I slid off Ian’s lap and began pacing by the table. “Charles McKee is a witch, has good motive and great opportunity. We should definitely look into him. Ethan, do you have his home address?”

“I can try to find out.” He didn’t sound sure, though.

I turned to Ian. “Can you?”

He leaned back against his chair and linked his fingers over his taut stomach. “I can use internet searches, yes.”

“I mean the bounty hunters’ database.”

“There is no bounty hunters’ database.”

Hutton snorted and drank more coffee.

“There must be an easy way to find where he lives, this day and age,” I murmured, resuming my pacing. “We’ll check out his place and see if he has any potion-making paraphernalia. We’ll need to get a blood testing kit too to check for dark magic.”

Hutton set his cup in the sink. “I have a better idea.”

“Oh?”

His mouth curved into a humorless smile. “I’m going to pay him a visit.”

“Why?”

The smile widened, keeping a scary edge to it. “To ask him some questions.”

It suddenly dawned on me, and I felt silly for asking. McKee had possibly hurt one of his shifters, and he was ready to pay the favor back. “He’ll get spooked if you go. He’ll deny everything.”

“Oh, I have my ways.” Hutton cracked his knuckles.

“You can’t just go in there and beat him into a pulp until you have proof,” I said, worried now for McKee. “Innocent until proven guilty.”

“I have proof,” Ethan said immediately. “Messages!”

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