Page 31 of War Games

He said nothing, but his scent was enough to know he understood and trusted me with Dirk. There was a lot of fear in his scent, too, but he wasn’t angry. He wasn’t about to put up a fight, and that’s all I needed.

“Drive safe,” he said, pulling away once it lasted too long for him to be comfortable.

“We will. I’m well caffeinated.”

With that, I hauled myself into Dirk’s truck. He shook Heath’s hand and hugged Landon, whispering something that I ignored by turning on the truck, before climbing into the passenger side.

“Thanks for driving today,” Dirk said as he put his seat belt on.

“Not a problem,” I said with a smile. With a few more waves, now to the other werewolves who were parking and getting out of their own cars, we were free to go.

It was a boring drive since I didn’t broach the Dirk and Landon situation immediately. The closest witches to us were all around Dallas-Fort Worth, so the beginning of the trip wasn’t going to be difficult. We could even take the first night of it at the Dallas mansion.

“Ready to shake down some witches?” Dirk asked as we reached the first stop three hours later, on the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Let’s do this.”

I went in first to a small accountant’s office. Everyone inside seemed very human, and it was incredibly mundane. I went to the receptionist and smiled.

“Hello. I need to see a Mister James Shipley. My name is Jacky Leon. He’ll want to see me.”

The receptionist frowned and looked at her schedule, and I knew she wouldn’t find my name on her schedule.

“You normally need an appointment to see Mr. Shipley, but since we’re not in tax season, let me see if he recognizes your name, and maybe we can schedule something for this morning.”

She got up and left. There were only a few people in the office, and I didn’t mind them because Dirk was doing that for me. There was a system for things like this. I couldn’t exactly flash a badge I didn’t have, and even if I did, it wouldn’t mean anything to a random human woman. It would also bring bad news for this man’s business. I saw no reason for that type of behavior when so far, James Shipley was an innocent man who happened to do magic.

The receptionist came back quickly.

“He’ll see you now,” she said, still frowning. She must have been told to hurry and send me back.

I followed her lead with Dirk trailing behind me, watchful in case anyone made a strange move. We were led into an office where a nervous man greeted us.

“Hello, Miss Leon. It’s nice to see you again,” he said, smiling falsely as he shook my hand. “Jessica, if you would close the door, please.”

Jessica closed the door, and James relaxed only a fraction, looking at me with fear.

“Can I help you, Miss Leon?” he said, moving back to his desk and sitting down. “I thought the… the…”

I held up a hand, listening to the receptionist walk away. When she was certainly out of ear shot, I explained why I was there.

“Dirk and I are just confirming things that the Tribunal already talked to you about,” I said, sitting down across from him. “An accountant, huh? It said in the file, but this still isn’t what I expected.”

“I only have human clients,” he said, his nerves making me feel like a predator in front of a bunny rabbit. It would be so very easy for me to eat him.

“Really?” He hadn’t been lying, but that surprised me even more than the tiny operation he had.

“I was asked if I did any financial work for…them, and the answer is no, I don’t and never did work for that family. They didn’t come to me for anything, and I didn’t work in the same circles they moved in. I don’t work with any supernaturals. While I’m a trained witch, I’m very weak. I know some family recipes for incense and things in that vein, and I only use it to relax my clients because… well, money is stressful for most people. I live a quiet life and enjoy it that way. I do good business setting up retirement funds, helping pick the right investments, and things like that.”

“I see. So, you were a business that the Tribunal wanted to determine if they might have been able to follow the money. Well, if that’s all, we’ll get going.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s all,” I said as Dirk pointed at his own nose.

“We would have known if you were lying. Did you know others who worked with them?”

“No. I know people who had encountered them, but everyone knew they were… insular. They were one of those magic families who kept everything very close. The only time they interacted with anyone else was to look for the right wife or husband tokeep their power up or for the right business contact to get them good money for what sort of things they could do. I didn’t know what they had been selling until the Tribunal appeared. Everything that happened in Dallas… I wasn’t looking to take on supernatural clients, and everyone around here knows that. I don’t even work with my friends. They never approached me, thankfully. I’m not… interested in that side of being a warlock.”

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