Page 70 of It All Started with a Bite

“Know anything about this paper situation, Barnabas?” Janet asked in the tone of someone who was wishing she’d never gotten out of bed that morning.

“I do not,” Barney replied coldly. “I’m not the only vampire in the building.” He sniffed. “Also, everyone knows I don’t dabble in newfangled technology.”

That explained the typewriter.

“He’s got a point,” Mindy said grudgingly.

“He has two in his mouth,” Bo said helpfully.

I hushed him.

A tentacle gestured hesitantly from behind the water cooler. “I can help you reorganize the copy machine.”

Mindy sniffed. “Thanks, Nigel. I’d really like that.”

Nigel’s tentacle blushed and brightened.

I stared before leaning sideways and hissing to Gavin out of the corner of my mouth. “Does Nigel have a thing for Mindy?”

“Yup. Three years and still going strong. We have a betting pool on how many more years it will take before he asks her out.”

I was wondering where a ghost and boogeyman would go on their first date when Didi stuck her head out of the break room. She brightened when she saw me.

“Oh good, you’re here. We need to have a meeting about—” The witch spotted the paperwork strewn across the office. Her mouth pressed to a flat line. “Those had better not be my compliance reports.”

Mindy ducked inside the copy machine.

22

Stakeout Planning

Didi slammeda file onto the conference room table, making Nigel jump and accidentally manifest several tentacles.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, quickly tucking them away.

The boogeyman looked like this was the last place he wanted to be. I didn’t blame him. It wasn’t even ten a.m. and I was more than ready to call it a day.

“Nigel’s contact at the DMV came through.” Didi opened the file and spread the contents on the table, her expression grimmer than usual. “Wheeler has multiple vehicles registered under different identities.”

I pulled some of the documents and photographs over. “How many?”

“Seven.” Didi lowered her brows. “All expensive models.”

“Why the hell would someone need seven cars?” I muttered.

“Maybe he uses one for every day of the week?” Gavin suggested distractedly. He was busy rearranging his fire extinguishers in size order on the conference table. He looked up at the sudden silence and grimaced at Didi’s scowl. “Sorry.”

“Crime sure pays, huh?” Bo had peeked his head above the table and was staring at the pictures.

“The question is, where’s he getting the money from?” Didi said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Nigel cleared his throat nervously. “I found a whole host of employment details for Wheeler under his various identities, but none of them were real.”

“I guess we won’t know the answer to any of our questions until we talk to him.” I frowned. “Any idea where he might be hanging out these days?”

“There was a recent sighting in the Crossroads,” Nigel said. “One of his vehicles is registered to an address there.”

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