Page 9 of Dancing with My Elf
I leaned forward in my desk chair. “What did she say?”
“She asked me if we’d got him.” Pandora paced before my desk. “I tried to get more info. She said she wanted to keep her call anonymous because she was afraid of him, but she revealed she was a witch and knew he was a demon. He’d tried to use dark magic to capture her, but she was able to block it with a defensive spell and get away. She thought he ran into the club but this morning, isn’t sure. When I asked her what he looked like, she didn’t have much. She’d been so focused on getting away when he’d accosted her from behind, that she fought like hell and didn’t get a good look. But she did see him run away. He was big—at least six-and-a-half feet tall—and wore a black hood and cape.”
“Oh, hell.” I stood.
Pandora tapped her fingers on my desk. “Can you go back to that club tonight and scour the area, both inside and out?”
“Of course.”
I studied a map of the location along the waterfront while I ate lunch to get a better sense of the area. My phone rang. It was Nova.
“Hey, Nova, what’s up?”
“I spoke to Lucas, and he agreed to talk to you,” she said.
A flash of abs and an impressive package appeared in my mind. I blinked it away. The more appropriate response would be that this would benefit the investigation. “Great. When?”
“He’s working tonight. Do you want to meet us at the house?”
“Sure, I’ll be there in about half an hour.”
“Perfect,” Nova replied. “See you then.”
“Wait. What can you tell me about him?”
“Lucas?” Nova asked.
I exhaled to keep my voice neutral. “Yes.”
“He’s a good guy. Fun, easygoing. I’ve never seen him in a bad mood.”
The guy I saw dancing definitely appeared to be having a good time. “It’s an interesting career choice he’s made,” I noted. Why did I ask this? It didn’t have any bearing on the investigation.
Nova replied, “Yeah. You get used to it.”
I bit my lip, attempting to bite back the question on my mind. “It must make dating difficult.”
Did I really voice my thought? Why on earth did I ask her about his love life? I don’t care. I don’t!
“Relationships, maybe. As for dating, well, I doubt he’s ever lonely,” Nova replied.
I frowned and then raised my chin.Not my concern.
“Why do you ask?” Her tone lilted. “Interested?”
“Ha, no. Not at all,” I denied, a bit too quickly, while the tips of my ears burned. I shuffled some papers on my desk. “I’m a detective, Nova. I ask questions to see if it leads anywhere. And since I’ve seen many cases with jealous lovers or spouses implicated in crimes of passion, it’s one of the first things I ask.”
What Lucas’s love life had to do with searching the club for demons was a stretch.
“Ah right,” she replied with amusement. “Oh, Gianna might be here when you come. She said she’d stop by.”
“Great.” I’d met Nova’s friend, Gianna, while responding to threats in town. She’d had the unfortunate luck of being captured twice. She’d been kidnapped by the demon that Nova had overcome. Later, she’d been restrained by demons who had teamed up with sirens, a wicked group that had attempted to overthrow the Network and seize power of Salem.
Not on my watch. I’d do anything to stop those monsters. Anything.
I filled Nova in on what I’d learned from Pandora this morning, and something came to mind. It was opportunistic and probably wouldn’t fly, but if it could help us with this case, I had to put it out there. “Since Gianna has been near the demons, she might be able to identify one. Do you think she’d be open to go to the club with us tonight?”
Nova paused. “What for?”
