Page 26 of The Devil Went Down to Laughlin
Too bad she hadn’t looked far enough ahead to learn that going to Laughlin had been a very bad idea.
“And I suppose you’ve shown up here to lend a hand?” Caleb asked.
“Yes,” Ty replied. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought we’d arrive at this juncture quite so soon. But she’s put herself in a place where our adversaries thought it best to move against her.”
Caleb didn’t bother to ask how Ty knew all this. When you were dealing with angels or part angels or whatever, you had to learn to expect the unexpected.
At least it seemed as if they were on the same side. Never in a million years had Caleb ever thought he’d be fighting on the side of the angels, but he’d been to Hell and knew all too well that throwing in your lot with a bunch of demons was a recipe for disaster.
Mostly, he wished he could have stayed somewhere in the middle and been allowed to live his life without a bunch of complications, but it didn’t seem as if the universe was going to grant him that grace.
“Well, I can probably use the help,” he said. “In fact, I was getting ready to head down to Laughlin. I’m just waiting for Pru.”
“‘Pru’?” Ty repeated, even though Caleb had a feeling the guy knew perfectly well who she was.
“Delia’s friend, Prudence Nelson,” he explained. “I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a private investigator along.”
Ty didn’t reply right away, and something in his expression was almost thoughtful, as if he was pondering this latest development and trying to decide whether he should argue or just let it be.
Apparently, it was the latter, because he nodded.
“She could be of some help.”
The doorbell rang again. Since they’d remained in the foyer while they talked, Caleb didn’t have to go very far to open the door and let Prudence Nelson in. The last time he’d seen her, she’d had ombre purple hair that was almost inky violet at the roots and had faded to pale lavender at the ends, which had just barely brushed her collarbones. Now, though, it had been dyed a deep forest green, striking against her pale skin and dark eyes. As far as he could tell, she didn’t seem to wear anything except black, maybe because that way her clothes would always go with her hair, no matter what color it was that month…or maybe week. He didn’t see her enough to know for sure how often she changed her hair. The only thing he did know was that she must either have iron tresses or the world’s best colorist, because her shoulder-length locks didn’t look fried despite all the torture she must put them through.
She said a brief hello to Caleb, but almost immediately, her gaze tracked to Ty.
“This is Ty Carter,” Caleb said. He hated to waste time on introductions, but it would have been rude not to say anything at all. “Ty, this is Pru Nelson, Delia’s friend.”
“Hi,” she said.
“Hello,” he replied. For a second, his gaze remained on her face — not long enough to be considered rude, but enough that Caleb couldn’t help noticing.
Did the half angel think she was pretty?
Possibly. She actually was attractive despite the crazy hair, thanks to her delicate features and big dark eyes. Not his type — he wasn’t into the gamine look — but he could see why she might have piqued Ty’s interest.
If that was even the reason for the lingering stare. For all Caleb knew, the half angel was just trying to take her measure and make sure she’d be enough help to justify bringing her along.
Not that it mattered. This mission had been his idea, and he was the one who had the final say on who was included.
“Okay, enough chitchat,” he said briskly. “We need to get going. I know where Delia was when she disappeared, so we’ll go there first and see what we can find.”
“Sounds good,” Pru said. For the first time, Caleb noticed that she had a large black canvas satchel slung over one shoulder, and he guessed it probably held her laptop and whatever other supplies she’d thought she might need for the investigation.
“Yes,” Ty chimed in. “We should get on the road…before it’s too late.”
Chapter Seven
Pru rode shotgun. She’d claimed that she got queasy when she rode in the back seat, and maybe that was nothing more than the truth. Ty hadn’t seemed inclined to argue, and they left the house a little before four o’clock, just as rush hour was starting to ramp up.
At this time of year, they’d have daylight well past seven. Still, Caleb couldn’t quite ignore the tight feeling in his stomach, the worry that made him push the Range Rover — he’d come to love his Mercedes, but the big SUV was much better suited to taking multiple people along on a road trip — well past the posted speed limit of seventy miles per hour.
If he got a speeding ticket, no big deal.
However, so far he hadn’t spied any state troopers, and he prayed his luck would hold, mostly because he was far more concerned about the delay getting pulled over might cause than how much such an inconvenience would cost. And although everyone in the vehicle had stayed pretty quiet while they were within city limits, once they were out on the open road, Pru shifted in her seat so she could look over her shoulder at Ty.
“So…how do you know Delia?”
