Leo loaded up another nacho. “Exactly. She’d get pissed about all the unwanted attention.”
I wasn’t sure I was buying his tale of hottie woe. “You’ve never taken one these bimbos up on their offer?”
Leo finished chewing and looked down at the table. “I didn’t say that. I just said I know better now.”
“So you really can’t turn off the animal magnetism thing?”
He shook his head. “There isn’t any way. My dad tried every way possible to alter his appearance. No matter how ugly he was or how few teeth it looked like he had, women always responded like, well,” he glanced at the waitresses, “this.”
“If you flip your hair and say ‘Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,’ I’m out of here.”
Leo let out a way too dramatic, long-suffering sigh. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Okay. Fine. If I can get the names of the senior staffers and your father doesn’t recognize any of them, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll have the PI check for anybody who raises red flags. Gambling debts, drug problems, whatever.”
“I don’t understand. Isn’t it a violation to reveal the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. to a PI?”
“Veronica’s a former staffer. She remarried and joined her husband, a PI. She already knows, so I’m not violating anything.”
“If she was a staffer, doesn’t she have the names?”
He shook his head as he finished off another chip. “She knows some, but she’s been out for seven years. Things may have changed.”
“Why do you think it’s a staffer? Because of the Summit, or because they have access?”
“Both. Money can be a powerful motivator.”
“Then you’re thinking that they were paid to set up your dad.”
“Maybe.”
“Then it could be anybody. How would you figure it out?”
“I’d get the staffer to talk.”
Oh, sure. That wouldn’t be a problem. “You think they’ll just tell you the truth?”
“I’ll do what I have to do.” He studied me for a minute. “Jen, I probably shouldn’t tell you this part, but you need to understand that the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. or one of the employees probably is involved. The PI asked Dad all kinds of questions about the events of the week before the thefts. The only thing he remembered was a feeling that he was being watched.”
“We’re always being watched,” I said with a shrug.
“This is different. The PI got surveillance photos from cameras around town. Places Dad went during that time. A black Lexus crossover was following him. We saw it in over half of the videos.” He pulled up some photos and showed me the laptop. A blurry crossover was in every shot. “The plates from the Lexus froze the PI’s computer.”
“So they really are connected to the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E.”
“Yes. Maybe Dad’s enemies. Maybe not.”
“How many enemies does your father have?”
Leo opened a file and hit page down to show page after page of names and pictures.
Oh my God. He must have had some wild days. “Does he have any friends at all?”
“Katie. His fiancée. The others have turned on him since the imprisonment. They were all willing to believe the worst.”
“And Katie isn’t a genie?”
He shook his head. “She’s a nutrition professor at Emory.”
“Does she know about him?”
“Only since he proposed.”
“Does she believe it?”
He shoved his hand through his hair. “She does now.”
The woman would be magically prevented from telling anyone about genies. She probably didn’t believe it at all. “How long have they been dating?”
“Five years,” he answered. “Dad really cares about her. I think he would have married her already if it weren’t for the genie thing.” Leo took a sip of his coke. “She’s a vegetarian. My dad is like the original carnivore. He practically lived on burgers and steak. But he gave up meat for her.” Leo met my eyes. “He doesn’t even cheat when she’s not around. He seriously gave it up.”
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like watching a parent date. Just about everyone I knew had divorced parents, but mine seemed happy together. Thank goodness. “Do you like her?”
“She’s great.” His features relaxed as he talked. “Dad never dated anyone close to his own age before. Except my mother.”
I didn’t ask, but he answered anyway.
“The Oversight Committee paid her off when I was born. She never looked back.”
Illegitimate children were a huge problem in the genie world. Non-genies raising those powerful children could really cause problems. Most of the time, the Committee handed over big bucks for custody of the child. Now I knew what had happened to his mother. “I’m sorry.”
“No big deal.”
“Your father raised you?” I dug into the chips again.
“No. My grandmother did. When she died, my dad stepped up, and he’s been there for me ever since.”
His grandmother could only have raised him if she had been bonded to his grandfather. Leo was lucky his grandparents had married, or he would have been sent to a foster home.
I’d never been so glad that I would never have a child who was a genie. My granddaughter would be a genie, but my daughter would not. Neither would my sons. Unless, a little voice in the back of my mind said as I studied Leo, you have a child with a male genie. I shrugged off the thought. Leo was dangerously sexy, and I shouldn’t even be here.
“I should get home,” I said. What was wrong with me? Having children was something I never thought about. I didn’t even sit around daydreaming about a husband like those girly girls in the wedding movies.
Leo checked his watch. “Ian said we’d practice at five.”
I glared at him. Thanks for the reminder. I took a sip of tea. “You know that spot in the band was mine.”
“It’s just temporary,” Leo said. “Give me a couple weeks, and then it’s yours.”
&nbs
p; “You don’t even want to be in the band?”
“It’s been kind of cool, but basically I just needed access to your house and your family.”
“We won’t even discuss how creepy that is.”
“I’ve been messing around with the drums for a while, so when I heard about Ian needing a drummer—”
Wait a minute. “Messing around? Can you even really play?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Of course I can play.”
“How long have you been playing?”
With a shrug, he said, “You know that doesn’t have anything to do with it.”
My jaw dropped. “Of course it does. What are you saying? That you have more raw talent than me?”
Leo gave me a funny look before he answered. “No,” he admitted. “I’m as good as the average high school senior. That’s all I needed. Honestly, it isn’t like your brother’s songs are all that complicated.”
“No way are you as good as me.”
Leo’s lips quirked at the corners. “I’m probably not as good as you, Jen, but I have the look your brother was going for.”
“True, but you’ve got to pace Ian. He tends to rush the song, and you’ll all end up sounding horrible.”
“No problem.” He studied me for a moment then started to say something but stopped. Finally, he said, “You’re worried about Ian? You can be sure that I have the skills his band needs. You should know that.”
“Maybe I just don’t want him to ruin his reputation before I get my turn in the band.”
“Sure,” Leo said fighting a grin. He shut down the laptop and put it back in the case.
I had the strangest feeling that I had missed out on part of the conversation.
Chapter Five
By the time Leo pulled the car into my driveway, I had decided that there was more to Leo’s father than met the eye. The troublemaker that Leo described would not drive this sunshine yellow, politically-correct car. Maybe Leo was right. Maybe his father had reformed.
Could someone really have framed him for the thefts? Leo was right about one thing, I did not want to be next. My mother would die if I was convicted of a crime, and wasting away in the other realm wouldn’t be a picnic for me either.