Mercy Burns (Myth and Magic 2)

“Probably.”

“And you don’t care?” I said, squinting across at him.

“Something like that.”

And he thought I was crazy? “Well, I’m not going to walk into anything blind,” I said, and reached back to grab my bag, which I’d spotted earlier on the backseat. Once I’d located the phone, I punched in Leith’s number.

“Who are you phoning?” Damon asked.

“A friend,” I said, then added when Leith answered, “Hey, babe, I need some help again.”

“You are going to end up owing me a fortune in food,” he said, voice heavy yet hinting at amusement.

“Dinner for a year is worth the price, trust me.”

“You say that now, but you’ll be complaining when you actually have to foot the bill. What can I do for you?”

“I need you to find out what you can about a club called Deca Dent. Oh, and if you can also check out a guy called Hannish Valorn for me, I’ll be eternally grateful.” I paused, then added, “But tread carefully on that one—he’s the Nevada king’s son.”

“Delightful,” he said drily. “I’m gathering you need this ASAP?”

I grinned at the exasperation in his voice. “Of course.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Oh, and Janelle says to tell Death he’s not only a fool, but he needs an attitude adjustment.”

“Several people have already told him that, including me.”

“I bet you have,” Leith said, amusement in his voice. “Oh, and there’s no death certificate for Seth Knightly. But there’s been no activity in any of his bank accounts and he hasn’t worked or paid taxes, as far as I can tell. For all intents and purposes, the man has disappeared and might well be dead.”

Which didn’t really help solve the matter one way or another. “So there’s no rumor as to why he disappeared?”

“Nothing concrete.” He hesitated. “But I did hear a whisper that he was involved in some land transaction that went sour, and had to leave the state fast.”

Instinct prickled. Maybe it was coincidence that his disappearance might have been due to a land dispute, and maybe it wasn’t. Either way, it was a rumor worth chasing.

“I gather you’re hunting up information on that?”

“Of course.”

He said it like I’d offended him, and I grinned. “Thanks.”

“No probs. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, Mercy.”

“Who was that?” Damon said as I hung up and shoved the phone back into my pocket.

His voice sounded a little tight, and surprise ran through me. “A friend, as I said. He runs Phoenix Investigations, a very successful PI agency.”

“And this Janelle he mentioned?”

“You were listening? That’s not very polite.”

“If you wanted to keep the conversation private, you should not have had it in the car.”

Again there was a touch of tightness in his voice, and I shifted to look at him. “You’re annoyed.”

“Of course I’m annoyed. I was just called a fool by someone I don’t even know.”

I grinned. “Janelle’s a psychic who works for Phoenix. I think she’s older than the moon itself, and she’s very forthcoming with her opinions.”