Personal Demon (Otherworld 8)

"You said he goes by Jaz. Is that one z? Two? Or an s?"

A snort, clearly contemptuous of the moniker in general and not about to speculate on the specifics.

I continued. "So Hope found no sign of chaos at the apartment, and you discovered no extraneous trails or blood--"

"No, I said I told her that."

"Ah." I sipped my coffee and waited. It took a few moments, but he finally went on.

"There was blood under an armchair that, judging by the marks in the carpet, had been moved to cover it. And there was a bloody rag in the bushes below the balcony."

"But you kept this from Hope?"

His tone frosted. "It was spatter under the chair. Just enough to make a mess and there wasn't much more on the rag, meaning no one's dead or seriously injured. If Hope knew, she'd worry and she's already worrying enough."

I took the rest of the details, then signed off.

I was jotting down a list of steps to pursue when Paige appeared, this time bearing toasted and buttered English muffins for two, and a coffee for herself. I took the plate and mug and filled her in.

"I don't think your father's involved," she said finally.

That was, as she knew, my first question and the one I least trusted myself to answer.

"I'm not discounting the possibility--" she said.

"Always wise," I murmured.

"--but, unless I'm missing an angle, I can't see the advantage for him. He hired Hope to infiltrate the gang. Granted, he's also hoping to woo her to the dark side, but he's a practical man, and he'll want value from the job, so there's no sense sending her in if he plans to squash any whiff of rebellion three days after she starts."

"Agreed."

"Has she spoken to your dad since?"

"She was supposed to check in this morning, but Karl turned off her alarm and made the call himself. Probably wise. He's better equipped to gauge my father's reaction."

She nodded. "When it comes to bullshit detecting, Karl's a natural."

"He told my father that Hope had been on a job with the gang the night before and was still sleeping and, according to Karl, my father gave no indication that this was a surprise or that he was expecting anything else. He told Karl she could call later if she wished, or wait until tomorrow's check-in."

"Any chance these guys took off?"

I tore a piece of my muffin. "Hope says they were happy with the gang, even after being beaten and robbed. And Karl concurs. They weren't going anywhere from what he could see."

"So what are their theories?"

"Hope suspects rogue elements in the Cabal."

"Like what happened to her."

"Precisely. Karl is looking at an inside job, specifically the gang leader. He wants me to investigate him."

"The leader has a beef with the Cortezes so he takes out his own guys and blames the Cabal? Devious. Not surprised Karl came up with that one. What does Hope think?"

"He hasn't mentioned it to her. He's also not telling her about the blood, which, admittedly, I don't understand. Hope's hardly the sort to fly into histrionics at the supposition that these young men met with violence."

"She's involved with one of them."

I frowned.