11

The Kellies had an update for us by the time we reached my room, our unofficial office during this trip. It turned out the missing girl who provoked such a violent reaction from her grieving father was fostered. I don’t mean it in the human sense. The girl was entrusted to Olsen to raise for a powerful family in exchange for a boon. Her birth parents likely had heirs to spare and worried she would be picked off by her elder siblings in a coup when it came time for the heir apparent to come into their inheritance.

That meant no adoption paperwork, no birth record, no school records.

And, as far as the Kellies could determine, no missing persons report. Of any kind. With any agency.

“It’s like she never existed,” I muttered at my screen. “Olsen did his job of hiding her too well.”

“He also lied about reporting her missing.” Asa tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “Why bring it up when he knew we had the resources to prove he wasn’t telling us the truth?”

“Most folks wouldn’t hang around to fact-check a story in an enraged troll’s living room while he trashed the place.” Clay shrugged. “We sure didn’t. Maybe it was an act? Sell us a sob story then hit the bricks?”

“Perhaps,” Asa conceded, his expression thoughtful beneath his knotted mane of windblown hair.

“You don’t have to keep your hair like that.” I did my best not to laugh now that I had the full-on view of my handiwork. “We won’t think less of you if you go brush out the tangles.”

With only one hairband to spare, I had gathered his hair to my side of the car and plaited a single braid. I got most of it, thanks to its length, but a few flyaways had persisted. Those I shoved through loops in the braid to lock them down and keep them out of his eyes. That treatment, paired with high wind, whipped knots that would require a shower, intensive conditioner, and a comb to fix. Maybe a detangler too.

Did they even make detangler for adults?

Hmm.

Maybe that explained why his scent often carried an undertone of juicy green apples.

“I don’t mind.” He returned to his work then checked his phone. “They’re here to tow the SUV.”

“Do they need us for that?” I was busy ordering us a late lunch/early dinner online. “I can go down.”

“I tossed the keys on the front seat.” Clay kept pecking away. “They’ll text if there’s a problem.”

A chime on my phone had me searching through my pockets for it and frowning at the notification.

“Everything okay?” Clay glanced up then. “You don’t look happy.”

“It’s probably nothing.” I opened the security app to be sure. “There was movement near the house.”

Slowly, so as not to miss anything, I flipped through the various cameras.

“I don’t see anything.” I switched screens to check for missed calls. “The wards must be holding steady.”

“Colby would call if there was an issue.” Asa allowed himself a small grin. “She’s already proven that.”

“Yeah.” I forced myself to breathe. “You’re right.”

The day had been spent on travel, mostly our snail crawl back to the hotel, but it wasn’t full dark yet.

A knock on the door brought my head up, but Clay just smiled and said, “Why don’t you get that?”

One eyebrow quirking high, I answered the door to find the promised grocery delivery. A whole lot of it. Somewhere was a store without butter, sugar, flour, eggs, milk, or Clay-approved mix-ins. He also bought a muffin tin, a cookie sheet, and two cake pans with several bottles of nonstick spray.

As the nice young man loaded me down with bags, Clay scooched up behind me then nudged me aside.

Asa met me in the kitchenette, accepted the bags, and began putting away the cold items.

When he caught me staring, again, I was forced to play it off by whipping out my phone. “Smile!”

Caught off guard, Asa did not smile but raised his eyebrows in a questioning look that was now captured forever on my phone. His hair lent him a just rolled out of bed appearance while his expression threw off I haven’t had my coffee yet vibes.

Tags: Hailey Edwards Black Hat Bureau Fantasy
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