He gave her a tight smile. “Over the last few years we’ve been investigating a man. We’ve found it impossible to get anything on him—”
“Why do you think there’s anything to get?”
“That’s where our evidence comes in, and if you agree to work with us, you’ll be shown everything. Anyway, as I said we’ve been investigating Christian Roth—”
“Stop there,” she interrupted. Now she was getting a glimmer of where this was coming from and where it was going. And she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
“You know, I thought this was something to do with my mother. But I’m guessing that’s merely an added bonus and you don’t give a fuck about a twenty-year-old unsolved murder. Or even the one that happened six weeks ago. You want me because I’m your in to Ryan.”
“It’s not that simple. We’re looking at the bigger picture. We hope to make sure that murders like these never happen again.”
“So are you saying Christian Roth murdered my mother?”
“Not necessarily. But we believe he might be implicated.”
“So he’s a vampire?” She snorted. “Yeah, of course he is. Christian Roth, billionaire businessman and vampire. You’re crazy.”
“How did your partner find Jessica Thomas?”
The question came from Father O’Brien. She frowned. “He’s a good detective?”
“Oh, we believe it was more than that. We keep an eye on these things and we think he had help. You were present that night. Tell me—was there a woman with him? A woman you didn’t know, though maybe you’d seen her before. A woman who is now working for CR International along with your former partner?”
The woman Jessica wanted to talk to.
“Who is she?” Faith asked.
Father O’Brien answered. “Witch.”
“Oh, please,” she muttered. “Next you’ll be saying that Ryan is Harry Potter in disguise or something. Anyway, she so didn’t look like a witch.” She’d looked sweet in fact, sweet and sort of wholesome.
“What do you expect, warts and a pointy hat? Evil is all around us, Detective. We cannot ignore that, and it is our duty to fight it wherever we can.”
He was beginning to sound a little fanatical and his eyes gleamed. The colonel whispered a word to him and he settled back in his seat but drummed his long, bony fingers on the table.
“The woman’s name is Rosamund Fairfax. And actually, we don’t think your partner is anything other than what he seems,” the colonel said. “But we do believe he has gotten mixed up in things beyond his comprehension and is very possibly in danger.”
“Yeah, and I’m the only one who can help him. I think Ryan is big enough and ugly enough to take care of himself. And I’m not working against him, so I suggest you find yourself another stooge.”
No way would she believe Ryan was into anything dodgy. He was one of the good guys, always would be.
The colonel pursed his lips and shrugged. “I’d like you to think about what we’ve said.” He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Call me when you’re ready to see that evidence.”
He rose to his feet, as did Father O’Brien. “May the Lord be with you and may he open your eyes to the truth.”
Faith bit back the urge to tell him to piss off. She watched as they walked out the door unable to stifle the feeling that that wasn’t the last she would see of them. The thought made her uncomfortable. She dismissed their talk of evidence. She doubted they would have anything that could make a dent in her firm conviction that the supernatural world was a load of bullshit. There was no such thing as vampires or witches, only individuals who couldn’t deal with the fact that people could be more evil than any monster they could invent. As for God and the devil—more crap.
She rubbed her forehead. At least the meeting had taken her mind off the bomb in her brain. But something told her that her time was running out. If she wanted to solve this case, she’d better get a move on. She also wanted to talk to Ryan, warn him about what was going on. He’d been a great detective and given nearly twenty years to the force. He didn’t deserve to be under suspicion now, and she wanted to give him a heads-up.
And she reckoned she had a way to do both, warn Ryan and get a handle on her case. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and punched in a number.
“Jessica, it’s Detective Connolly. I think I’ve found your mystery woman.”
…
“Are you done yet?” Asmodai made no attempt to keep the impatience from his voice. Probably not wise considering whom he was dealing with, but Lucifer’s expression showed nothing but amusement.
“This is so good,” he murmured as he glanced up from where he was bent over the table, working on the talisman.
“It is?” Asmodai’s question came out as a snarl and Luc’s lips twitched. Great.
“Yeah. Asmodai, the big bad demon, Prince of Darkness, brought to his knees by an itty-bitty girl.”
“Tara is my daughter, and I’m not on my knees.”