asked.
Kipa snapped his fingers. “She got her insurance bill just the other day and I know she hasn’t paid it yet. Let me go get it. It will have her license plate and the make and model on it.” He vanished down the hall toward Raven’s office.
“Viktor can ask Erica to put out an APB. If we can find the car, maybe we can find Raven.” Herne paused, looking at me. “Yutani filled me in on what happened last night. Do you think anything there might have precipitated this?”
I shrugged. “I doubt if Eldris is behind this. He seemed as eager to find out who the killer is as we are. I don’t think he wants any prying eyes on his club. Raven did mention that there was a rather obnoxious man in the Spooks—a Michael Gould. We were actually speculating on whether he might be the murderer.” I paused. “By the way, sending another Ante-Fae to watch over me? That’s tacky…but sweet.”
“Trinity’s okay. He’s an oddball, but I knew he could get in there without a fuss.” Herne gnawed on his lip, then said, “All right. When Talia and Viktor get here, have Viktor call Erica about this Michael Gould. We have to check out everything we can.”
As the three men headed toward the door, I sat down beside Raj and draped my arm around his shoulders. He looked up at me, and I could see the worry in his eyes.
“Try not to worry,” I said softly. “We’re going to do our best to find her.”
Raj leaned his head against my knee, and we sat like that until the men had left the house.
By the time Viktor and Talia got there I had gone through Raven’s phone, looking for anything that might give us a clue. There were no calls since before we went to the club. There was one text that had come through shortly before we left Fire & Fang, after our meeting in the bathroom. But the only identifier was a P for the name. It said, here’s my number. And Raven had texted back, got it.
“This wouldn’t be Gould, unless he has a weird nickname.” I frowned, chewing on my lip as I tried to figure out who it was. I thought about calling them, but that seemed a little premature. And what would I say? I found your phone number in Raven’s phone and we’re looking for her, have you seen her?
Viktor immediately called Erica, who said she would put out an APB on Raven’s car, and one on Raven, as well.
“I should call some of her friends. I know a few of them,” I said. “Maybe someone had an emergency and she drove over there.”
“But why would her phone be out in the park?” Angel said.
I shook my head. “I have no clue. But it’s worth a shot.” I pulled up Raven’s list of contacts. The first person I would call would be Llew. He was a good friend of hers and he owned the apothecary shop where Raven read tarot cards.
“Yes?” The voice on the other end sounded groggy, and not at all happy to be woken up at seven in the morning.
“Llew, this is Ember, Raven’s friend. I was wondering if she contacted you this morning? Is she by any chance over at your house?”
His grumpiness changed to curiosity. “No, should she be?”
“She seems to have disappeared. We’re trying to locate her. We found her phone, which is why I’m calling you, but her car is missing and so is she. Have you talked to her since last night?”
“No, I haven’t. She’s supposed to come down to the shop today, though. She has a couple of appointments in the afternoon. She didn’t call me to cancel.” He sounded genuinely concerned now. “Would you like me to come over? I might be able to do a Location spell to see if I can figure out anything.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, that might be helpful. We’re at her house. Kipa, Herne, and Yutani are out searching for her in the park.”
“I’ll see you in about half an hour. Have you eaten breakfast?”
Surprised by the question, I said, “No. We haven’t had a chance. Angel and I were about to eat when we got the call from Kipa.”
“I’ll stop by my husband’s coffee shop. He makes the best pastries in town. I’ll bring over something to eat. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
As he hung up, I glanced at Angel. “Her friend Llew works with