rewarding my insolence with a slight smile. “I’m here for a couple of other reasons. One is to thank you for tracking Blake.” He reached inside his breast pocket and pulled out a checkbook. “I would like to pay for your services.”
I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary. I don’t want your money.” I didn’t say “dirty money,” but I didn’t need to. My tone made it quite clear.
“As you wish.” He put away his checkbook. “That makes telling you the other reason I’m here a little difficult.”
“You want me to track someone else,” I said, venturing a guess as to why turning down his money would do that. He was probably used to paying everybody off and getting whatever he wanted. Not here.
“You’re very intuitive, Ms. Sunder.”
“Unless it’s a mate, I’m afraid I can’t help you this time.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but the door behind him opened with a chime and my next-door neighbor stepped inside.
“Everything all right, Toni?” Jake asked, sizing Ulfen up as if he were a chew toy he meant to tear to pieces with his sharp teeth.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Mr. Erickson was just leaving.”
“I know you don’t like me,” Ulfen said. “I know you’re Stephen’s friends and that contributes to your aversion to me. He and I haven’t seen eye to eye in a while, but my son may not be who you think he is.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose, betraying his surprise. I tried to hide my own bewilderment but didn’t quite manage. Noticing, Ulfen took a step closer.
“You know something, don’t you?”
I pursed my lips, refusing to say anything. I didn’t trust Ulfen. For all I knew, he was working with his son, pulling some elaborate prank on the whole city.
“He was trying to frame me for his kidnapping and Blake’s murder,” Ulfen said. “But Blake is very alive as you helped prove. Thanks to you he’s behind bars and linked to rhabo trafficking.”
“He wasn’t trying to frame you,” I said, not to defend Stephen, I knew he was guilty, but to try to figure out why Ulfen thought his own son was behind this. “He was concerned about you.”
“Rest assured, Ms. Sunder, my son was behind hiring that mage, Jenson, to stage an attack against him. He also faked his own kidnapping, all in the hopes of getting rid of me. He’s a good actor, don’t you think?”
“What proof do you have?”
“Ever since he returned from New Orleans, Stephen hasn’t been himself. His behavior has been erratic and strange. Before I was arrested, I put a tail on him, for his protection—at least that’s what I thought—but I was in for a surprise and discovered that he’s running an orchestrated campaign to create unrest between werewolves and vampires. The rhabo trafficking is only one part of his deranged scheme.”
Surprised to find out that Ulfen was on the same page about Stephen as we were, I didn’t know what to say.
Seeing that he had my complete attention, Ulfen went on. “Something isn’t right about him, and I’m afraid someone might be manipulating him.”
“Now,” Jake said, “that just sounds like wishful thinking. First you think he’s a criminal, and then you don’t.”
“Maybe, but it’s not unheard of. He’s been wearing this... pendant.” He made a gesture towards his neck. “I’d never seen it before he went to New Orleans, and he seems very protective of it.”
Jake made a sound in the back of his throat and raised an eyebrow.
“Do you know what he’s talking about?” I asked.
Jake nodded. “I’ve seen it. Stephen already had it when I met him, and yes, he’s protective of it. He never takes it off. He told me it was a family heirloom.”
“It isn’t,” Ulfen assured us.
“Are you suggesting someone is controlling him through the pendant?” Rosalina asked.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
She shifted in her desk chair. “Do you have any idea who?”
“I don’t, but I was hoping that you could help me find out. If I could get a hold of that pendant and bring it to you, maybe you can track the person who gave it to him.”
“How would you do that if he never takes it off?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Ulfen shook his head, two deep frown lines appearing across his forehead. “I can figure something out.”
I considered for a moment as I thought of Stephen at the mercy of some evil mastermind. If he was being controlled, I had to help him.
“That may not be necessary,” I said, speaking under