Chapter 1
Percy
At first I figured the address had to be wrong. The neighborhood was still in the city and not nearly rich enough to justify the kind of rates I charged. The neighborhood didn’t need a habitat specialist and ecological engineer, they needed a wrecking ball and a hell of a lot of investment dollars.
But the caller had been rather odd, so the odd location suited. He’d claimed he had a dire need for my specialty and was willing to pay over my regular fee for an initial consultation. All I had to do was show up to the address provided, listen to his problem, and provide some recommendations. All things considered, it seemed more like the set-up of some awful horror movie than a job opportunity.
Beggars can’t be choosers, typically, and though I wasn’t a beggar, I had student loans that demanded payment every month. So I drove to the euphemistically described ‘up and coming’ neighborhood. It had previously been one of the hoity-toity parts of the city. I’d done some research the night before, just after getting the call, in order to better understand what the client might want. The house in front of me, after I parked on the curb, was an old Victorian-style monstrosity – the kind of domicile that old money called a ‘townhouse’ while they slummed it in town before going back to their mansion in the country.
I adjusted my blazer and pretended to search my folio for something as I gathered my courage and put on my professional armor. Most people didn’t expect me to show up when they hired Percy Lawson. I had to prepare to face the disappointment, disgust, confusion, condescension... any number of things that high power, rich men felt when a young woman showed up instead of the architect they’d expected.
Exactly the reason I didn’t put my picture on my website or social media profile. Well, that and I didn’t want to get calls for jobs based strictly on my face. A girl learns that lesson fast in business, or she doesn’t last long.
I squared my shoulders and made my way up the sidewalk – a little cracked in places but otherwise well-weeded and maintained – to the front porch. Lounge furniture, no doubt made of teak and a few hundred years old, crowded the length of the wraparound porch. A massive cat with a floofy tail and a curious expression lingered on the rail as I approached. He purred as loudly as the engine in my shitty sedan, and tilted his head to beg for head scritches.
I acquiesced, since he was too cute to simply bypass, and even rubbed under his chin and down his massive back. “Aren’t you a handsome devil.”
He blinked slow and long, in perfect agreement. I started to smile as petting the feline totally distracted me from why I was actually at the address. Maybe taking a job there wouldn’t be such a trial. I leaned down to kiss his head, still rubbing his chin with my knuckles. “Maybe they want a special place for you, handsome? Is that what this is?”
Some of the tension and nerves melted away. I tried not to prejudge people, since I was usually on the receiving end of that kind of judgment, but generally people who loved animals were good folks. And that cat was damn well-loved, based on his girth and pleasant demeanor.
I took a deep breath and gave him one more pat, then strode over to ring the bell. When in doubt, act like you own the space you’re in and that you have as much right to be there as anyone else.
But no one answered. I waited a few seconds, an odd feeling of unease taking root in my chest. The place was remarkably still for the middle of the day, and no cars drove down the street outside. I looked around, distracted once more as the cat hopped down to twine around my legs. I rang the bell a second time and checked my phone. I was right on time, not a minute early or late.
Maybe it was a prank call or the gruff man on the phone decided he didn’t want a habitat specialist. I clenched my jaw in irritation; nothing like wasting half the morning away from real work to indulge some rich asshole’s whim. I raised my fist to pound on the door, so maybe their damn butler would hear, but got no further as the door whipped open and an absolutely