How to Rattle an Undead Couple - Hailey Edwards Page 0,36
and investigations that stretched across state lines as the perpetrators were hunted down for prosecution.
“The two apps ought to be integrated, on our end, so that we can crosscheck renters by ID and photo.”
“Punt it over to Bishop,” Corbin suggested. “He loves that kind of thing.”
“That’s another item for our to-do list. We need to find our own Bishop. We can’t depend on Atlanta’s resources forever. Hadley has been generous, but she needs them focused on their own work.”
“I would volunteer for duty, but I can’t even remember my password for online banking.”
The surprise of learning Grier was pregnant, and the concerns of what, exactly, she carried had stalled out much of their plans for the year. They had put off assembling her a local team in favor of leaning on his former Atlanta team to see them through. With the baby—their son—due in two weeks…
“Two weeks,” he murmured. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
When Corbin raised his eyebrows, Linus filled him in on what he had overheard.
“It sounds like they wanted your mother out of the picture before the baby made his debut.”
Though he agreed, it made no sense. “What does one have to do with the other?”
Aside from the obvious, that it would have ruined their son’s birthday and shifted the focus from him onto the Grande Dame’s disappearance, much as the shower had been ruined for the same reason.
“I’m not sure.”
The doll was another riddle to solve, but Lacroix was dead and gone. How that related to his mother, he had no clue. Unless they were dealing with two separate incidents? A taunt for Grier and the abduction.
“I hate to bail on you.” Corbin rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been up going on thirty-six hours. My brain is mush.”
“I need to check on Grier.” The tenuous connection between his mother’s kidnapping and his wife’s pregnancy spooked him enough he wouldn’t be able to think straight until he saw her again. “I’ll take you to Woolworth House. I can coordinate with the Atlanta team until dusk.”
“That works for me.” They started the short walk to the van. “What about Leisha?”
“We’re bringing her with us.”
They couldn’t risk locking her in a public cell at the Lyceum until dusk. Furious as she was, she would talk to anyone who would listen. The longer his mother’s disappearance went unnoticed, the better for the stability of their community.
Corbin connected the dots quickly. “Lethe?”
“She can spare guards to keep an eye on Leisha until dusk. Grier can question her then.”
“You’ve changed.” Corbin grinned his approval. “I didn’t realize I’d been gone that long.”
The endorsement puzzled him. “What do you mean?”
“There was a time when you wouldn’t have let Grier anywhere near this. Yet here you are, letting your very pregnant wife interrogate criminals.”
“Marriage is, among other things, an agreement to share your entire life with someone.” Linus cut him a look. “I don’t keep secrets from Grier.”
“Still impressive.”
“It helps I can go weeks without sleep, that our property is regularly patrolled by a gwyllgi pack, its alpha pair among them, and the wards on Woolworth House are all but impenetrable.”
Corbin chuckled under his breath. “I feel like I should be taking notes.”
“Imagine the wisdom I will have amassed by the time you decide to settle down,” Linus said sagely, amusement thick in his voice. “I could keep a notebook to record my wisdom.”
“I’m not sure settling down will happen, but you keep that notebook.” Corbin flashed a smile. “I’m sure Grier would laugh herself silly reading it.”
Beneath the joking, Linus sensed real sorrow. “Your situation is complicated.”
“I’m going to live forever. I didn’t want that. I didn’t expect it. I’m going to outlive everyone and everything I know, and that includes girlfriends or wives or…”
Children.
“It’s widely believed your offspring will be like you,” Linus offered. “There are no guarantees, of course. Not enough is known about your breed of vampire.”
An edge crept into his voice. “I’m not willing to sire a child out of curiosity.”
“I’m not suggesting you do.” Though once he might have, given his own lack of empathy when gripped with overwhelming curiosity.
All that kept him from becoming another Leisha was Grier’s humanizing influence. He had been cold, and he had been clinical in the past. He endeavored to leave both behind going forward to embrace a warmer worldview, one he could share with his empathetic wife.
The trip home always took too long, each mile stretching double that, but Linus made it in record time.
“I’m starving,” Corbin complained as he slid out his