How to Rattle an Undead Couple - Hailey Edwards Page 0,44

your visits?”

“Necromancers get up to all kinds of weird shit,” he confessed. “Be more specific.”

A smile creased his cheek. “Have you noticed anyone who didn’t belong on the property?”

“She had standing appointments with Corbin and some sentinel, but I didn’t see anyone else.”

Mild surprise flitted through Linus. “You know Corbin?”

“Tisdale asked me to drop some toys off for Kaleigh once. Lethe was on a job and told me to meet her at Woolworth House. Corbin answered the door, and she handled introductions.”

A plausible excuse, one easily confirmed with Lethe. “Have you noticed any unusual activity?”

“I didn’t see anything suspicious, if that’s what you mean.”

“You have my number. Call if you think of anything else.”

“Will do.”

Clint hung up, and Linus tapped his phone against his palm, seeming to shake a text out of it.

The unfamiliar number wrinkled his brow, but the message was simple enough.

>>No luck. The feed is clean. Sorry I can’t be more help.

With a swipe of his thumb, he added Orin to his contacts.

>I appreciate your efforts.

Not five minutes later, the next landscaper called, and Linus settled into his task.

The interviews went on for two hours, but the others hadn’t met Corbin or Boaz and couldn’t ID them.

Aside from setting eyes on them once or twice, they mostly tracked Corbin and Boaz’s sojourns by nose. A day or a week might have passed since they stepped foot on the property, but the landscapers hadn’t kept any record of their movements after Clint brought it to the Grande Dame’s attention the first time and was warned off noticing them again.

Once that lead dead-ended, he exited the office and followed the voices into the kitchen.

“Hey, man.” Clem spotted him, walked over, and shook his hand. “How are things?”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

A frown knit his brow. “That good, huh?”

Jake Clemmons was tall, lanky, and good-natured in a way he hadn’t been as Taslima.

As Taz, she had shot Heloise Marchand to save Grier, and it had cost her everything. Only the glamour that disguised her as Jake Clemmons allowed her the freedom to return to her job as a sentinel.

The other man eyed him up and down. “You cut through a lot of red tape to get me here.”

The cost had been high to yank Clem off his current assignment and have him flown into Savannah.

“We need people we can trust for a mission no one can know about.” Linus crossed to Grier and kissed her forehead. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been on stakeout for three weeks, and we’ve still got nothing to show for it. It stopped being fun ten gallons of coffee and three dozen donuts ago.” He worked his jaw. “We’re getting closer, though.”

Curiosity leaned Grier forward in her chair. “Who are you tracking?”

“The Grande Dame didn’t tell you?” Clem groaned. “Then you didn’t hear this from me.”

“Cross my heart.” She dutifully made the gesture. “So…?”

“Danill Volkov.”

The void yawned in Linus’s head, the howling madness screeching its fury. “I see.”

“She got a bee in her bonnet after Grier found out she was preggers.” He rolled a lean shoulder. “I figure she decided to go about tying off loose ends before the baby got here.” A grim smile stretched his lips. “I imagine your wedding fiasco was fresh in her mind when she made the call to have me assigned to the team already in pursuit.”

That explained why it cost so many favors to retrieve him for this mission. Volkov was a wanted criminal, and Linus couldn’t fault his mother’s logic. They would all sleep better at night once he was recaptured.

“I don’t see Volkov’s hand in this,” Linus said as Grier paled and cradled her stomach.

“We’ve confirmed he’s in Russia.” Clem ruffled his hair. “I’ve seen him with my own eyes. I just can’t get a lock on him. The man is slipperier than a rotten banana peel.”

“He has allies everywhere,” Linus agreed. “I hope you’ll keep us updated on your progress.”

“In for a penny, in for a pound.” He studied them then prompted. “The note you got through skimped on the details.”

Quickly as he could, Linus gave a rundown of recent events.

“I see why you wanted to keep a lid on this.” Clem’s troubled expression tightened. “Still no word from Boaz?”

They had been sentinels together, and they were still good friends.

“No,” Adelaide said softly. “Not yet.”

“We’ll find him.” Clem crossed to her and slung an arm around her shoulders. “He’s too stupid to die.”

“I hope you’re right.” She hugged him. “The idiot part