I half smiled. "Yeah. No guarantee about the next time, though."
Amusement touched his lips, and warmed places deep inside me. "Something would have to be very wrong for you not to be angry with me at least a couple of times a day."
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad—"
"Oh, but it is." The smile still tugged at his lips, and took away some of the sting of the words. "But then, you are not alone in feeling frustrated by the situation we find ourselves in, Risa."
I guess that was true. He just seemed to control it better than me. I double-pressed the ear stud and said, "Rhoan, I need to disappear for a few minutes. Give me a call if you find anything."
"I won't ask where you're going, because I have a suspicion you won't tell me," he replied. "But if you find anything and don't tell me, there will be hell to pay."
"I'm just going to check in with a hacker friend. He might be able to help find either this club or what the hell Hartwell is."
Rhoan grunted. Whether he believed me or not was anyone's guess. I turned off the earpiece again and glanced at Azriel. "Let's go."
He wrapped his arms around my waist and zapped us through the gray fields. We reappeared in the middle of an industrial estate. The place across the road was some sort of auction building, and the parking lot to one side of it was filled with cars of all makes and models. I spun around, spotted the cab company, and headed for the office. Azriel fell in step beside me, then opened the door and ushered me inside. The receptionist gave us a warm smile, but I couldn't help noticing it was mostly aimed at the man who stood beside me. Which niggled, but also made me wonder what the hell she was seeing. If the intensity of her gaze was any indication, there might well have been nakedness.
No. There was amusement in Azriel's mental tone. Although that can be arranged if you so wish.
If you get naked for her before you get naked for me, I'll be more than a little annoyed.
I have already been naked with you.
Not nearly enough, I'm afraid.
"How can I help you?" the receptionist said.
"I need to speak to Charlie Tan," I said, a touch more tartly than I probably should have. "We're trying to trace the location of a woman who was recently a passenger in his cab."