Valkyrie (Kate O'Hearn) - By Kate O'Hearn Page 0,44
golden scabbard. ‘I’ve heard that humans treasure jewels and think this might be worth something. I wanted to give it to Alma to sell, but she’d never accept it. But if you sold it for me, I don’t think she’d refuse the money to pay off the house. But will it be enough?’
Curtis’s eyes went wide. ‘That looks enough to buy half of Chicago! Valkyrie, are you sure you want to sell this?’
‘What good are cold stones unless they can help someone?’ Freya remarked. ‘I don’t care about the jewels – Asgard is filled with them – but I do care about Tyrone’s family.’
‘I can sell it for you,’ Curtis said. ‘But it sounds like those developers want more than money. They want that property.’
Freya dropped her head. ‘I know. If this doesn’t work, I’ll have to do it my way. I don’t want to hurt them, but to stop them, I will.’
‘Let’s hope it won’t come to that.’
Freya paused, struck by his kindness. ‘Why are you helping me?’
‘Because it’s the right thing to do,’ Curtis said. ‘Besides, I owe you. After your warning, I kept my eye on that guy I was working with. I saw a few things I shouldn’t have and called my nephew. I told you he’s a cop. Well, it turns out, Joe was wanted for murder. He was one nasty piece of work.’
‘He was,’ Freya agreed.
‘Someone is coming,’ Orus warned.
‘Your friend is coming back,’ Freya said as she pulled on her helmet.
‘Let me send him home. Then we’ll take my van to your friends’ house.’
Freya had never ridden in a human vehicle before and hoped never to do so again. Trying to sit in the front of the van was more painful than she could have imagined. She needed to keep her coat on to hide her wings, which meant she had to sit on them in order to fit in the front seat.
Every bump and turn caused her pain in the bones and muscles of her constricted wings.
‘You OK?’ Curtis asked as he helped her from the van when they arrived at the Johnsons’ house.
‘I will be,’ Freya complained, ‘once I get this coat off!’ She paused. ‘Curtis, here they call me Greta. Would you do the same?’
‘That’s not your real name, is it?’ he asked as he followed her up to the house.
‘No,’ Freya answered. ‘But I like it.’
When they knocked, Tamika answered.
‘Are you all right?’ Freya asked her tentatively. ‘May I come in?’
Tamika nodded sheepishly and stepped aside to let her pass. ‘I’m really sorry, Greta. You just scared me when you showed me your . . .’ She paused and looked at Curtis.
‘Wings,’ Freya finished. ‘This is Curtis. He knows all about me.’
Curtis laughed. ‘I wouldn’t say all about you. But I’ve sure seen plenty.’ His eyes landed on Tamika and he smiled brightly. ‘Greta here has told me all about you and your baby sister.’
A sad smile crept to Tamika’s lips. ‘Greta, were you really the last to see my dad?’
Freya nodded. ‘He was a very good man. He earned a place in Valhalla, but wanted to go on to be with the rest of your family.’
‘So he’s with my mom?’
‘I believe so,’ Freya said as she walked into the house.
Freya introduced Curtis to Alma. She was busy feeding Uniik. When she finished, Curtis asked to hold the baby.
‘My wife and I never had kids,’ he said, making funny cooing sounds to the baby. ‘Nearly broke our hearts. Now we’re too old to adopt.’ As Uniik started to cry he reluctantly handed her back to Alma. ‘Show me those papers Greta told me about – maybe I can help?’
Alma handed over the paperwork. As Curtis read every page, he shook his head. ‘I’m no expert, but something feels wrong with this paperwork.’
Curtis smiled at her. ‘Well, we aren’t going to let them, are we?’ He looked towards Alma. ‘My wife is a lawyer. Can I bring her around to take a look at these?’
Alma shook her head. ‘I can’t afford a lawyer.’
‘She won’t mind. She loves a cause,’ Curtis said. ‘I promise it won’t cost you a dime.’ He held up the papers. ‘Men like these gotta be stopped before they take over the world.’ He stood up. ‘I better get back – but I’ll speak to my wife tonight.’
As he made for the door, he leaned closer to Freya and whispered, ‘I’ll take care of that other