“She would be proud of you.” The words were unplanned, and felt paltry and inadequate, but he had to say something.
Rory only scoffed with a jagged bitterness. “There’s nothing to be proud of.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Arthur said lightly. “It’s not everyone who can touch an object and see a vision of its history.”
“You—” Rory had gone rigid. “How do you—”
“You know, I was so certain it was Mrs. Brodigan who was psychometric, with her shop the perfect cover. Imagine my surprise when I met you. When did the ability start?”
Rory’s eyes narrowed. “Sometime betweenscrew offandgo fuck yourself.”
Arthur probably deserved that. “My guess is age sixteen. You’d been living at your father’s church a couple years at that point.” He suspected Pastor Westbrook had grudgingly given Rory a roof after his mother passed, since a church taking an orphan in would hardly raise questions. But he doubted the man was willing to keep a paranormal bastard around, especially his own dirty secret. “I assume your father was the one who sent you to the asylum where you met Mrs. Brodigan’s dying sister?”
Rory folded his arms and stared at Arthur stonily.
Arthur sighed. “Asylum records show that two months after Theodore Giovacchini was admitted, the terminally ill Lorna McCaffrey checked out to stay with her recently widowed sister, Leena Brodigan, in Vermont. The following night, Teddy disappeared. The window in his empty bedroom was found open and a note in his handwriting implicated the nearby Ausable Chasm. It was ruled a suicide.” He leaned against the door. “Miss McCaffrey passed away three weeks after Teddy. Two months later, Mrs. Brodigan came back to Hell’s Kitchen and reopened Brodigan’s Appraisals with the help of her nephew, one Rory Brodigan.”
Rory’s eyes suddenly blazed. “If you even think of laying a finger on Mrs. B.—”
“That’s not what I—”
“I will do everything in my power to stop you—”
Arthur held up his hands in instant surrender. He didn’t know exactly what all was in Rory’s power and this was not how he wanted to find out. “Jade is telekinetic.”
The non sequitur sent Rory into a tailspin, just like Arthur had hoped. He stared blankly at Arthur, his words frozen.
“You met her this morning at my place,” Arthur went on. “The lovely woman with impeccable fashion sense and the ability to move objects with her mind. Within limits, of course—she can’t move people and she can’t lift something as big as a car. But it’s impressive nonetheless.”
Rory was still staring. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Rory,” Arthur said, deliberately using that name. “If I planned to report you or Mrs. Brodigan to the authorities, or, God forbid, your wretched excuse for a father, I would have already done it.” He cocked his head. “Could Lorna McCaffrey really see the future?”
He’d chalk it up to how thrown Rory was that he actually answered, “Um, yes, she could.”
“Marvelous,” Arthur muttered.
“Not really,” Rory said flatly. “The visions were taking over her mind. She committed herself for protection.”
“Protection.” Arthur tugged carelessly at one of the chains on the door behind him, like it didn’t bother him, like it didn’t make his stomach hurt to think of Rory sealing himself in this tiny, filthy space like a prisoner. “And what are you protecting against?”
Rory narrowed his eyes. “Rich dicks who think they can break in where they want. Clearly I need better locks.”
Arthur deserved that jab too. “You don’t have to protect yourself against me.”
“Yeah I do,” Rory said tightly. “You haven’t even said what special power you got.”
“Because I haven’t one.” Arthur spread his hands. “I’m as mundane as they come. All I’ve got are my fortune, my brains, and my good looks, although you’d be surprised how often those can work magic.”
Rory rolled his eyes. He was still taut with suspicion. “So if you’re not here to drag me back, why are you here?”
“To hire you, of course.”
Rory’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Hire me?”
“I have a very talented cabal of associates, all of whom bring a little something special to the table. I think you’d be an excellent fit.”
“I have a job,” Rory said, a little helplessly.
