I drew in a deep breath that did little to calm the inner worry. I had few enough close friends; I didn’t want to lose her.
The earwig buzzed. I quickly tapped it and said, “You found her.”
“As long as she’s still with the tracker, yes. I just sent you the address. You want me to call in teams to assist?”
I hesitated. “Not yet. Let me scout the location first and see what we’re facing.”
“You shouldn’t go alone.”
“I’m not. I have a fast and furious cat with me.”
There was a longish pause. “Familiar?”
“Kind of.”
“That is an unusual statement.”
“He’s an unusual cat.”
I prefer the word “special,”he said.
You are indeed. I paused.Thanks for taking out that gunman.
I didn’t actually end his life or save yours, but I appreciate the sentiment.
“I also did those other checks you requested,” Betty said.
The somewhat subdued note in her voice told me what she’d uncovered, but I nevertheless said, “And?”
“You were right. Jack never contacted the guards at the door, and he himself has disappeared. I just can’t believe he would be involved in something like this.”
“I don’t actually think he’s involved. I just think he took cash for ‘minor’ information and tasks, not seeing any real harm in what he was doing. He did mention he had a bad gaming habit.”
“A gaming system is not worth more than people’s lives.”
“No, and perhaps that’s why he’s done a runner. He realized his error in judgement.”
She harrumphed. “Well, Lowell’s put out a warrant on him. He’ll be found and prosecuted.”
“Agent Kang?” an unfamiliar voice said from the doorway.
I clicked the earwig off, then turned. A thickset man with crimson hair stood in the doorway. “Yes?”
He raised his badge. “Agent Ilian Ashworth, HCI. I’ve been ordered to take over this crime scene.”
“You’ve not come alone, have you?”
“No, my partner is down the hall, interviewing Mr. Jones.”
“Ah, good.” I gave him a quick but thorough rundown of events, then added, “There’s some sort of explosive spell on the door handle. I’m not skilled enough to remove it, but if we can get a read on the pattern of magic, we might be able to run a trace.”
“Running a trace will be tricky, but we could certainly run its logistics through the system and see if there’s been any other occurrences.”
“That would be brilliant. Thanks.”
“We’ll need a statement?—”
“Yes, but right now, I need to investigate a possible location lead for Monica and my missing partner. That, I’m afraid, takes precedence.”
