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My expression must have been hurt, because when Gigi walked back in with the file, she faltered a bit. I recovered, smiling. She frowned and handed Cal the file.
Cal flipped through the file, sending a pile of papers sliding into my lap. It was the Vee Balm Inc. Articles of Organization. The papers were filed three years before, in Delaware, a state known for its leniency toward vampire businesses. The papers outlined the initial statements required to form a limited liability company and helped the state track the company’s officers, inventory, and property. I glanced over the papers before handing them back to Cal.
“Hey, what’s this?” I stooped to pick up a battered yellow Post-it half stuck to the third page of the document I was holding. I peeled the note from the page and handed it to Cal.
“It’s just copying instructions,” Cal said, reading the note aloud. “Copy 2x, one to 1420 Hillington Drive, one to PO Box 0609, both Half-Moon Hollow KY 42002/1—PO BOX—SECOND REQUEST—was pissed on phone.”
I took it from him. “Let me interpret for you. It means someone else in the Hollow requested a copy of Vee Balm’s company charter paperwork before you did. And apparently, they had to ask for it twice and were not happy about it. Also, the office staff is careless about where they leave sticky notes,” I said, looking the Post-it over. “Why would someone from the Hollow request a copy of the company’s charter? Was it sent to the Council’s PO box?”
Gigi shook her head. “No. All Council office boxes start with a double zero. It’s a special designation through an agreement with the postal service to get free postage. This is a standard box number.” Cal raised his eyebrows. “What? Sammi Jo’s mom works at the post office.”
Cal stared at us for a long, drawn-out pause, his expression thunderstuck. A wide grin split his face, and he sprang up from his seat. He clutched Gigi’s face between his palms.
“You, my sweet girls, are brilliant,” Cal said, giving her cheek a smacking kiss before lunging for me and giving me a long, wet kiss.
Gigi, who was used to casual contact with Cal now, shrugged. “I’ve always said so.”
Cal pulled open his laptop and opened a Web site I didn’t recognize. He tried a reverse lookup of the PO box by number, but it came back as “private.” He bolted out of the room and came back with his jacket and Gigi’s keys. “I need to borrow your car, Gigi.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Where are you going?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“When will you be back?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, by all means, please take my vehicle,” Gigi muttered. “Is this my reward for being a genius?”
“I’m sorry. I would borrow Iris’s car, but it’s a little …”
“Conspicuous?” I suggested.
He nodded, eyeing me carefully. “You could say that a vampire driving a canary-yellow minivan is conspicuous, yes. I’ll bring it back with a full tank, Gigi.”
“Do you have liability insurance?” Gigi asked in an airy tone, clearly enjoying herself.
Cal narrowed his eyes at her. “She gets this from you,” he told me.
Gigi sighed, the picture of teen martyrdom. “OK, but only because the idea of you squishing those long legs behind the wheel of a VW Bug amuses me,” she said. “Oh, wait, I’m going to go get the little bud-vase attachment for the cupholder.”
He groaned as she scampered out of the room.
“Are you going to break into the post office?” I asked.
“Don’t think of it as breaking in, think of it as liberating information.”
“In a way that involves breaking windows and several federal laws.”
He shrugged. “I’ve done it before.”
I cried, “Don’t tell me that!”
“Really, all post-office door codes are the same.”
“Don’t tell me that, either!” I exclaimed. “I’m sure that just knowing that is some sort of felony. Look, I don’t think this is safe. You don’t think it’s a wonderfully strange coincidence that this Post-it just happened to end up stuck to your copy?”
“No. In general, that’s the way my gift works, some random happenstance that leads me to what I’m looking for.”
