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“Do you really think that would work?”
He sighed. “I doubt it. But thank you for putting up with me. A lot of women would have bailed on me. I’ve got a lot of baggage to deal with.”
“If I can’t stand by you, then who will? And I know who you really are, no matter what anyone else thinks.”
He reached under the table to take my hand and clutch it earnestly. “I am so glad I met you.”
I squeezed his hand in response. “Me, too. I can truly say that meeting you changed my life.”
“For the better?” He sounded like he wasn’t sure.
“Most definitely. Yeah, my life has been under constant threat and things have been absolutely insane, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
He nodded, worrying his lower lip with his teeth like this had given him something serious to think about. “Good, that’s good to hear,” he said absently. The moment passed when the waiter arrived with our meals.
We actually made it through the entire meal without any crazy disasters or magical attacks, then headed out into the crisp autumn evening. “There’s a bakery not too far from here. I thought we could walk off dinner and head up there for dessert,” he said.
“Sounds good to me. Lead on.”
We walked uptown, got some cupcakes and cocoa at the bakery, and continued strolling. When we crossed Fourteenth, he pulled a small sheaf of folded papers out of his jacket pocket and studied the top page, which was a map. He shoved it back into his pocket and steered us around the next corner.
“Owen, what is this about?” I asked when we’d walked up and down several remarkably non-scenic blocks.
He looked sheepish and said, “I think that photo from Earl came from somewhere around here.”
“Oh, you do know the way to a girl’s heart,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. “I didn’t think you’d be willing to just sit by.”
He smiled and blushed as he said, “The cell tower that handled that call is in this area. That may or may not mean anything. Any tower within range may have picked up the call. But I did some online photo searches, and the kind of building in the photo is really common in this neighborhood. So, I figured there was no harm in wandering the neighborhood and seeing if anything looks familiar.”
“Excellent idea,” I said. “Let’s try the next street over.”
We walked up and down the neighborhood, frequently comparing the nearby buildings to the printout of Earl’s photo. “So many of them are so close, but not quite,” I said after we’d been searching at least an hour. “Maybe we’re looking at them from the wrong angle.”
“We should be able to see it from the angle where Earl took the photo, and wherever he was then, he must have seen something he wanted me to know about.”
“Unless, of course, he pocket dialed the photo.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. But even if it was, he couldn’t have taken that photo from inside his pocket. He was investigating, and the building isn’t particularly attractive or interesting, I’m pretty sure he photographed it for a reason.”
“Maybe we should do this in daylight,” I suggested after another half hour of searching. “He took the photo in daylight. Things look different in the dark.”
“But when it’s dark, we may be able to see inside if the interior’s lit.”
“I wonder what your followers think of all this wandering around.”
“I hope their feet are tired.” He usually just sounded resigned about the people who watched him for signs of evil, but there was a hint of relish behind his wish. I didn’t think I’d ever get him to tell me outright what he felt about it, but I was getting the idea.
Then we rounded a corner, and there it was. “Owen, that’s it!” I said, grabbing his arm.
We stopped and he took the photo out of his pocket to compare. “Yeah, that’s definitely it.”
“So you’re going to call Sam, right?”
He didn’t answer, but I glared at him until he got out his phone and called the gargoyle. He gave the address, and after a pause he said, “Of course I won’t do anything stupid. I just happened to run across it while I was out with Katie and thought you’d want to know.” When he’d put away the phone he turned to me and said, “Want to check it out?”
“Wouldn’t that fall into the category of stupid things you just told Sam you wouldn’t do?”
“I just want a peek. And besides, how much trouble can I get into when I have two of the Council’s best enforcers watching my every move? They won’t let me get away with anything evil, but I don’t think they’ll let me come to harm, either.”
