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I’d probably have had better luck searching the Agency databases. I debated calling Remi or Monroe in the morning and begging for their help, and whether they would bother to help me. I had to solve this case. I couldn’t give up on it. The whole reason I had joined the Agency in the first place was to find DCK. I had given up my job thinking that I had the lead that I finally needed. And oh how quickly I had hit this dead end. I might as well not have bothered.
Every time I started to drift towards sleep, it occurred to me that my chances of finding DCK might have been gone forever. I should not have walked out in my job. I was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Storm had thought I was stupid too. I couldn’t rid myself of the look on his face when I had walked out. Disbelief, and maybe a hint of relief, as if he was tired of me. As if he was glad that I wouldn’t be his problem any more. The thought might have made me cry if I had been capable of crying right now.
One thing had been certain. If Storm had cared about me at all, if he had one drop of same feelings I had for him, he would have stopped me from leaving. I was sure of it. Because he had all the power. He could have persuaded the chief to let us informally investigate Leonie Ashbeck’s murder. It wouldn’t have been easy for him, but it wouldn’t have been impossible. He knew how much catching DCK meant to me, but he hadn’t trusted me enough to help me.
I wanted to hate him but I couldn’t. Because he had been protecting his employees jobs. Why did the man have to be a damned hero all of the time? And why did I have to like him so unreasonably much when he gave me absolutely nothing in return?
Just as I was drifting towards sleep I realized the one good thing about this whole thing. Tomorrow was Thursday morning. I had an appointment with Roopa. But since I had already lost my job at the Agency, there was no need for me to have therapy any more. Theo might not be happy with it, but I doubted that he’d fire me. I sleepily sent Roopa a text message saying I wasn’t coming in to see her.
Sleep claimed me, and I dreamed of a black rose. It was at the center of the vast space and Iw as trying to get to it. The space was full of a great many things that kept getting in my way. But I could see the rose. It was always ahead of me, and from it radiated that taunting laughter. If I could just reach it, everything would be okay. I had to get it. I reached and failed. Every time something got in my way, the rose laughed at me. It laughed at how pathetic I was. It laughed at the futility of my attempts. And then, when I finally reached it, when my fingers reached out to pluck it up, it crumpled into ashes, leaving me bereft.
I woke up in the morning and I didn’t even bother to climb out of bed. What was the point? There was nothing for me to do. I was due to go into Grimshaw’s after my appointment with Roopa, but sod that. Theo wouldn’t miss me. He could survive without me. His life would go on, and he’d be perfectly fine running his magic shop the way he always had. In my absence. I wondered if Roopa had called him to tell him that I’d canceled my appointment. I wondered if Theo had texted me to insist that I must go see her. I kind of hoped that he would have. It would show that at least somebody cared.
I reached for my phone to check my messages, and it started ringing. I stared at the screen, uncertain what to do. It was the last person I felt like talking to. It was Storm.
Chapter 20
DIANA
Storm asked me to come into the office. I couldn’t believe it. I pretended to be cool throughout the whole phone call, brief as it was, but my heart had been racing.
It was late morning by the time I got to Agency Headquarters. I had texted Theo on the way apologising that I couldn’t do my usual Thursday shift at Grimshaw’s and that I would explain to him later. When I got in, I saw the team assembled inside Storm’s office, huddled around the coffee table, talking intensely about something. I stood outside the glass door watching them, feeling awkward about going in. Finally I knocked, and Storm waved me in.
“Hey,” I said, still feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Storm and the team looked at me, and I looked right back at them, my arms crossed tightly over my chest, not quite sure what to say now about that I was back at the scene where I had huffed and departed just yesterday.
Remi handed me a large paper cup full of a hot drink. I took a sip. It was a chai latte. It was lukewarm by now, but it tasted like the best chai latte I had ever drunk.
“We looked into the Ronin case,” she said, as if nothing had happened, “And we think you might be onto something.” She reached for the chocolate-hazelnut donut and handed it to me wrapped in a napkin.
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nbsp; I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously,” I asked. “You saved me the chocolate one?” It was a team favorite.
Leo looked annoyed. “Remi’s fault. Count yourself lucky because I would have eaten it by now.” He stuffed the remnants of a custard cream one into his mouth. I knew that he didn’t much care for that flavor but Leo was always hungry near a full moon, which was due on Saturday. It must have taken a great effort of will for him not to eat my chocolate donut.
I took a seat in the empty chair beside Remi, following her cue and pretending that we hadn’t all had a bust up yesterday, and asked, “So what did you find?”
When Remi told me that one of DCK’s former victims had been Steffane Ronin’s ex-girlfriend, Officer Tamara Westmoor, I was thrilled. It wasn’t quite proof, but it was link! A strong one. Steffane Ronin had to have been telling the truth about knowing DCK.
I munched my donut and between bites I filled them in on everything that I had discovered so far from the Ronins and from Darya Palmer. They listened intently, interjecting frequently with questions. It felt good to talk about it with people who cared so much. Throughout it all I found it difficult to look Storm in the eye, as if we had fought about something unpleasant, as if I had something to feel guilty about. I suppose I did. I had gone against one of his direct orders to stay away from the Ronin case after all. I sensed that he was holding himself back from me too, and a new uncomfortableness filled the gap between us. I wondered if it was just me being hypersensitive to every nuance of his presence. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t know how to fix it either.
We discussed the list of suspects who could have killed Leonie if Steffane really had not done it. The list was pretty much the other Ronin vampires, and perhaps Constance Ashbeck herself. I had my money on Rodigge or Marielle. I explained to the team that I had my doubts about Audriett too. She had lied about Leonie’s personality. Why lie about that?
Storm pointed out that perhaps Leonie had behaved more cautiously in the presence of the vampire matriarch of the household. Perhaps she had been wary of Audriett and so pretended be something that she wasn’t. This seemed a plausible explanation.
Storm gave us some more background information on the case, telling us that one of the strongest pieces of evidence against Steffane Ronin in his court case had been Constance Ashbeck’s testimony that her niece had been terrified that Steffane was stalking her. Constance Ashbeck had said that Leonie had been looking forward to going to away university, and had secured a special placement and a scholarship to ensure that she could cope even with her illnesses. Leonie had been so excited. She had never thought she would get the chance to go to university, given that her XP had been so extreme. Constance had said that the university had suddenly withdrawn Leonie’s placement, leaving Leonie devastated. On further investigation Storm’s team had found out that in fact Steffane Ronin had called the university, pretending to be Leonie’s guardian, and had persuaded them to reject Leonie’s application. Steffane Ronin had wanted to keep Leonie at home where he would have access to her.
I was not pleased with this news. It did not look good for Steffane Ronin.
“I still think that we need to speak to Constance Ashbeck. I think that she knows more than she said. Why else as she disappeared off the face of the planet?”
“You think that Constance was lying about the relationship between Steffane and Leonie?” said Remi.
“I think that Leone Ashbeck was the life and soul of a party just like Steffane. I think the two of them sounded like they would get along really well. So why is everyone saying that Leonie hated him? It seems more likely she would have been flattered by his attention.”
