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And falling in love would be a major disadvantage to me right now.
Chapter Thirteen
Both Cade and I needed a break from being in close quarters near a bed.
Because we couldn’t use his car, we were limited to where we could go, but the Sleepy Dayz motel happened to share a lot with a quaint diner, giving us an obvious place to distract ourselves from what we’d done in the bathroom.
We were probably better off giving each other a little breathing room before we attempted to discuss our hot-and-heavy romantic encounter. Chances were if I brought it up now, I’d climb across the booth and mount him in the restaurant.
Keeping a table between us was a good idea.
Being in my Mustang with him for the next two days would be…interesting.
A slim part of me hoped someone else would attack us just so we’d continue to be distracted until we got to New Orleans. Fighting for our lives was a sure-fire way to keep my mind off getting into his pants.
I pulled a slim tablet out of my bag and set it on the table so he could also see it. The restaurant, though promoting a vintage vibe, also had a Wi-Fi password listed next to the pie specials. The password was MMMPIE. Because why not?
The waitress came by and didn’t bat an eyelash when I ordered two cheeseburgers, a side of fries, and a slice of apple pie a la mode. Instead of assuming I’d ordered for us both, the waitress then looked to Cade and asked, “And for you?” I grinned. The farther south we went the less anyone judged me for eating my weight in fried foods.
That said, if I didn’t get a few days’ rest from using my powers, I was going to run into some serious trouble. The extra calories certainly helped settle me, but what I really needed was sleep and an opportunity to recharge.
Fat chance of that on this road trip from the depths of the underworld.
I opened the browser on the tablet and navigated to a P.I. website. I had a login but rarely had reason to use it, unless a prayer request involved doing something to a specific person. The service helped me locate the right person the prayer was being directed at. Didn’t want to crash a tree branch into the wrong John Smith’s bedroom window, right?
Cade had looked Leo up that morning, but I wanted to do my own research. I typed the name Leo Marquette into the search box, hoping Leo was his birth name and not a nickname. The program thought, and Cade fidgeted with his spoon while the wheel spun. The waitress brought us both coffee and a pile of creamers. “Looks like y’all are going to be here awhile,” she explained politely.
Her tip just doubled.
She didn’t look twice at the angry red fractal scars visible on my arms. My jacket, which I’d rescued from the tub, would need to dry overnight, so I was stuck in shirtsleeves for the time being. It made me feel exposed, and I was wishing I’d packed more long-sleeve shirts in spite of the August heat.
The search results popped up, showing information for seven Leo Marquettes. Two were deceased, which helped eliminate them instantly. Two more were on the West Coast, one in Portland and the other in San Jose. One lived in Kansas and another was in a New York State prison. The seventh Leo, who had a prison record but wasn’t currently incarcerated, had a last-known address in Louisiana.
I entered the address into the search and used the street-view feature.
A burnt-out husk of a house looked back at me.
“I think it’s pretty safe to say Leo has moved on.” Cade continued to spin his cutlery, his knees bouncing constantly underneath the table. He was a ball of barely restrained energy, vibrating in his skin.
I almost told him to stop, but it might have been the outlet he needed, so who was I to take it away from him?
I looked forlornly at the burnt building on the tablet screen. Our only solid lead on Leo had literally gone up in smoke. Going back to the search page, I entered Jacqueline’s information, and just as Cade had said, she had an address listed in LaPlace.
“I’m still not convinced he’s an adult.” I entered Jacqueline’s address into my phone so I could avoid looking it up later. “Seth doesn’t function on the same timeline as us, what with the whole immortality thing messing up his internal clock, but he called Leo a child. Could he really believe he’s still a kid? That’s an enormous mistake to make.”
“How long do you think it’s been since Seth saw him?”
I shrugged. I honestly wouldn’t have put down money that Seth had ever made an effort to meet Leo. His other children were around more often because they sought him out. There were a lot of benefits associated with being a confirmed demigod. Along with a longer life, better looks, and having a parent who is an actual god, there was also the added perk of instant celebrity status. Demis took up more tabloid cover space than actresses with drug problems.
Our waitress delivered the food, and I eyed Cade’s chicken-fried steak, wondering if the cheeseburgers had been a mistake.
No. Cheeseburgers were never a mistake.
We lapsed into silence as we ate, the quiet only broken up by my occasional mumbled sounds of satisfaction. Diners never failed when it came to making great grease bombs. It might have been the magical exhaustion talking, but this was possibly the best burger I’d ever eaten.
I looked up to find Cade staring at me, barely touching his food. The intensity of his expression reminded me of how he looked when he was angry, but there was no rage in his eyes. His jaw was set tight, and he couldn’t seem to move his eyes from my face.
