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Lamont didn't seem the slightest bit concerned. "Take Miss Bell down to the lobby, and make sure security know not to allow her in the building again. Not only has she threatened me, but she's spreading lies about our newest partner. As if I'd believe her over my son's best friend! Ha, wait until Matt hears this one. He'll piss himself laughing for sure."
The puzzle pieces clicked together, and hit critical mass in Tacey's brain. "You mean Matt works here? For a law firm? When he's a convicted criminal? That's not possible!"
Lamont wagged a finger at her. "If only I'd been in the country for his initial trial. Sadly, I didn't hear about it until the graduation ceremony Matthew and Samuel should have attended together. When I asked Samuel where Matt was, only then did I discover he was languishing in prison. Poor boy had finished his whole degree behind bars and didn't even get out in time for the ceremony! Of course, I called in a few favours to see him cleared of all charges, and was only too happy to offer him a job. When he asked for my advice on getting custody of the child you'd stolen from him, I even offered to represent him. I couldn't allow his daughter to grow up in a cockroach infested café that's also a fire hazard waiting to happen. Now, get out. Before I call the Child Protection Office myself."
Tacey's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. She wasn't sure how she made it out the door, or down to the lobby, or even out to her car.
Lamont might not be the devil, but somehow she'd ended up in hell anyway.
THIRTY-ONE
True to his promise to both Tacey and Rory, Wystan drifted downstairs to the café, hidden within the walls, but near enough to see and hear.
Tacey had entrusted her daughter to a boy. A shiftless layabout who drew countless pictures with little care for the cost of paper or ink. Much like Rory did, but the difference was that the boy was nearly a man grown, one who should be learning a useful trade instead of drawing pretty pictures.
It hurt that Tacey trusted this boy more than she did Wystan himself to take care of her daughter. Had Wystan not protected her for these last two weeks? Yet Tacey had always been nearby, or at least near enough to hear him shout if he'd needed to raise the alarm that she or her daughter was in danger.
But this gangly boy...
Wystan resolved to stay as close as possible to Rory, while still remaining hidden, until Tacey returned.
"What is that you're drawing? Is it the Moth Man?" the boy asked.
Rory frowned. "No. Moth Men don't exist, Mummy said. Not outside of people's imaginations."
The boy laughed. "Oh, Tacey might be surprised at how many monsters do actually exist. Even the Moth Man. Did you know Rochelle filmed a video of him outside this very café?"
"I think he looked more like Batman. And he disappeared into the wall. Batman can't do that. But gargoyles can." She tapped her picture. "Only I can't do the wings right."
The boy straightened in his seat. "And what do you know about gargoyles, little Rory?"
She glared at the boy like she thought he was a complete idiot. Wystan couldn't help but grin. "Sunlight hurts them, and they can hide in the walls. They can fly, too, because they have wings. Great big leathery ones like a pterodactyl." She threw her pencil down on the table. "But I can't draw them right, Uncle Ben. You do it."
"How about I draw the lines in lightly with my pencil, just to get you started, and you trace over them before you colour them in? And then the next time, we can both draw wings together, each on our own page."
"Okay." Rory shoved her sketchpad across the table to Ben.
"See, wings are actually just like big hands. They have bony bits just like fingers, here and here and here, and then claws on the corners, in case he needs to protect himself. He must be inside, or somewhere it's not too windy, to have his wings spread out like this, because that's how he catches the breeze to lift off the ground when he wants to fly."
Rory frowned. "He needs bigger claws. He's not just protecting himself. He's protecting people from monsters. Because that's what gargoyles do. They protect people." She took her pad back and began to extend the claws with angry strokes that dug deep into the paper.
She was too intent on her drawing to notice the calculating look Ben gave her, making him look far older than his years, before he was back to the carefree boy Wystan had taken him for. "Did your mummy tell you all that about gargoyles?"
Rory shook her head, not looking at him. "No. Wystan, the gargoyle who promised to protect me did. He turned to stone once when Mummy opened the blinds, but we covered him up and he turned back to himself again when I closed the blinds. He can't eat food, but he says if he could, he'd like to live on Mummy's muffins because they smell so delicious."
Wystan felt Ben's eyes on him, which couldn't be possible. No ordinary man could see through walls to where he was hiding.
Unless Ben was no ordinary man...
"Your protector sounds like he has very good taste. I'd like to meet Wystan some day. I would also like to eat nothing but your mum's muffins. But my mother always told me I should eat more fruit and vegetables and meat, not muffins, so we probably shouldn't have those for lunch. Did you know that Rochelle doesn't just make the prettiest coffee, but she can make a sandwich with almost anything? Just look at all of these!"
Rory wandered over to the counter to peer into the sandwich cabinet. "I want this one." She pointed at a roll bigger than her forearm, stuffed full of turkey, lettuce and cherry tomatoes. This was the Christmas in July special for today, Wystan knew, for he'd watched Tacey make them.
"Wow, you must really be hungry. Two of those, then, please, Rochelle. What do you want to drink, Rory?"
"Mummy always makes me a milkshake for lunch," Rory lied.
Wystan almost corrected her, because Tacey only ever made her a milkshake if there were no customers at the counter and she had time at lunch, which had happened exactly once in the whole time he'd known her.
