Rianna had been taking the brunt of those types of cases recently because while they might not take much from an investigation standpoint, grave magic was hard on the eyes—mine more than hers. As well as being a grave witch, I was a planeweaver, and seeing through the planes seemed to be doing extra damage to my eyes. While Rianna and I both suffered from the poor low-light vision so common to grave witches, she could hold a shade for an hour or two and drive herself home twenty minutes later. I, on the other hand, ended up with severely impaired vision for a few hours, sometimes to the point of complete blindness for a time. So I tried to only raise one shade every week or two, which meant if more cases came in, Ms. B. quietly arranged for them to go to Rianna. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but it worked for our firm.
“Any other clients scheduled before the ritual?” I asked.
Rianna shook her head. “Nah, I’m free until one. Why? What are you working on? Anything interesting?”
“I need a tracking spell. I have a missing-person case.”
Rianna’s eyes lit up. “Really? I want all the details.”
Becoming a private investigator had been Rianna’s longtime dream career, not mine. She was the mystery novel buff, and the one who’d talked about her plans for a firm when we were roommates at our wyrd boarding school. She’d already vanished by the time I graduated, and with a little help from a local detective, I’d eventually fallen into starting the firm. She’d joined me after I’d rescued her from Faerie, and while I suspected it wasn’t as glamourous as she’d dreamed, anything had to be better than spending hundreds of years as a captive of Faerie while only half a decade passed in the mortal realm.
“Don’t get too excited yet. I was hired to find a college freshman by his still-in-high-school sweetheart. This might be a very expensive breakup.”
“Oh.” She crinkled her nose. “Still, it’s a missing-person case. This is the firm’s first. We’re moving up in the world.” She turned toward the lobby. “Ms. B, will you block off the rest of my morning? I’ve got a tracking spell to cast.”
Ms. B nodded from her desk, and Rianna disappeared back into her office. I headed back to mine, dreading the inevitable confrontation that was about to occur.
Sure enough, Briar was sitting in my chair when I got back to my office, her feet kicked up on the surface of the desk and her hands behind her head. “Is this what you do all day? Listen to weeping parents and take cases from lovestruck teenagers too stubborn to know when they’re being dumped?”
“Not all day. Now I have to go find said teenager’s boyfriend.”
Briar snorted. “And what will you tell her when you find him with his new girlfriend?”
“The truth. Hey, we can’t all make our living incinerating ghouls and whatever else you do. Now if you’re just going to sit there insulting how I run my investigation firm, you can leave.” Because I’d worked hard to expand my business beyond just raising shades. My vision couldn’t take the damage it would take to raise enough shades to pay my monthly bills.
Briar looked like she was about to say something, but then her expression changed as she fished a phone out of her pocket. She glanced at the display for a moment and then dropped her feet from the desktop.
“Good news, Craft, looks like you get your reprieve. I know you’ll miss my company—”
Now it was my turn to give a sarcastic sniff.
“But it appears that someone finished the job your fast-rotting corpse started yesterday and smuggled the exact same artifact out of the museum while the wards were down for inspection. So, maybe there is more to that case than it seems. You have fun with your teen drama. I’m going to go investigate something interesting.”
I scowled at her back as she walked out. At the main door, she lifted her hand and cocked it to the side slightly, making the wave look sarcastic.
I shut my office door.
“Come on, PC, we have our own case,” I said as I stepped around the small dog on my way to my desk. “I don’t care if she is off to look into a case with walking dead people. Which is bizarre and should be impossible.”
He lifted his head, ears at half mast, and squinted at me. Even he didn’t look convinced.
“With Briar involved, it’ll probably turn out dangerous. My case will be a nice, easy car payment.” Well, half of my car payment. It was a nice car.
My dog put his head down on his paws, going back to sleep on the pillow beside my chair. Yeah, okay, my case was probably a dud. And I was curious about the corpse from yesterday. But I had my first missing-person case, and I was going to throw myself into finding Taylor’s—probably cheating—boyfriend. Bizarre cases with walking corpses be damned.
Chapter 4
While Rianna created the tracking charm, I made a few phone calls. I started with Remy’s phone. I didn’t really expect him to answer, but it would definitely shorten my investigation if he did. I left a brief message identifying myself and asking him to return my call. I didn’t tell him why. The next call I placed was to Remy’s roommate, Colin.
He answered on the first ring. “You’ve reached the coolest dude on campus. Talk to me.”
Riiight. “This is Alex Craft, an investigator for Tongues for the Dead. I’m looking into the possible disappearance of Remy Hollens. Have you—”
A sound somewhere between an exasperated laugh and a sigh cut me off. “Seriously? An investigator? Did Remy’s jailbait call you? And who did you say you’re with? She thinks Remy’s dead? Dude, she’s crazy.”
“No one thinks he’s dead,” I said, leaning back in my chair and pressing the palm of my hand over my eyes. “I’m simply trying to locate him. Have you seen or heard from Remy today?”
“No. But, dude, it’s Saturday. Hopefully the guy went to a party, got some college tail, and is sleeping off the hangover in some chick’s bed.”
“Do you think that’s likely?” I asked, but was greeted by silence on the other side, as if Colin was indecisive about spilling secrets. “I’m only trying to locate him. I have no obligation to report back his activities to my client. Trust me, I don’t want any drama.”
He hesitated a moment more, then released a slow, defeated hiss between his teeth before saying, “No. It doesn’t sound like him. I mean it’s possible, but it would be out of character. He’s devoted to that girl.” As an afterthought he added, “But I’m not worried. This is the college life.”
“Of course. If you hear from him, give me a call, okay?” I rattled off my number, but he didn’t repeat it or sound like he was writing it down. I’d never hear from him again, but the call did confirm Remy wasn’t likely to be avoiding Taylor because he planned to dump her.
I added a few notes to my document and then glanced over the information Taylor had left me. She had given me Remy’s dorm address only, but when I was in college, a lot of the local kids in my dorm headed home regularly, typically with a basket full of dirty laundry. I didn’t have Remy’s parents’ info, but Tongues for the Dead paid for several online database services we used for background checks. Less than ten minutes online earned me the home address as well as cell and work numbers for Remy’s parents.
I punched the first four digits of his father’s number but then hesitated. If Remy really was sleeping off a hangover, I didn’t need to panic his parents by telling them I was investigating his disappearance. Of course, if Taylor was right and something had happened, early warning would likely be welcome. I dithered a moment and then cleared the number. I’d given Rianna the hair from the brush half an hour ago. She would be done with the tracking spell soon.
As if summoned by the thought, Rianna stepped into the threshold of my doorway. “One tracking spell prepared and ready to track. Want to place bets on where you find him?”
I stood and collected the spell from her. “As long as I don’t have to report back to a brokenhearted client that I found him in someone else’s bed, I’ll probably be happy. It sounds out of character for him, though.” I frowned. “Okay, revision. I’m hoping he’s not in the hospital either.”