Word is that this was your husbands exwifes stalker, Willis told me after hed gone inside to see the hole for himself. His suit was muddy, and so were his hands, so he must have gone down and followed the tunnel like Adam had. He sounded grumpy. He cause this? He glanced around the remains of my shop. With some kind of a bomb, maybe?
Dan Orton and his sidekick were trying to work on Adam without antagonizing the police. They were ignoring me because I wasnt a werewolf. Adam had subtly eased them farther away from me while I talked to Willis.
I looked at the Cantrip agents thoughtfully, then at Willis. You know that site we both looked at yesterday? I kept my voice down.
He grunted, but his eyes were sharp.
I think this incident has a lot to do with that other. You and Tony should show up at tomorrows deposition when Adam and I talk in the presence of our lawyer. The one we still need to call.
He looked at me, a long, cool look. The crime you are referring to is officially a Cantrip case. And neither I nor Detective Montenegro are your puppets to call. Despite the hostile words, he sounded less grumpy than he had been.
It was my turn to grunt. Fine by me. He couldnt fool me. Now that he knew the two were connected, you couldnt keep him away with a legion of superheroes. Hed tell Tony, and theyd both be there tomorrow.
Does the dead body with the bullet in his forehead belong to the stalker? he asked.
Tomorrow, Adam and I will be happy to talk, I said, firmly keeping myself from explaining. You mind if I call our lawyer?
He glanced at the Cantrip agents and smiled grimly. You arent under arrest. Without the assurance that there was magic afoot here, Cantrip doesnt have the authority. And I am not inclined to arrest anyone without more information. Without an arrest, I dont see that I have any say over what you do.
My phone was intact, which was something of a miracle in and of itself. Willis put himself between me and the Cantrip agents while I called the packs lawyers. Their phone system forwarded me to the lawyer on call, and the woman who answered sounded harried. I could hear kids screaming in the background, but since the screams were interspaced with wild laughter, I wasnt too concerned.
Trevellyan, she said in a breathless voice. She cleared her throat and continued in a much more lawyerly fashion, though her voice was still very Marilyn Monroe. Good evening, Ms. Hauptman. How can I help?
I gave her a brief explanationstalker, breakin, dead body. Not telling her anything Willis, who was watching me with grim amusement, didnt already know. I told her Adam wanted to get out of here tonight and give a statement tomorrow.
Dont say anything, she said. Dont let Adam say anything. Ill be right there.
She strode onto the scene, a fivefootnothing warrior with iron gray hair and eyes clear and sharp blue. She took one good long look around and marched up to Clay Willis, having evidently determined he was in charge.
Are my clients under arrest? she asked Willis.
Adam, trailing his pair of Feds, approached in time for Willis to answer, No, maam.
We still have some questions, said Agent Orton.
Which my clients will answer tomorrow in my office. She gave them her card. Call that number tomorrow at eight thirty sharp, and someone will
tell you when to come.
She ushered Adam and me to Adams car.
Now run while you can, she murmured. I will do the same. The grandmother magic will wear off in a minute, and someone will decide that the dead body means they should arrest someone. Dont answer your phone unless you know the number and come into my office tomorrow at seven thirty.
Shes good, I said. Tough, smart, and funny as a bonus. I wonder if there really is grandmother magic.
For what we pay her, shed better be good, agreed Adam. She doesnt need grandmother magic to make people scramble at her command. He pressed a button on his steering wheel, and said, Call Warren.
A womans voice from his dash said, Calling.
Boss? Warren answered. Everyone okay?
Mercys singed, but still swinging.
Good to hear. I got quite an earful from your security chief, who deleted a lot of interesting material.
Then you know most of it. I need you to get everyone out of our house right now. Apparently, Christys stalker is some kind of supernatural who can set things on fire.
You want me to take them home? Warren asked.
Adam took in a deep breath. What do you think?
I think that our place got a lot of attention in the press when those rogue agents kidnapped Kyle.
Suggestions?
How about Honeys place? Its big enough to house everyone if we dont all need bedrooms, and it hasnt been plastered all over the newspaper.
Honeys house was in Finley, too. Another large house like ours, though it wasnt built to be a pack den, so while there was plenty of room, it was short on beds.
Sounds good. Call Honey, then get everyone out of the house.
You two okay?
Adams eyes traveled to me. Yes.
Kyle called about ten minutes ago and said to tell you that a Gary Laughingdog is at our house and would like to talk to Mercy on a matter of some urgency.