Inherit the Dead

that said he was stoned, not a stoned idiot.
    “Have you been able to reach Lilith?”
    “I called her right after I called the hotel. She said she hadn’t gone to Hartford, didn’t know of any art showing, and didn’t recall Angel ever saying she was going there. Said she hadn’t seen Angel since . . . I guess it would be the day I last saw her.”
    “So Lilith and Angel are close? How long have they known each other?”
    Loki squinted. “A year? Probably less.” Loki shook his head. “Angel goes through BFFs the way Limbaugh goes through oxy. Always has. I give their little ‘womance’ six months tops before Angel gets tired of her.”
    Pretty tough talk for a dad whose daughter was missing. But it was probably the most honest answer he’d given so far.
    “You think Angel might be a little . . . flighty?” Perry asked.
    Loki sighed. “In all fairness, probably no more than any other spoiled rich girl would be in her situation. But to just disappear this way . . . ” Loki’s mouth turned down.
    “Has she ever done this before?”
    “Not for this long. She’d fall off the radar for a day, maybe three days. But never more than that.”
    “When was the last time?”
    Loki stared off until Perry was ready to knock on his head to see if anyone was home, but finally, he continued. “About a year ago. She was supposed to go to her cousin’s wedding in Boston. Instead, she wound up in Woodstock. Never even made it to the reception. No heads-up, no apologies.”
    “How’d you find her?”
    “She eventually called. But it took a while, which worried me because I’d been leaving messages on her cell and she never turns it off. Keeps that thing glued to her side twenty-four/seven. Every time I called, it went straight to voice mail. Three days after the wedding, she finally got in touch. Said she couldn’t call before because there was no signal where they were staying.”
    “Did you believe her?”
    Loki shrugged. “Why would she make something like that up?”
    Perry thought, Because sliding up to Woodstock and missing her cousin’s wedding might have been the least of it? But it was a year too late for that talk.
    “Woodstock,” Perry said. “Does she usually go in for retro, hippie stuff like that?” Perry watched the other man for a grin, a raised eyebrow, some sign of recognition about apples and their proximity to the trees they fall from. Nada .
    “Not necessarily. Angel’s just . . . adventuresome.”
    “Does she go to school?”
    Loki’s face brightened. “Sure did. She went to Vassar. Graduated in three years. With honors.” He stood up. “I’m parched. You sure you don’t want anything to drink? Water?”
    “Sure, water’s fine.”
    When Loki returned with two large crystal glasses of water, Perry asked, “Graduated in three years with honors? That’s quite a feat.” Especially for the girl Loki had just described.
    Loki settled back into his chair, took a long swallow of water, and nodded. “She’s definitely got brains. And obviously discipline, too—when it suits her.” An edge of disappointment slid under the pride in his voice.
    “But?”
    “But it turned out the only thing she really cared about was getting done with school as soon as possible. She kept her grades up because she knew that if she didn’t, she’d get hell from me.”
    “Not from her mother?”
    “They rarely spoke.”
    Loki glanced at the side table where he’d set down his pipe. Perry knew if he picked it up, their interview was over. He was about to knock his glass of water onto the floor to distract him, but Loki left the pipe alone and continued.
    “Ever since she graduated last year, it’s been one long party.” Loki paused, shook his head.
    The irony of Loki making a remark like that almost made Perry laugh out loud. He stifled the impulse by taking a long drink of water, then asked his next question. “And Angel doesn’t have any real expenses, right? She doesn’t pay rent here?”
    “No.”
    “So who does?”
    Loki’s shoulders dropped, and he stared into the fire. “I have some investments . . . ”
    “Might some folks call those investments ‘child support’?”
    Loki shot a look at Perry out of the corner of his eye, then turned to stare into the flames. Busted—again—he didn’t even try to argue.
    For a few moments, the only sounds were the crackle and pop of the wood. A log rolled off the top, and Loki picked up a poker and shoved it back away from the