Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

ever heard or imagined. “Real faint,” he said. “It was…” He shook his head, out
     of words.
    Yu had a funny look on her face, like he’d made her sad. Wistful, maybe.
Moonsong
, she said in the way he didn’t like but was getting used to.
You heard moonsong.
    A faint scraping came from the vent. Drummond shook off his preoccupation with something
     he’d barely heard and paid attention to what was happening now. So did Yu and her
     wolf man and the two wolves.
    The vent cover wiggled, started to fall. A man’s hand shot out and grabbed it. A man’s
     head emerged. “Oh,” Jasper Machek said, blinking like an owl at the odd group assembled
     below him. And, “Shit.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

    “I guess you heard me coming,” Jasper Machek said. He shook his head. “I’m rusty, that’s
     what. Getting old and rusty.”
    “Rule’s hearing is better than ours,” Lily said. “A lot better.”
    “So I’m told.” The thought didn’t cheer him up. His face was tight, his expression
     abstracted. If he was bothered by the two very large wolves sitting in front of him,
     watching his every muscle twitch, it didn’t show.
    Drummond was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, watching and listening. Or
     that’s what he seemed to be doing. Could a ghost be supported by a wall?
    Rule had assured Machek that the suite had been swept for bugs and Friar couldn’t
     eavesdrop here magically. Machek hadn’t believed him, but it was clear that either
     Rule was correct or it was too late to worry about it. Once he’d wriggled out of his
     hole in the wall, Rule had had Todd pat him down. Not that he could conceal much with
     all the Lycra in his clothes—they were skin-tight, even the handy-dandy vest he wore
     with its interesting pockets. All thebetter for crawling through very tight spaces, Lily assumed.
    In the vest’s pockets Todd had found two phones, a set of lockpicks, and a small,
     top-of-the-line bug detector. There was also a wallet with five hundred in cash and
     an ID that claimed he was Richard Spallings. No weapons. Rule gave everything back
     to Jasper, then invited him to have a seat while he called Scott. He filled Scott
     in quickly, told him to alert the other guards—those with Cullen and the two Laban
     with Beth—and return to the suite. He said he’d call the guards at Machek’s house
     himself.
    Machek sat bolt upright. “Don’t pull them off my house! If Friar knows you’ve pulled
     them, he’ll—”
    “I need to know they’re alive and well,” Rule said.
    Machek smiled bitterly. “Did you think I could overcome werewolves? I suppose I should
     be flattered. They’re fine. They didn’t see me leave because I used an alternative
     exit.”
    “Did you, now? Perhaps you’ll tell me about that in a moment.” Rule tapped on the
     screen of his phone.
    Lily was standing beneath the hole Machek had crawled out of, studying it. “I can’t
     believe you fit. It’s wide enough, but it’s not even a foot high.”
    “Twelve point two inches,” Machek said absently. “Tight but doable.”
    “You measured?”
    “I did a job here once. That was years ago, but I took a chance they hadn’t refitted
     their ducts. People don’t, mostly. Costs too much.”
    The hotel hadn’t cleaned their ducts, either. Jasper Machek’s black, stretchy clothes
     were covered in dust. Lily had hurriedly tossed a blanket on the couch before he sat
     down. They’d managed not to break any furniture so far. Why add a big cleaning bill
     to their tab?
    Rule finished talking to whichever guard he’d called and disconnected. “Chris and
     Alan are fine, if chagrinned that you evaded them. They’ll continue to watch the house.What can I offer you to eat or drink? The bar here is reasonably well stocked.”
    “Nothing.” After a moment he remembered to add, “Thank you.”
    Rule looked at Patrick, who’d hastily pulled on a pair of jeans. “Have room service
     send up four pots of coffee and an assortment of—”
    “Don’t call room service! They can’t know I’m here. If they—”
    “Jasper,” Rule said, “There are eight adults registered to this suite, seven of whom
     are lupi. It’s barely past ten o’clock. Room service will not be amazed by an order
     for refreshments.”
    “Of course.” Machek rubbed his face. “I’m panicking. I don’t usually, but this is…I
     need to tell you why I’m here.”
    “You do, yes,” Rule said, and moved to sit in the chair