Tricked

before that time. «
    » Oh, if only they knew the size of that particular iceberg. «
    This earned me a brief flicker of a smirk. » Naturally, Hal knows nothing about your life before you became a client of the firm and wouldn’t share it if he did. Detective Geffert, however, has been eager to share everything he possibly can. «
    » What a helpful lad he is. «
    » Yes. The theory he’s pawning to anyone who will listen is that you were responsible for the Satyrn Massacre and this business in Tuba City was a revenge killing, and the reason you have no early records is that you’re a sleeper agent from somewhere. «
    I shed my American accent and spoke like a lad from Tipperary. » A sleeper agent from Ireland? Hurting America by slaughtering affluent twentysomethings? For what purpose? «
    » Yeah, he’s a bit fuzzy there. «
    » That’s the biggest load of bollocks I’ve ever heard. « I resumed my standard American English accent. » What evidence is he offering? «
    » He regrets that you died before he could build a decent case and arrest you properly. «
    » Ha! Excellent! What else? «
    » I have something for you. « Greta pulled out of her bag a lavender envelope with a wax seal and my name scrawled beautifully on the front in dark purple ink. I hadn’t seen calligraphy of this sort since the nineteenth century. » It’s from Malina Sokolowski. «
    » Ah. And where is she these days? « I examined the envelope in the magical spectrum, because—you know. Witches. As I suspected, there was a magical seal on it as well as the mundane wax one. Malina would know when the seal was broken.
    » Don’t know, except that she and her coven are out of town. I expect that might tell you something, « she said, nodding at the envelope. » They kind of have the same arrangement with the firm that you have. They’ll let us know when they settle down somewhere, but we can’t tell you anything about it when they do. Hal wanted me to thank you for sending their business to the firm. «
    » He’s very welcome. May I ask a question regarding the Pack? «
    Greta’s jaw tightened, but she said, » Ask. «
    » Have you ever run afoul of skinwalkers? «
    She hadn’t expected the question. She looked bemused and shook her head.
    » Ah, well, kind of a long shot anyway. «
    Greta didn’t pursue the matter with a polite inquiry. She looked down at the paperwork in a clear signal that we should hurry up and finish. It was a good idea, since we had to make it back to the hogan before sundown.
    » I’ll need Hal to transfer about forty thousand to each of our accounts, « I said, finishing the documents and handing the stack over to Granuaile to sign. » He’ll need to draw smaller sums from multiple accounts to avoid attracting the attention of the IRS. And I need it there tomorrow. «
    » Done. «
    » Please give my regards to Hal, Snorri, and the rest of the Pack. «
    » I will. «
    She said nothing more as she placed the paperwork back in her bag. With a curt nod to us that was supposed to serve as a farewell, she slid out of the booth and stalked out to the parking lot. I put my finger to my lips to tell Granuaile it wasn’t safe to talk yet. While we waited for Greta to drive away, I opened the letter from Malina. There was a single sheet inside, written in the same impeccable hand as the address on the envelope.
    Dear Mr. O’Sullivan , We have taken your advice and have decided to move the coven elsewhere. If you ever need to contact us in the future, please do so through Mr. Hauk . During our last divination ritual, we learned that the vampire situation will become extremely fluid and dangerous in the near future. There were hints that someone powerful—perhaps you—might be drawn into it somehow, and we urge you to avoid this, if at all possible, for your own safety . Kind regards ,
Malina Sokolowski
    I showed the letter to Granuaile. » You know what this means? «
    She scanned it quickly. » It means you shouldn’t meet Leif tomorrow. «
    » That’s right. But I owe him the courtesy of a meeting after all we’ve been through. And I’m curious to see what sort of shape he’s in. You should have seen him. You know that comedian, Gallagher, who smashes watermelons with a sledgehammer? Leif’s head was the watermelon. «
    Granuaile frowned. » I don’t know that comedian, sorry. «
    › Poor Atticus. Another fruitless analogy. ‹
    Augh! Oberon, that was dreadful!
    › But not a Schwarzenegger pun!