“That’s what he said,” she purred.
Naya knew how to snap me out of my funk and make me laugh. She blew a kiss and dashed off, leaving me alone on the steps. I had just wiped a crumb from the corner of my mouth when the sound of heavy footsteps approached from below. A long shadow emerged on the walkway and a man came into view. He slowly ascended the stairs and I leaned to the left to see if it was one of Naya’s lovesick puppies who often swung by when she was at work.
Officer McNeal rounded the corner and smiled.
“Alexia Knight,” he said from the landing below. “Have you been dodging me?”
“How come you’re never in uniform?” I asked skeptically, looking at his black pants and shirt. McNeal looked like a cop, but it didn’t feel legit, if that makes any sense. He looked forty, but something about his grey eyes seemed much older.
“I’m a detective—we’re not required to wear uniforms.”
“So why did you introduce yourself as an officer?”
He threw his left foot up on the step and leaned on the railing. “Your father is in some serious trouble and we need to locate him.”
“You know about the kidnapping?”
His brow arched. Apparently he didn’t. “Nelson stole something that’s extremely valuable, and now the owner wants it back. He threatened to hunt down Nelson’s family, and we’re just looking to track your father down before this escalates out of hand.”
Then a light bulb switched on. “You’re not a cop, are you?” I rose to my feet with each foot on a different step. “You’re working with the man my dad owes, aren’t you? What did he do? Because he kidnapped my mother.”
McNeal looked me over and cocked his head to the side. “It doesn’t seem like he took everything of value.”
The remark confused me, but I quickly realized McNeal might see me as a way to bait my father.
“You think he cares about me?” I laughed but the sound quickly died as I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m not even his real daughter. He left us years ago and doesn’t give a damn about my life.”
McNeal drummed his fingers impatiently on the railing. “Your father is a thief.”
“What did he steal, a few grand? Write it off.”
“Fifty million in diamonds.”
Holy shit.
“My dad worked in a warehouse,” I said in a voice of denial.
“Is that what he told you?” McNeal huffed out a laugh and glanced upward. “He was a runner who completed payment transactions.”
“What does that mean?”
“If someone didn’t pay their debt, your father finished the transaction,” he said with his fingers shaped like a gun.
Oh my God.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?” He took a step up and I took a step back.
“I’m going to find him, and the longer I’m forced to wait, the more dangerous I become. Your family has been nothing but trouble; I should have washed my hands of you years ago by taking him out too.”
“Too?” This time I stepped forward. “What do you mean… too?”
“I can sense by your energy you’re not human,” he said. “And I’d be curious to know more about how that came to be. Your brother was a fool. At least your father wasn’t begging for immortality; he just wanted a fat paycheck. Humans should know their place.”
I was three seconds from lunging at him. “What do you know about Wes? How could you know him?”
“Nelson wanted to bring him into the business.” McNeal shrugged. “Only, your brother didn’t want monetary gain, that stupid human wanted immortality. Some of your kind get fixated on living forever and are willing to do anything, give up anything. Like a Mage is just going to give away that kind of power for a job? Fuck no. You got to earn your keep with us and show us your worth. It might take a lifetime to earn, but I didn’t tell him that. Just gave him his assignment and he chickened out.”
