“I need to ask you a few questions.”
“And you are?”
“Danica Amana. This is my… colleague, Vassago.”
Crystal ran her gaze over us, and Vas gave her a charming grin. He was likely appreciating the fact that he hadn’t needed to get in an elevator for this little talk. Strangely, Crystal didn’t look entranced with him.
“You’re the woman bonded to Samael.”
“Yup.” I popped the p and she shrugged. For a woman who had gone after as many paranormal contracts as possible, she sure wasn’t impressed with the demon by my side. Curiouser and curiouser.
She sat back down and gestured to a couple of forest green plastic outdoor chairs in front of her desk. “Take a seat.”
I sat. Vas shook his head and I didn’t blame him. It’d likely be impossible to get comfortable with his wings. He leaned against a wall instead.
“Do you recognize this man?”
I’d worked with a sketch artist last night after the shooter escaped, and I handed over a copy of his face. Crystal took the time to study it and finally shook her head.
“No.”
According to the dagger on my hip, she was telling the truth.
“A priceless fae artifact has gone missing from the fae representative’s office. Your employees were the only ones who had access.”
That wasn’t completely true, but I wanted to see her reaction, and the blood drained from her face. For the first time, real fear flashed through her eyes.
“Wh-what?”
“I have a list of your employees who were working in that building, but I’m going to need you to give me some more information. Have any of them mentioned fae objects before?”
“No, of course not.”
Misty stayed inert. “I need to know anything you can tell me about the people who have been working in the fae representative’s building. Anything you think may be helpful.”
Crystal nodded and turned to the thin gray laptop on her desk. “Give me a moment.”
I’d already run a check on her employees, looking for anyone with a criminal record. Nothing had popped up. But maybe something Crystal knew could help.
“I should be asking you for a warrant,” she muttered as she typed.
“If any of these people are involved in stealing from paranormals, me finding them before the fae do could very well save their lives.”
Something whirred, and she pushed away from her desk, wheeling her chair toward the printer. She scanned the printouts, shrugged, and handed them to me.
“I don’t know if this will help, but it’s the roster for that building. If you look here, you can see who was scheduled on that floor each day.”
“Have any of your employees stopped showing up to work since the theft?”
She nodded and printed out another few sheets of paper. “There are quite a few.” Her mouth twisted. “A lot of people consider cleaning beneath them. They consider this a temporary gig and leave me short staffed while they interview for other companies.”
I took the papers and nodded at her. “Thanks. Just one more question.”
“Yes?”
“You wanna tell me why you’re going after every paranormal contract you can find?”
The look on her face told me she thought I was a special kind of idiot. “Paranormals pay the most.”
