“I’ll work on researching that angle as well. Perhaps there is help in old mythology we can glean insight from.”
“Thanks.”
I rush out to the Audi and put my phone on the charger there. It finally has enough juice I can power it up. My first call is to Garrett Green, and I use handsfree mode while racing through Tucson traffic.
“This is Dexter Van Sussex,” I say as soon as he answers. “Have you seen Eilidh today?”
“Who?”
I want to smack myself in the head. “Sorry. Connie. Have you seen Connie? Can youpleasecheck her apartment for me? See if she’s there? Andkeepher there, if she is, until I arrive.”
I don’t blame him for his growly tone. “Whathappened?”
“She saw the thing that’s been chasing her. It showed up this morning just before dawn. We have video proof. The club’s security system caught it on its cameras.”
“What?”
“Yeah. And she left.”
“What is it?”
“It’s…” My phone dings. I look, and it’s a message from Lucius with attachments. “Better shown than explained. Please, go look. Now.”
“I’m already on my way downstairs. Hang on.” Come to think of it, it does sound like he’s running.
Then I hear the sound of a series of booming knocks, like he’s going to kick the door down. “Connie!Openup!Now!” Another series of knocks. “I don’t think she’s here. I can’t scent her, nothing recent. Nothing warm.” I hear him running again, the sound of a stairwell door slamming open, and more running. Finally, another door opening. “Her ’Yota’s gone, Dexter. Any idea where she headed?”
“No. Lucius will make some calls and see if she reached out to anyone.” I slide to a stop at a light and take a moment to flip to my messages and scan them.
That’s when I find the one from her, sent around the time she sent the one to Lucius.
Fuck.
I resist the urge to fling the phone through my windshield.
“I’ll pull the CCTV films for today in the lobby and find out when she bugged out, exactly. Maybe we can get some clues from that.”
“Thank you. I owe you. It would have been just around sunrise. Not long after.”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby as soon as you get here.”
“Thanks.” I hang up and, minutes later, I’m wheeling the Audi into the parking lot. I grab my charger cord and jump out.
Garrett’s already standing there, holding the door open as I race inside. He leads me down to the management office, where he unlocks the door and I follow him in. “Whatisthis fucking thing?”
I show him the videos and images on my phone and it pulls him up short. His eyes widen. “Fuuuuuck me. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“We think it’s agwyllgi.”
“A what the fuck?”
I quickly explain the myths.
“Okay. So, we’re looking for a thing that’s never been captured on video before, and supposedly doesn’t exist.Terrific.” He sits at a computer console. “We keep a month’s worth of feed on the hard drive.”
“Can Amber maybe see anything?”
“She’s already working on it. I got the master key and let her into the apartment. She thought maybe being alone there would help.”
