I almost choked.Just like that?But before I could even figure out how I felt about the way things were progressing, the CIA agent with us was already shaking her head with a frown.
“No offense to Agent Vavrin—-” The statuesque brunette gave me an apologetic smile. “But wouldn’t it better if someone more experienced accompany Detective—-” Tamara raised a brow at Paul.
“Paul.”
“Paul...?”
Paul’s lips curved into a smile. “Just Paul.”
With the exception of Dike, all of us couldn’t help gaping at his blatant evasion. Wasn’t that carrying his secretiveness a little too far? It was just his last name, for Cronos’ sake.
“Let him be,” my superior said dismissively. “INTERPOL detectives are notoriously suspicious that way.”
Tamara let out a stiff laugh. “Of course.” Her tone, however, was patently unconvinced.
Dike turned to Paul. “As for Agent Gries’ suggestion, it’s your call.”
“I’m sure Agent Gries is entirely capable—-” It was Paul’s turn to give the other woman a smile of polite apology. “But I must insist on continuing to work with Agent Vavrin for reasons I can’t disclose at the moment.”
Tamara’s gaze narrowed. “So that’s how it is.”
Paul appeared indifferent to whatever the other agent was insinuating. He swung his chair to face Dike, asking with laconic ease, “Director?”
“Permission was already granted,” Dike answered with a grunt. Turning to the CIA agent, she said abruptly, “I appreciate your good intentions, Agent Gries, but with INTERPOL now involved it’s best to let Paul do as he sees fit.”
Chapter Seven
PAUL HAD JUST TAKENa left turn at Rainbow Street when I finally broke the silence between us by clearing my throat. “So...”
Paul turned to face me with a knowing look. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
I made a face, realizing that he had only remained silent in the ten minutes we had been in the car as a way of teasing me. “It was that bad, and you know it.”
“There’s no need to torture yourself over anything. Agent Gries should’ve known better than to try to take over the case that way.”
“But she had a valid point, Paul. And Iamworried that you and Dike made a big mistake—-”
“In choosing CSI over CIA?”
I shot him an exasperated look. “You know it’s not just that.”
“Then what is it?”
I didn’t like the way he was forcing me to spell out things, and I frowned unhappily while watching Paul steer his SUV into a vacant parking space closest to the gates of Silver Mist Park. At about nine-thirty on a weekday, the local park was as empty as expected, with only a handful of grandmothers doing tai chi next to the playground. They might look harmless in most people’s eyes, but I only had to live in this town long enough to recognize our local baddies.
And those grandmothers stretching and bending like they were the nextAvatar?
They were the meanest of the bunch, witches made easily irritable because they had reached the retirement age of 90 and were no longer allowed to ride their brooms in post-daylight hours. I felt for them, really. I could imagine it was like having to obey a curfew even when you were a full-fledged, fully functioning adult.
On the other hand, I also didn’t think curtailed broom activities made up a valid reason to temporarily transform human boys into frogs just for being rude enough to play loud music at 3AM.
Paul let out a mock sigh when he saw me shrugging me into my CSI-issued windbreaker and pulling its hood up before letting him help me out of his car. “And to think I was looking forward to have us snuggle under an umbrella.”
I made a face. “Not funny.” Just remembering the feel of his hand on my back was enough to make me feel faint, and I quickly changed the subject, asking, “Are you really sure it wouldn’t be better if you worked with Agent Gries?” I hated the idea of relinquishing a case, but what I hated more than that was the possibility that I could end up hampering everyone’s efforts to stop Zeus from destroying the world.
“We’ve shared all we know about this case with Agent Gries. That should be enough for her.” Paul’s tone was one of finality. “Now, let’s not waste our time talking about her, yes? We still have work to do.” He gestured to the park’s on-site greenhouse, located on top of a small hill with a winding road leading up to it. “That’s where Thelxiope lives. Ready to talk to the world’s oldest siren?”
SIRENS HAD IT PRETTYbad compared to most immortals. They weren’t gifted with extraordinary strength like the Amazons or blessed with impossibly good looks like the nymphs. They just had really lovely voices, but that didn’t mean much these days with the birth of auto-tune. If they wanted to live in this world, they had to work for a living like humans did, and knowing this did have me thinking. Could someone have paid our siren off to poison or brainwash Zeus?
