“I love you,” Erik murmured, and Ben echoed his words. “Now, sleep.”
Erik worried he might lie awake with racing thoughts of the ways the day could have gone wrong. He wouldn’t be surprised if they woke with nightmares. But right now, warm and wrapped around his lover, Erik felt Ben relax into sleep and followed moments later.
The phone’s shrill ring woke Erik. He reluctantly separated himself from where he had spooned around Ben and answered the call.
“Mitchell, how’s Nolan?” Chief Hendricks’s brusque tone was tempered with genuine concern.
“Remarkably unhurt.” Erik cast a glance over his shoulder at his still-sleeping partner. “At least physically. That kind of thing stays with you in other ways for a long time.”
Erik had survived shootouts and hostage situations before and knew the toll it took.
“Glad you’re both okay,” the chief said. “We got the guys who showed up to take the window for ransom. Only a couple of survivors from the warehouse. As for the pile of dead bodies, I’d understand gunshot wounds, but most of those guys looked like they’d been attacked by wild animals. Want to explain?”
“Would you believe me if I did?” Erik asked.
“You’re going to say something like ghosts or magic, aren’t you?” the chief replied in a resigned tone.
“Yep. Don’t ask questions if you don’t want to hear the answers,” Erik said. “I went in with a witch and a medium. Those guys had a lot of enemies.”
“I’d like to get the two of you down here to take a look at the survivors, and you should probably see if any of the bodies at the morgue look familiar,” the chief added. “I’m going to ship them off to Newark once they can provide secure transport, but I figured Nolan could identify the guys who grabbed him, and you might recognize the Russians.”
“Ben can probably ID more of them. I’d recognize the voice of the Russian who called me, but I never saw them except in the warehouse, and things were going crazy.”
“That’s good enough. Try to make it in the next hour or so. Then I can have someone take out the trash,” Hendricks said.
Ben wandered into the kitchen as the call ended. “What’s up?”
“Hendricks wants us to come down to the station and ID your kidnappers and the guys who extorted me for the window. Are you up for it?”
“They had their faces covered when they grabbed me, but later in the warehouse, when they were playing cards, they got careless. I’m pretty sure I can. And they were Russian. That sort of narrows down the choices,” Ben replied.
“We’ve got an hour or so,” Erik told him. “Get dressed. Take another shower if you want. I’ll fix breakfast.”
Ben shot him a thumbs-up and wandered toward the bedroom. Erik heard the shower turn on and knew that part of getting over an ordeal like Ben had experienced involved washing away the feeling of contamination left behind by the kidnappers. It wasn’t logical, but it was very real.
He started a fresh pot of coffee, stuck bread in the toaster, and made fried eggs, usually a weekend treat. By the time Ben came back to the kitchen, breakfast was ready.
“This looks fantastic,” Ben told him. “Thank you, I’m starving. I think my body realized I survived. Last night, I wasn’t completely sure.”
Erik stood behind him and leaned down to hug him. “I’m just glad you’re here. Do you need ibuprofen? Change your mind about going to the ER?”
Ben shook his head. “Considering everything, I’m actually in pretty good shape. A few new bruises, but no blood. Thanks for checking.”
They dug into the food, intent on polishing it off while everything was still hot. Ben gulped down coffee, and Erik brought the carafe over for refills. When they were finished, Ben looked up.
“So…the cops. What does Hendricks know?”
“Almost everything,” Erik replied. “He knows about the window and the dome, and that Newark and Bratva fought over them. He even knows about the magic and the ghosts. I was surprised he went along with it. Susan must be having an impact on him.”
“Hendricks is level-headed. If he’d have tried to go in there with a SWAT team, we’d have had an even bigger blood bath,” Ben answered. “Does Cape May evenhavea SWAT team?”
“Actually, yes,” Erik said. “But I’m pretty sure that was the conclusion he came to as well. Plus, he’s done enough clean-up after our cases to believe in the supernatural…at least a little.”
“What about after we’re done with the cops?” Ben asked. “Do you really know where the Tiffany dome is?”
“Pretty sure I do.” Erik set his coffee cup aside and filled Ben in on the research he had done on Weston Hall and its unlucky former owner.
“I called Cassidy while you were still sleeping, and she said Sorren, Archibald Donnelly, and Rowan would be here after sundown to retrieve both the haunted stained glass and the dome if it’s where I think it is.”
