No dark urges. No secret plans. No guilty shadows.
I step back gently, withdrawing from the light connection with his mind. “Thank you, Adam. That’s very helpful.”
He beams, eager to assist. Jill walks me through the rest of the vault setup, explaining how the malfunction hit the cameras and alarms all at once.
“Is everyone accounted for today?” I ask. “Any, ah, no-shows?”
She pauses, frowning slightly. “Well… our other assistant curator, Mark Healy, called in sick this morning. He’s usually here early, helping Adam with the inventory. I was going to check on him later.”
My senses prick slightly. Not supernatural, not yet, but something clicks in my investigator brain. A missing player on the chess board, so to speak. I take another sip of coffee, considering my next move.
“Mind if I get Mark’s contact information?” I ask smoothly. “I’d like to follow up, just to be thorough.”
Jill nods quickly, already pulling out her phone. “It’s with the folder I gave you yesterday, but let me grab it for you now... hang on.”
I smile faintly to myself. So far, no ghostly whispers, no dark masters, no monsters lurking in the shadows. Just bones, a theft, and likely human motives.
Ah, just what the doctor ordered. An easy enough case, I hope, with a fat payday, enough to replenish my dwindling funds. But... I’ve learned better than anyone that sometimes even the most ordinary of cases have sharp teeth hidden underneath.
And, wow, interesting. Jill has a thing for Adam. Hmm. Maybe I should encourage these two nerds to get it on. A quick glance at her ring finger (bare) and a light dip into her thoughts confirms she’s not married. She knows Adam to be single, too.
So, I leave her with a strong suggestion to flirt a little more with Adam when the moment feels right.
Okay, that’s enough.
Whatever happens next is up to the two dino nerds
Chapter Six
Mark Healy answers after only two rings.
“Hello?” His voice is scratchy, hoarse.
“Hi, Mark. My name is Samantha Moon. I’m working with Dr. Fenwick on the fossil theft at Craig Park. Do you have a few minutes to meet with me?”
He coughs on cue into the receiver. “Ah, no, I’m sorry. I’m pretty sick, been in bed all morning.”
“Funny thing about me is that I never get sick. Like, ever.”
A pause. Just long enough for me to hear him shift the phone from one ear to the next.
“Okay, weird,” he finally says. “Sure, you can come by, if you want. But you’ve been warned.”
“Duly noted.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be great company.”
“Just looking for facts, and maybe some answers.”
I get his address and hang up, already plugging it into the GPS. He’s in Brea, California. Not far, maybe twenty minutes from the park.
Back in the Momvan, I plop my coffee in the cupholder, and fire up the engine. The drive is smooth, suburban, with Imperial Highway only mildly busy as I make my way northwest. Brea’s a well-off pocket in Orange County, all trimmed hedges, wide streets, and pretty houses with double garages and worthless chimneys. No one uses fireplaces in North Orange County.
Mark’s home is a two-story charmer with fresh paint, a tidy lawn, and a driveway occupied by a dark blue Toyota sedan.
The moment I pull up next to it, something prickles at the back of my neck. I’ve developed mild psychic abilities over the years. I justsensewhen something’s off, and I’m nearly never wrong. Something is off here, for sure. My actual magic is limited to two party tricks: small fireballs, which I can summonwhen needed, and an illusion spell that gives me the appearance of wearing a dress. I used the latter to great effect on Talos’s home world, years ago. Only I knew I was running around naked in a fourth dimensional world.
Good times.
