“It’s all right for me to meet Nick for a drink after work, right?” I asked, picking up Nick’s business card again and examining it.
Max sat back in his chair. “Technically he could be considered a person of interest. He might not have worked last Saturday, but he’s been there before when Callum has. But then, so have a lot of people. Neither Falon, Callum’s mother, nor any of their pack have heard Callum mention Nick.”
“Hmm. Maybe I should postpone.”
“Look.” Max clasped his hands on top of his desk. “The non-human population around here are a close-knit bunch. If we decided to avoid everyone who could possibly have interacted with Callum, we’d have to fucking isolate.” He shrugged. “If you don’t talk about the case, then I think you should be good.”
I glanced through the window in our closed office door. “Should I run it by the boss?”
“If it makes you feel better, but I can almost guarantee she’ll say the same thing.”
“I might do, just to be sure.”
Max grinned. “Well then, since you’re going in anyway, take these.” He held out an envelope.
“What are they?”
“Requests to visit Midnight this Saturday. She needs to sign them.”
“Can’t we just go to a nightclub?”
Max shook his head. “Not if we’re going on official police business. We do things differently in the paranormal division. If anything kicks off, then I want it in writing that we had permission to act accordingly.”
I frowned. “I thought all paranormal clubs had magic dampeners to prevent that sort of thing.”
“They do, but people can still use their fists, and some of the people in that club don’t need magic to cause trouble.”
“You think they’ll be some?”
“I hope not, but not everyone is a fan of the police.”
True enough.
* * *
I gotthe go-ahead to meet with Nick and signed permission to go to Midnight on Saturday. Surprisingly, I also got permission to take both my daggers. As a rule, no weapons were permitted inside the paranormal clubs, but as police, we got special dispensation.
Whether or not I’d take mine, I hadn’t decided.
“Where are you meeting him?” Max asked, sitting back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head as he watched me gather my things.
I stopped, jacket half pulled on, and narrowed my eyes at him. “Why?”
He grinned. “Calm down, I was just asking. I’m not planning on crashing your date.”
“For the last time, it’s not a date.” Even if I didn’t think of Nick as the brother I never had, my thoughts were far too full of Rys these days to focus on anyone else. And nothing was ever happening there again. I couldn’t even decide if I wanted it to.
Liar.
“We’re going to Cassie’s, if you must know.”
He nodded. “Good choice.”
Cassie’s was a mixed bar. Both human and non-humans were welcome, and like the clubs, it had a strict no-magic, no-weapons rule. Unlike the paranormal clubs, if a fight broke out there, the consequences could be a whole lot worse if a human was involved. It tended to put a lot of non-humans off, but Nick had suggested going there, so I figured he was okay with it.
I patted my pockets, checking for my wallet. “Right,” I said, fishing my keys out. “I’m off.”
Max eyed me, forehead creasing into a frown. “You don’t have to meet him if you don’t want to.”
