The Quest (24 page)

I grinned at his comment. “You’re not working?”

“I took the night off.” He lifted the box onto the shelf. “Sal must have sent several people to help gather information. The warehouse stinks of demons.”

“Yes, I noticed that too.”

“The influx of researchers might raise suspicion.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But we’re under a time crunch. Besides, I’m sure Sal can come up with a creative excuse if someone questions him.”

Jackson lifted a box off the shelf. “I wouldn’t hold any faith in a demon.” He set the box on the floor and gave me a look of condemnation. “They all lie.”

His authoritative glare made me feel as if I’d committed a crime. “I came clean with you. I told you everything. I lied to you in the beginning because I didn’t know if I could trust you. And it really wasn’t a lie. I just didn’t tell you everything about me.”

He straightened in a flash. “You waited weeks to tell me the truth.” His deep tone reflected his irritation with me.

Biting my lip, I lowered my head and gave a nod. I didn’t want to argue. I needed him, his help and a safe place to stay, away from Jonas and Boss.

“I’m sorry I didn’t share everything with you sooner. I won’t make the same mistake twice.” I lifted my gaze to meet his.

Jackson shook his head. “You really are unlike any woman I’ve ever met. Not many would stand there and apologize, especially a demon.”

I stared deep into his eyes. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

“I believe you. I just…” He ran his hand over his head. “Fuck, I’m confused.”

The feeling was mutual. Thanks to Galluzzi, chaos and confusion ruled my life, and I was damn tired of it all. I longed for a slice of normality.

I moved closer to him as if I were going to pass him and stopped at his side. I disliked asking for more of his help, but I had no other options, and I didn’t want to miss my opportunity. “I have a request.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, flexing his biceps. “All right. Let’s hear it.”

“I need a place to stay, and I’m ready to get rid of this bracelet.”

“Have you decided to ditch your vampire friend?”

I inhaled a deep breath. “Not exactly. I just need a break from him, and Jonas, to think about things and stay focused on the investigation.”

“Aren’t they helping with the investigation?”

“They are.” I nodded and swallowed hard.

His head moved slightly but his eyes remained fixed on mine. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this?”

After a deep breath, I explained. “I’m concerned about their safety, and I fear they are spending more time trying to help me than concentrating on the investigation. Anubis is on his way to Indy, and Galluzzi’s goons are out to kill me. I hate asking you to put yourself in harm’s way–”

He reached forward and gripped my arms. “I already offered earlier. Danger is part of my job.”

“I doubt Anubis would hurt you, and since you’re a cop, Galluzzi’s demons may stay away you.”

“My profession won’t stop any determined killer, especially a vampire.” He glided his hands down my arms and squeezed my hands. “But don’t worry, I’m five times stronger than your human friend, I have superior senses and I don’t have to hide during the day. I have other capabilities you might be interested in too.” A playful grin tugged his lips.

The handsome werewolf had a way of stirring the seeds of desire within me. He tempted me and if I wasn’t careful, I’d lose my will to fight.

I slipped my hands from his. “We have to leave before my shift ends, and I’ll send a text to Boss to throw him off.”

“I have a way to handle your bracelet problem.”

“I thought you had tools to get it off.”

“I do. Removing it isn’t the problem. The tracking device is.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “What’s your idea to solve my problem?”

“Tom and I put together a plan. We think it will work, but you need to realize you might not be able to return here.”

I paced near him, thinking. I needed to keep my job to search through the records, but wearing the bracelet put a big target on my head.

“Tom and I will continue searching through files. We can ask others to come help too. If you’re worried about finding evidence, we can handle the research.”

An idea came to mind, and I stopped pacing. “No matter where I go, her goons are tracking me and anyone with me is in danger. What if we set a trap? We wait for the bad guys to show up, catch and detain them so they can’t report to Billy, or whomever. Assuming you have men who can watch them, I’d leave my bracelet with your men, and then we go on our way to your place without worrying about someone coming for me. On my way to work tomorrow, we could retrieve the bracelet so I can come back to work.”

Sure, it sounded easy, but catching and confining demons that could vanish at any second would be a difficult challenge, not so difficult with charmed bracelets, which the police had easy access to.

“Why bother coming back?” He held his palms up. “We can handle the investigation.”

“Because I’m in charge of it. If anyone finds evidence, I want to know about it.”

Jackson tilted his head and shot me a look of concern. “You’re playing with your life.”

“Shelley?” Lizzy called out.

Crap. I needed to get to work instead of arguing about how I should handle my life.

“I’ll keep the bracelet on if you think my idea won’t work. I have to be able to come back.” I stepped past him, heading for the end of the aisle.

“Shelley,” Jackson said, and I spun around. “I’ll help any way I can.”

“We’ll talk later,” I said, then left in a rush.

I met Lizzy at the front of the warehouse where a small line of people waited for assistance. Together, we managed to clear the line within a half hour. When Lizzy commented about the unusual number of demons looking for records, I shrugged it off. I’d call Sal later and ask him to prepare an explanation in case Galluzzi inquired.

Over the next five hours, I returned documents and spent a little time searching for the Senator’s birth record. Once I realized the late hour, I left for my dinner.

As I sat in the break room munching on a candy bar, I called Zachary. Our conversation lasted maybe five minutes. I told him I needed to leave a half hour before my scheduled time and asked if he could fill in for me. To my surprise, the old man didn’t mind coming to work early.

Minutes after I ended my call, Tom showed up. I informed him I searched 1960 through half of 1962 and found nothing. He said he’d start with sixty-three and move forward. His goal was to find her birth record, even if meant staying all morning to find it. I admired his determination.

I returned to the front desk and found another demon at the counter. Lizzy asked me to enter invoices and watch for more customers while she led the demon to the back. I preferred to stay on my feet to sneak a peek for documents, but since I was to follow her lead, I accepted her orders and frowned in the process.

Time flew by and when she didn’t show up, I wondered what happened to her. In the short time I’d worked with Lizzy, I learned she wasn’t the type who enjoyed dirty work, such as filing documents. Unlike me, she preferred to sit on her rump and work on the computer. Another ten minutes passed before I heard her laughter and Jackson’s voice approaching. I swiveled on the stool and waited for them to appear.

Lizzy and Jackson rounded the corner together. Lizzy laughed with one hand covering her mouth and the other on Jackson’s arm. The bright smile on his face left me wondering what kind of humorous conversation the two were having.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

The laugher slowly drained from Lizzy. “Oh, nothing.” She gave a casual wave of her hand. “We were just talking.”

“About what?”

Jackson stood near the counter with his hands wedged in his front pockets. “Lizzy thinks it’s odd how many demons are here. I told her I thought they came here for intimate reasons since this is
the cage
.”

I heard the slam of a drawer behind me.

“Jackson!” she snapped. “Stop it.”

He tilted his head back and laughed.

“It’s not funny. I’ve caught people back there and had to call security.”

“People have sex in the back?” I asked.

Lizzy tossed the strap of her purse over her arm. “Yes, and it’s one reason why I hate going back there.” She hit the button under the counter and rushed to the gate. “Call me tomorrow, Jackson.”

“You can count on it,” he replied.

Once she left, Jackson shifted his attention to me.

“What was that?” I had to ask since he’d never flirted with Lizzy before, at least from what I’d seen.

A grin of pure delight emerged. “If you think I’m interested in her, I’m not. I just acted like I was. She came to me wanting advice.”

“Oh?”

“She wanted to know if she should talk to Galluzzi about all the demons showing up tonight. Apparently most of them asked about college records during the eighties.”

“Oh shit.”

“I changed the subject by making a joke, only it really wasn’t. She really did see people having sex in the back.”

I leaned my rear on the stool. “Eww.”

“I told her if she wanted to talk more privately, I’d treat her to a cup of coffee.”

“Do you think she will talk to the Senator?”

“I plan to find out. If she is, I’ll try to convince her not to talk.”

“I’ll call Sal in the morning and tell him what’s going on just in case she blabs.”

Jackson glanced at his watch. “I’ll get back to work since we only have an hour and a half left.”

“Have you found anything?”

“No, not a damn thing. I carefully searched all the demon records in two thousand six and read every document that looked like a court pleading. I didn’t find a single clue. I even looked in the warlock and werewolf records.”

My heart sank a notch. Why would the vampire come in looking for a petition from 2006? Where could it be? Was it sending us on a wild goose chase?

Jackson took a step back and pointed his thumb behind him. “I’m going to keep looking through the records on the other breeds. Maybe something will turn up.”

Before Jackson took another step back, Tom rushed around the corner holding a piece of paper.

Anxiety shot through me, hoping he found a valuable piece of information to help us. I stood, scooting the stool back and causing it to scrape over the floor. “Did you find something?”

“You’re not going to believe it.” Tom stopped between Jackson and I. “Look at this.”

Jackson and I peered at the faded piece of paper. At the top, the words read "Birth Record". I scanned the document and found the name Barbara Jane Galluzzi. The date of birth showed October 13, 1963.

“You found her birth certificate,” I said.

“She’s never been married, so I believe this is it. We can check out the names of her parents to confirm this is real.”

I searched the upper part of the paper for the names of her parents. Jackson pointed his finger at one of the names.

“Andrea Meredith Galluzzi and Lorenzo DeLaguardia.” I read aloud and lifted my gaze to Jackson. “She took her mother’s surname?”

“Our breed would never do such a thing, but I heard demons allow it,” he said.

“Look at the father’s name,” Tom said.

“Lorenzo DeLaguardia.”

“L.D.,” Jackson said.

My heart thudded with excitement. “Could this be the same L.D. that appeared on the other documents?”

Tom’s eyes gleamed. “It might be.”

Galluzzi’s father supported Project E? Why? It didn’t make sense, unless he supported her financially. What parent wouldn’t give their child funds for the right reason? Maybe his connection to the project was strictly financial.

“Can you find out more about Lorenzo?” I asked.

“I plan on it, immediately.” Tom folded the document in half twice. “Don’t worry, this is a copy.” He slid the paper into his back pocket.

The vampire who took my memories and saved my life had given me valuable information. Why? How did he know where to find Galluzzi’s birth record? What did he have to gain by us finding it? Better yet, what did he have to lose? Regardless, the fact Tom found the document gave me hope.

“The vampire who came looking for a birth record in the sixties also wanted to search for a petition in 2006,” I said, shifting my eyes from Jackson to Tom. “Since you found the birth record, the petition has to be here.”

“I’m going to keep searching. Sometimes people return documents to the wrong place. Believe me, I’m being extra careful and reading through every court record,” Jackson said.

“Maybe we’ll find my birth record mixed with the files too.”

“The project ended in 1991. I’ll start searching there.” Tom looked at Jackson. “Are we still leaving at eleven thirty?”

Jackson peered around Tom. “Do you want to get rid of the bracelet?”

“Will you give it back?” I asked.

Tom swung his arms in front of him and made a popping noise with his hands. “I can bring it back to you.”

I locked eyes with Jackson. “I want it off.”

“Then we stick with the plan,” Jackson said.

Tom walked backward away from us. “Call me if anything changes. Otherwise, I will see you two later.”

“Good luck,” I said as he disappeared around the corner.

Jackson stepped closer to me. “Don’t send any text messages until we make it to my place.”

“I won’t.”

He lifted his chin and sniffed the air. “Do you feel safe here by yourself?”

I relaxed on the stool. “I have my dagger.” I crossed my legs and patted my boot. “If Billy or anyone tries to attack me, my blade is within reach.”

Serious eyes bore down upon me. “Keep it close.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not afraid to use it.”

Jackson pressed his lips together and gave an approving nod. Without saying another word, he turned and headed for the warehouse.

I took in a deep breath as I spun on the stool to face the computer. The time showed we had a little over an hour left. Another night of work completed. Another night with a new clue. Galluzzi’s father was Lorenzo DeLaguardia. Oddly, his name sounded familiar. Fingers over the keyboard, I typed in his name. Who was he, and did he still live in the city?