Making the Rent the Hard Way - 2

"Mr. Warner?" the man asked. When I admitted I was, he said, "A pleasure to meet you."

That set off my radar. No one starts a conversation with a small time PI by saying that. At least, no one I've ever run into.

"And you are?" I asked him.

"Richard Farnham." He looked around then gestured to my office. "If you don't mind."

"That's fine. I'm not sure your bruiser will fit in there with the two of us. It's pretty small."

Farnham chuckled. "He'll stay where he is."

I nodded, taking Farnham into my office. When we were seated—me at my desk, him in the only other chair—he said, "I want to hire you to find someone, Mr. Warner."

"Please call me Cade." He nodded, so I asked, "Is he, or she, human or otherwise?"

He smiled. "I've heard you have the ability to know who's who or who's what."

"I do. I know you're a shifter. Gray wolf?" He nodded. I smiled wryly. "Not that my ability had done me much good except as a party trick, but that's neither here nor there. Who did you lose?"    

"A…friend of mine by the name of Luca Montana," Farnham said. I wasn't happy about the slight hesitation before he said "friend", but I kept my thoughts to myself for the time being.

"Like the state," I said.

"If you mean the spelling, yes," Farnham replied. "He's far from being a cowboy, however."

"With a first name like Luca, that doesn't surprise me. Why are you looking for him?"

"My reasons are personal. I'm willing to pay well for your services, if you'll take my case."

Given my current financial problems, that definitely sparked my interest. "I'll need to know details, like his address, where he works—"

"He's self-employed," Farnham said, interrupting me. "He'd just started working on a new commission for a client when he went missing."

"Okay. I'll need to know who it was for. Since you say he's a friend of yours, I'll need a list of his habits, as much as you know—where he hangs out, who his other friends are, anything else you can tell me. I'd also like a picture of him, if you have one."

"I do. I came prepared." Farnham snapped his fingers and the bruiser came into the office. I was right. With him there, the room felt half its size. "Give me the folder," Farnham said.

The man took it from the bag he had slung over his shoulder, handing it to Farnham, who handed it to me. Then the bruiser went back to—guarding, I guess—the hallway door.

The first thing I looked at was Luca's picture. He was a handsome man with very dark auburn hair, amber eyes, and a smile that probably melted a lot of female hearts. 

"Shifter or human?" I asked Farnham. 

"Red wolf shifter."

"Interesting, considering that true red wolves are an extremely endangered canid species." I shot Farnham a hard look. "Is that why you want me to search for him?"