Making the Rent the Hard Way - 25

 

"Looks like I'm interrupting something," a low, female voice said, her words tinged with laughter.

"Yep," Luca replied, not in the least fazed as he turned to look at her. "You must be Orchid."

"That would be me." She was petite, maybe five-two at best, with unbelievably bright orchid-colored hair and eyes to match.

"What the hell kind of wolf are you?" I asked in disbelief.

She grinned. "I'm not a wolf, but I am a canid. A fox, to be exact. The coloring? Dye and contacts."

"Jeez. Okay. Did Rocky tell you what we need?"

"Other than my skills? Nope. So, lay it on me."

We did. When we finished, she nodded, saying to Luca, "Give me an image. And don't go anywhere. I want to find you when I'm done."

"Hang on," I replied. "We're not spending the rest of the night in this alley."

She glanced at Luca. "You got a safe place to stay? And do you trust me enough to show me?"

"Rocky trusts you, so yeah, sure," he replied. They stared at each other for a long second, then she vanished. We left the alley right after her, ending up back at Luca's hideout.

I started toward one of the chairs, only to find Luca in front of me. I had no illusions why, so I wasn't the least surprised when he said, "Let's finish what we started behind the bar."

That was fine with me. I was still wound up from our visit to Farnham's house. Like the previous night, the sex was good. We seemed to mesh well on that level. The only fly in the ointment was the fact I kept expecting Orchid to drop in at any minute, wanting to know if she was interrupting something. Thankfully, she didn't. In fact, she didn't show until around four in the morning.

Luca and I were asleep when there was a knock on the bedroom door. We both shot up, ready to take on whomever, until Luca said, "It's her. It's safe."

We dressed quickly then went into the living room to find her seated in one of the chairs, smirking at us.

"Don't say it. Because you didn't. Interrupt us, that is," I said.

She laughed. "I know." Then she sobered. "I found a lot of information. Photographed it all, so he won't know I got into the safe. Do you have a computer here?"

Luca got his laptop so she could download what she'd gotten. Then we read through it. We found out which of the mayoral candidates was Farnham's stooge, a man by the name of Dexter Tipton, who was on the city planning commission. A good start, as far as I was concerned. There was also a list of humans who were working with Farnham. Some of them were, shall we say, less than savory types. Small-time gangsters, to be exact.

"What do you want to bet he's convinced them they'll get a share of the pie when he takes over the city," Luca said.

"They'd be stupid to believe him," Orchid said, rolling her eyes. "But then, most punks are just that, so I'm betting you're right, Luca."

There were two damning reports on the incumbent mayor that I had the feeling Farnham planned on releasing when it got closer to Election Day.

"I wonder how much truth there is in them?" Luca said pensively.

"Probably fifty-fifty. I suspect it wouldn't be that hard to come up with things that look like the truth. If Farnham waits until the last minute, the mayor won't have time to refute them."

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way – 24

It seemed like an eternity before Luca returned.

"The downstairs' light is the kitchen. The upstairs' ones are for a bedroom the size of a small living room and a hell of a large bathroom off it. Best bet, it's his."

"Anything that says someone's around?" I asked.

"Nope. Oh, and nothing went off when I moved around, so probably no motion sensors."

"We'll still wait. We don't want to be inside when the cops or security company personnel come streaming up the drive because the alarm's silent."

Fifteen minutes later, we figured it was safe to enter. Luca dropped us in the kitchen then we began to explore, using my laser penlight and the illumination coming through the windows from the exterior spotlights. The house was as awesome as the photos in the newspapers had led me to believe. When I make my first million, I might find one like it. Sure. Like one man needs this much house. Apparently Farnham disagreed.

We found his office behind heavy oak doors in the library. It contained a huge desk in the center, bookshelves on one wall, and filing cabinets on another. Luca checked out the computer on the desk, deeming it too well secured for him to be able to access in the time we had. The filing cabinets were locked, which wasn't a problem since I'd brought along my lockpicks. I skimmed through the folders, using my penlight, looking for anything that would help us bring Farnham down. Nothing. But then the guy wasn't stupid—unfortunately.

I closed the last drawer then turned to find Luca studying the paneled wainscoting below the bookshelves. It matched what went around the rest of the room, even under the windows.

"Something?" I murmured, joining him.

"Maybe." He knelt, running his fingertips up the edge of one of the panels. "Got you," he whispered as the panel slid to one side. "Now all we need is a safecracker to get into this." This was a safe with a recessed keypad in the middle of the steel door. Not something I had any idea how to bypass.

"And you know one?" I asked hopefully.

"I wish. But…" He slid the panel closed, stood, put his arm around me, then we were in back of The Lycan Den, where Rocky worked.

Luca stayed there while I went in to see if Rocky could get away for a few minutes. He could, since it was Monday and slow, according to him.

He didn't seem all that surprised to see Luca, merely saying, "I figured you'd call him," meaning me, obviously.

"Yeah. We've hooked up to try to stop Farnham, but we ran into a problem." Luca explained about the safe. "I don't suppose, among your list of strange friends, there's one who can get into the safe."

Rocky thought for a minute before nodding. "Orchid." He chuckled. "That's what she calls herself. She's a shifter with what she calls 'mad skills' when it comes to getting into places and things people would rather she didn't. Give me a few to get in touch with her, to see if she's around. She travels a lot."

He went back inside—and we waited. Luca apparently decided the time would best be spent exploring my mouth. While I didn't object in the least, it was frustrating since I wasn't about to take it further in a dark alley. I'm a bed or nowhere kind of guy.

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 23

 

With my workday over, I went home to wait for Luca. I spent the time after eating supper doing more research on Farnham's residence. The photos in several society column articles showed a large house, which I knew from my map search. The living room was two stories tall with windows front and rear and a balcony along two walls that, presumably, led to the second-floor bedrooms. There appeared to be a solarium off the rear of the living room, which overlooked a large, tree-filled back yard.  There was one shot of party-goers in what I thought was a furnished basement with a pool table at one end.

Luca appeared just after eleven. Seconds later we were back at his place. Or, at least, the place where he was hiding out for the time being.

"Tonight?" Luca asked once we'd settled in the living room.

I nodded. "But only to do recon. You can bet your bottom dollar the house is well secured."

"You can get past it?"

"I'm a detective, not a burglar, but then, I don't have to be. You'll teleport us in when the time comes and pray there aren't motion sensors."

"There might be," Luca replied. "He's a shifter, so he knows another shifter can drop in without using a door or window."

"Good point. We'll deal with that, if necessary, when the time comes." I handed him the pictures I'd printed out. One showed the back yard through Farnham's living room windows. I tapped it. "Enough of a visual to get us into the yard?"

"Yep."

"Good. Let's hope he's at the restaurant tonight. If he was there Friday night, I didn't see him."

"He's very hands-on, so he usually puts in some time there every night. Plus, like I said, that's where he meets with his partners in crime—in one of the back dining rooms."

"One way to find out." I called the restaurant, asking to speak to Farnham. Whoever answered asked me to hold on while they went to get him. I hung up. "He's there. Let's pay a visit to his house."

Luca put his arm around my waist. Then we were in the trees behind the house. Security spotlights lit the exterior of the house, but they didn't keep us from seeing that there were lights on in one of the downstairs' rooms, as well as in two on the second floor. "Security precaution?" Luca asked in a whisper, pointing to the second floor.

"Let's hope it's that and not guests or the help."

Sticking to the trees, we checked out both sides of the house. All the windows were dark. The front yard was one long, well-manicured lawn, with a row of trees in front of the bushes on either side. We skirted the edge, looking back at the house. The only light, other than exterior spotlights, was in the entryway.

"Now what?" Luca asked when we returned to the back yard.

"We wait and watch." I pointed to the lighted windows. "If we see someone, anyone, we hold off."

Apparently, Luca didn't like that idea. One minute he was beside me, the next he was gone. I sighed, waiting for someone to raise the alarm when they saw him—because I knew he was inside the house.

 

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 22

I got to the office by ten. A quick check told me no one had been there since I'd left on Saturday. There were messages, however. Two from potential clients, and one from the woman whose husband I'd been tailing, wanting an update. I returned her call, telling her in all honesty that he wasn't seeing another woman. It took a bit of persuasion, but I finally convinced her she'd just be wasting more money keeping me on the case. I promised to send her a final bill and hung up. I might have been totally honest and told her that her husband was involved with another man, but, truthfully, I didn't believe in outing anyone who was gay. At best, it wasn't my business to. At worst, it could endanger them, job-wise and possibly literally, given the current political climate.

Then there was the message from Farnham. Put succinctly, it asked why the hell I hadn't found Luca. Little did the bastard know that I had, not that I'd tell him. Instead, I called him back.

"Well," Farnham said coldly, "how close are you to locating Luca?"

"I've checked out all the places where he's known to hang out, and the people who might know where he is—including those at your restaurant, in case no one informed you I was there. If anyone does know his whereabouts, they're not willing to tell me. However, I don't think he's been in contact with anyone. I'm good at reading people."

"I'm sure you are," he replied. "You've talked with shifters, too, I presume."

I wanted to say "No duh" but restrained myself. "Yes, sir, at several of the clubs he frequented. No one has seen him in the last several weeks or heard from him. He's definitely gone to ground." I paused. "I don't suppose you have any idea why."

"I don't think that's what happened," Farnham said. "He has no reason to be hiding out. Something's happened to him. Keep trying, Mr. Warner. That's what I'm paying you for. Speaking of which, email me your bill for last week and I'll have Mr. Bracco bring you the money."

I wasn't certain I wanted to see his bruiser again. To be honest, the guy sort of scared me. He could probably turn me into a human pretzel if he put his mind to it. I didn't say so. I just thanked him, told him I'd keep pursuing leads on Luca, and we hung up.

If Farnham hadn't been on the top of my shit list before, his highhandedness had definitely put him there now.

I called back the two people who were interested in hiring me. One was a woman who wanted me to find her runaway daughter. I set up an appointment with her for eleven-thirty. The other email was from the owner of a small apartment building who wanted me to prove that an ex tenant hadn't been as injured as she'd claimed when she'd slipped on a freshly mopped floor. It was your basic surveillance job, so I took down the particulars, told him I'd email him a contract that he could eSign and send back, as well as paying my retainer via PayPal. As soon as he'd done so, I'd see what I could find out about how badly hurt she'd been—if at all.

The rest of the day went forward as usual. I talked to the woman with the missing daughter, only to have her call me late in the afternoon to tell me said daughter had called to say she'd eloped with her boyfriend. Mama was not happy, but, as she'd said, it was better than all the alternatives she'd imagined.

I ran background checks for a regular client while I waited for the contract and payment from my other new client. They came, and I spent most of the afternoon following the injured—and I use the term loosely—woman around town. For someone who'd claimed she had, only a week ago, dislocated her shoulder and torn her rotor cuff in a fall at the apartment building, she had no problem carrying her groceries into the house after shopping—or in working out at a gym. I took photos and sent them on to my client. A short job, that netted me enough to buy my groceries for the next month.

 

Making the Rent the Hard Way - 21

 

"Can you get online from here? Wait. Don't. We don't want anyone tracking you down because you did."

Luca smiled. "Never underestimate the smarts of a shifter who likes his privacy. I've got that covered."

I didn't know how he could, but I'd take his word for it. Maybe, when this was over, I'd ask.

It took a couple of minutes, then Luca pumped a fist. "Got it. Let's do it."

"Slow down, kid," I replied. "Not tonight."

"Kid?" His eyebrows shot up as he turned off the laptop.

"Right now, I'm feeling very old and tired, so as eager as you are to get going right this minute, you definitely qualify as a kid."

He studied at me. "Exactly how old are you?"

"Exactly thirty-three and seven months."

"Only two years older than me."

I snorted. "I'd guess you haven't seen thirty-one in at least"—I cocked my head—"fifty years?"

Luca laughed. "Forty, but who's counting?" Again, he studied me, a grin quirking up his lips. "I bet you're great in bed."

My jaw dropped. "Say what?"

"You heard me. You're old enough to have some experience under your belt."

With a hard, if amused, shake of my head, I said, "Are you coming on to me? Or just being very nosy?"

"Both? And since you won't let us drop in on Farnham yet, can you think of a better way to spend our time?"

"Actually…" What the hell was I doing, even considering his suggestion? I hadn't been kidding about being tired. I'd been up since three in the morning. It was, best guess, well after seven by now. I should be heading to work, not thinking about what he'd be like in bed. That didn't stop my mind from going there. It had been a long, dry spell for me. "There's a bedroom in this place?"

"No. I thought we'd screw around in front of the fireplace." Setting the laptop down on the floor beside his chair, he got up, and came over to me, putting his hands on the arms of the chair. Leaning in until we were nose to nose, he said, "Kiss me, then tell me you don't want to do it."

I did, and I couldn't—tell him, that is. The kiss sent my libido into the stratosphere. "Which way to the bedroom," I asked huskily.

He took my hand. Seconds later we were standing beside a wide bed, covered with a downy comforter. He stripped it off, then he stripped me. I returned the favor. He was everything I'd thought from the picture I had of him and seeing him in real life—lean and muscular. But then, he was a shifter. I sucked in my gut when his eyes raked over me, making him laugh.

"You don't have to do that," he said, running his hand over my abdomen. "You've got a great body." His hand moved down. "And a pretty impressive cock, for an older man." He winked, stroking it.

From there, things progressed from "holy shit" to "out of this world". Luca was a wonderful, considerate, and very active lover. If I had my druthers, this wouldn't be the last time we ended up in bed.

But all good things have to end. We showered, dressed, then he took me back to my car.

"I'll pick you up tonight?" he asked after I got in.

"Literally?"

He grinned. "Yep. At your apartment. In and out in thirty seconds or less, so be ready."

"Oui, mon capitaine." Slinging an arm around his neck, I pulled him down for a kiss. He returned it with interest, then stepped back and vanished. Neat trick and one I wished I could master, but I didn't have enough shifter blood to even come close.