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I quickly examined the wards in the library, especially the ones over and around the portal, finding nothing amiss. But would I even know? It was shameful, really, that my skills were so weak. I clearly had the ability and the affinity to handle and see the wards. And the more I came to know about my aunt and the wardings in her house, the more my suspicion grew that Tessa’s ability to ward was also minimal at best. She had enough skill to shape the protections needed for summonings, but beyond that it looked as if she’d relied on others to do the work for her.
I squared my shoulders and returned to the kitchen, replacing the wards as I left the library. Ryan came in and sat on a stool on the opposite side of the counter from me, setting two bags from Taco House and a pad of paper in front of him.
“Let’s start figuring out what we know,” he said as he pulled about a dozen wrapped tacos out of the bag.
“Okay. We’ll just list everything to start,” I said. “Carol and Brian Roth are dead. Davis Sharp is dead. Brian and Sharp both had their essence eaten. A demon dog-thing attacked us. And the Galloways had their essence ripped away and are dead.”
He nodded, jotting quick notes in a crabbed script. “And your aunt has an open portal in her library, and you were attacked by a—a psycho pixie-thing.”
I unwrapped a taco, dribbling cheese onto the black granite of the countertop. “The big question I have is whether there’s really a co
“I’m not finished,” Ryan said, still writing. “We should include the fact that I’m investigating Judge Harris Roth for misconduct.”
I’d just taken a bite of taco, and I was forced to actually continue to chew and then swallow instead of staring at him openmouthed. “He’s the one you’re investigating? ’Splain, please?”
He wiped a strand of lettuce off his chin with the back of his hand. “Witness intimidation, improper disposition of drug seizure property, possible planting of drug evidence, not pursuing cases against major supporters. That sort of thing.”
I felt a little mental click as a couple of pieces fit together. “The Galloways?”
“Exactly. After their restaurant was seized, it was auctioned. To Davis Sharp.”
The damn lightbulb finally went off over my head. “Ohhhhh. That’s Sharp’s restaurant now!”
Ryan gave me a thin smile. “Correct. And Sharp bought it for a song. The judge who presided over the seizure and the plea deal concerning the son was …” He looked at me expectantly.
“Judge Roth,” I breathed. “Who also happened to receive horking big campaign contributions from Davis Sharp, and had for the last ten years or so. Whoa. So he’s dirty?”
“It appears so. We think that the entire drug bust and seizure was a frame-up, just so Davis Sharp could get his hands on that property.” He sighed and scrubbed at his eyes. “We’d been working with the Galloways for several months now—trying to build a corruption case against the not-so-honorable Judge Roth. Unfortunately, they weren’t as cooperative as we’d hoped.”
“Why not? I would think that they’d want to see Roth taken down.”
His face twisted in a
I groaned. “So they resorted to blackmail.”
His expression darkened. “That’s our best guess.”
I looked at him for several heartbeats. “Whoever killed them is also our essence-eater. But you’re not convinced that it was Roth who pulled the trigger, are you?”
He shook his head. “Judge Roth isn’t the only one who stood to lose if the corruption was exposed and not the only one in a position to be blackmailed. People who worked with him, campaign contributors, business associates … If we can ever get a break on this case, it’s going to be a pretty massive shitstorm.”
“Welcome to Louisiana politics,” I muttered.
“It’s a fucking spectator sport down here, isn’t it?” Ryan took another bite of taco. “All right, let’s keep going with the brainstorming. We also have the fact that Elena Sharp pressed charges twice against her husband for domestic violence and dropped them twice.”
I had to grimace. That one I knew about. “Unfortunately, that’s not all that uncommon. I can’t count the number of times I’ve done the paperwork to put some jerk-off in jail, only to have the wife or girlfriend—or boyfriend—come down and bail said jerk-off out.”
His mouth twisted. “All the time professing their undying love, right?”
“Something like that.”
“Did Elena Sharp strike you as that type?”
“Not really. I mean, not the undying love part, at least. Unless it was undying love of the lifestyle that she didn’t want to give up.” I rolled my eyes. “To add to the fun, there’s a rumor floating around that she was having an affair of her own—with our dear Judge Roth—and that Davis Sharp threw her out.” I gave a shrug. “But my source was a Cardio Barbie in the locker room at the gym, so who knows how reliable the information was.”
“Would that explain why she filed for divorce?” Ryan pointed out.
“I don’t think so. She enjoyed being married to money. Why would she leave that to be Roth’s mistress? She was afraid of something … or someone—so much so that she was willing to leave her comfy lifestyle.”
“Maybe Davis wanted the divorce and had someone pressure her.”
“Possible. Let’s write it all down.”
“I am, I am.” He set the pen down after a moment and pushed the pad to me. “So. Co
I looked down, then looked up. “I have no fucking idea. I can’t read your writing.”
He let out a snort. “Well, you’ve got three of the Roths co
“Carol and Brian, supposed murder—suicide—though I’m still not buying that scenario,” I said, renewed a
Ryan pulled the pad back to him. “Yeah, we’re still missing a few pieces.”
“A few?”
His mouth twitched in a smile. “Okay, a lot.” He unwrapped another taco and started in on it. “Have you been able to find out anything about what could suck down essences like that?”
I shook my head, feeling another surge of a
Ryan picked up spilled meat and cheese and stuffed it back into the taco. “Yeah, that’s not encouraging news.”
“More research for me,” I said with a sigh.
“Well, be careful of that portal-thing.”
I looked at the pile of empty wrappers in front of him. I’d eaten three, and it looked like Ryan had torn through almost the rest of the dozen in the few minutes we’d been talking. “Good grief, Ryan,” I said with a laugh. “Hungry?”