Fair Game

‘Witches can’t straighten spoons,’ said A

Heuter tipped his phone at her.‘It’s on Wiki.’

‘I’ve never heard of her,’ said Leslie. ‘I know about Uri and his spoon bending. Did something happen to her? The witch seemed pretty sure that she’s dead, and Charles, according to A

‘Wikidoesn’t say,’ said Heuter. ‘Hold on.’

‘My dad talks about the sixties and seventies as a heyday of New Age thinking before the New Agers,’ A

Heuter, still searching the Internet, nodded.‘The Victorian era was the only thing that came close to it. Ouija boards, s?ances, games that tested whether people could read minds. Then, because everyone was doing it

it became less mysterious, less shadowy, and more

ridiculous. Interests changed.’

‘So maybe our Sally Reilly just disappeared from public view as the world gave a yawn,’ suggested Leslie. ‘Is this going to help our missing girl?’

Heuter didn’t answer her question. ‘There are rumors of a third book she wrote and printed only a few copies of –Elementary Magic. When I get back to the office, I’ll check our archives, see if we have it in the library. I should also be able to find out what happened to her, or if she’s still around.’

‘The witch seemed awfully sure she was dead,’ said A

Heuter snorted and a scowl marred his handsome face.‘That witch was

well. I wouldn’t trust her to know which way was up.’

‘She gave us Sally Reilly,’ A

‘Which was more than we’d managed to get out of any of the other witches the FBI consulted with on this case,’ agreed Leslie.

A

‘Maybe if we went out to where Jacob’s body was found, we might be able to find something more,’ she said slowly. ‘He was the last victim, before Lizzie?’

‘Right,’ Leslie said. ‘Was he fae or werewolf – could you tell? Dr Fuller said his parents were Baptist. That doesn’t quite go with the whole supernatural thing.’

A

‘Fae,’ said Heuter. ‘His father, Ian Mott, is listed in the fae database at Cantrip as full-blood fae and Jacob is clearly listed as half-fae. I ran the list of victims after we talked yesterday. Cantrip’s database is far more extensive than the official one.’

‘Is it?’ asked A

Charles was watching Heuter with sudden interest. How she could tell it was Charles and not Brother Wolf was

like how a mother of twins knew which one was which: less about the small details and more about instincts.

Heuter looked at A

‘Don’t want anyone filing paperwork to see if they are in that database of yours?’ Leslie asked. ‘One of the fringe benefits to working with Cantrip or one of the other, smaller enforcement agencies in the government is that no one ever thinks to file on them with the Freedom of InformationAct.’

‘You’d be surprised,’ said Hueter in a voice very nearly a whine. ‘The people who use FOIA do it extensively and well. Answering those requests is the job we give newbies – and that includes Important Senators’ Sons, like yours truly, too.’ He gri

‘My father is a lawyer,’ A

‘He wouldn’t tell me your husband’s name or where you live now – and the IRS is extremely uncooperative.’

‘Aren’t they supposed to be?’ A

‘Where are you staying while you are here in Boston?’ Heuter asked.

‘Why are you worried about that?’ returned A

Heuter tapped his fingers lightly on the table.‘I was raised to service,’ he said. ‘It’s a family tradition. I believe in this country. I believe that i

Heuter’s voice was cool and controlled, even when he spoke the last bit. If Leslie hadn’t drawn in a breath, A

‘That’s fu

If he had fired his gun back in the morgue, he might have killed Charles. Her hand reached out and touched her mate, to reassure herself that he was okay.

‘Heuter,’ said Leslie sharply. ‘That was uncalled for.’

He gave the FBI agent a tight smile and put some money on the table.‘I’m due back in the office. I’ll leave you to your afternoon of fruitless explorations.’

Leslie waited until he was gone and then shook her head.‘Trippers,’ she said.

‘Trippers?’ asked A

‘What the boss calls Cantrip agents.’ Leslie took a sip of her iced tea. ‘Just when you think that they are actually by golly professionals, they pull some weird stunt like that.’ She looked at A