“I think you have no choice.”
I exhaled. “Right.”
“I must go now.”
“Of course,” I said. “Thank you.”
He frowned. “For what?”
“Being honest with me.”
“You expected less?”
I smiled at that. “Not really, no.” I stood. “I’m sorry I called for you that way. I won’t do it again.”
“Be well, Ohanko.” He faded from view.
I stared for a moment at where he’d been and then considered the pile of papers and unopened envelopes on my desk; most of them were unpaid bills. They could wait. As Namid might have said, I had a big date tonight, and I had enough time to get home, eat a little dinner, and change before I had to start back toward Tempe to pick up Billie. I started toward the door, but before I reached it the phone rang.
I strode back to the desk and picked up the receiver. “Fearsson.”
Silence.
“Hello?” I said.
“Yeah, this is um. . this is ’Toine Mirdoux.”
He kind of mumbled it, and at first I had no idea what he’d said.
“Who?”
“Antoine? Remember, dog? You blew up the door to my house?”
“Right,” I said. “How’s it going, Antoine? You calling for that chat you were going on about?”
“What?” he said. Then he allowed himself a half-hearted laugh. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. I wanna chat.”
Something was bothering him. I found myself wondering if whatever business he’d had with the red sorcerer had gone sour. There was a good deal of noise in the background and I had the feeling he was calling from a cell or maybe even a pay phone, if you could still find one in this city. Wherever he was, he definitely wasn’t home.
“Great,” I said. “Let’s chat.”
“Not on the phone, man. I need. . I need some help. I’m in some trouble here.”
“What kind of trouble, Antoine?”
“Not on the phone.”
I checked my watch again. I didn’t have time enough to get to the Mountain View precinct and back, and still make it to Tempe by eight, not if my talk with the kid was going to take any time at all.
“I can’t now, Antoine. How about later tonight?”
“How much later?”
God, he sounded scared, like a little boy left alone in a dark house.
“Tonight. Eleven, at your place.”
“My place?”
“You still have it warded, right?”
There was a long silence, and after a while I started wondering if the connection had gone bad.
“Antoine?”
“Yeah, man. All right. My place. Eleven.”
“Keep your head down until then, all right?”
“No shit, man.”
The line went dead. I returned the phone to its cradle and shook my head. Mountain View’s 733 at eleven p.m. Not even close to the way I had hoped to end my evening. But it seemed that now I had two dates. One with Billie, and the other with ’Toine Mirdoux.
CHAPTER 15
I made certain to get to Billie’s house precisely at eight. She seemed to place a premium on punctuality. I rang the bell and a moment later she opened the door. My jaw dropped.
Don’t get me wrong. I already knew that Billie was beautiful. I liked the way she dressed. I loved the glasses and the pulled-back hair. But I wasn’t prepared for this. Her hair was down, dark curls spilling down her back, and she’d yet to put on her glasses. She had on a close-fitting black blouse, a flowing print skirt, heels, and a pair of long, glittering turquoise and silver earrings. It was like she had transformed herself into a movie star.
I’d showered again before coming and I’d shaved, which I only did when I had to. I’d even put on a pair of black jeans and a button-down shirt under my bomber, instead of the usual blue jeans and t-shirt. But I felt like I ought to go home and put on a tie and jacket.
“Hi,” I managed to say.
Her eyes sparkled. “You’re on time.”
“Always. You look incredible.”
“Thank you.” She spun around once, making her skirt swirl. “You’re going to take me dancing.”
“Whoa!” I said, shaking my head. “I’m taking you to hear a band. I never said anything about dancing.”
She walked away from the door, leaving it open for me. “Geez, Fearsson!” she called over her shoulder. “What do you think people do at these clubs?” She poked her head out of one of the back rooms. “I mean aside from investigate crimes.”
“I’m not much of a dancer,” I said, wandering around her living room, knowing that this was a fight I was going to lose.
“Well, I’m Ginger Rogers, so I guess I’ll be good enough for both of us.”
I grinned.
She came into the living room a few moments later, still no glasses on her face. “Ready,” she said.
“Don’t you need to. . to be able to see?”
“I have my contacts in.”
“I didn’t know you had contacts.”
“I don’t wear them a lot. They’re kind of uncomfortable. But I figure this place is going to be pretty crowded tonight, and a lot of my readers are students. I don’t want to make it too easy for them to recognize me.”
She was just about my height with the heels on, and I found myself staring into those incredible green eyes.
“What’s with you tonight?” she asked, smiling at me.
“Nothing.” I laughed. “You really look great.”
“You’re surprised?”
“Not at all. I’m wondering what you’re doing with me.”
She rolled her eyes, then took my hand and led me toward the door. “Come on, Fearsson. We’re going dancing.”
We drove to the club, though the walk from where we were able to park was only a few blocks shorter than it would have been from Billie’s house. The moon shone overhead, and I tried to ignore the way it seemed to be tugging on my mind, muddying my thoughts. As we walked, I asked her about her day, and she asked me about mine, almost like normal people. Except that I glossed over my conversation with Shari Bettancourt, and I couldn’t tell her a thing about Shari being murdered, or the red sorcerer nearly getting me to blow my brains out, or the things I had discussed with Namid. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but I was already reaching the point where I didn’t want to keep anything from her at all. I had too many secrets, and they were burning a hole in my chest.
By the time we arrived, the line outside of Robo’s already stretched halfway down the block. Apparently Electric Daiquiri had a good reputation. Most in the crowd were college students, the girls decked out in party dresses and heels, the guys dressed with studied indifference in jeans and untucked tees or dress shirts.
“Hey, you’re Billie Castle!” one of the girls called as we got on line. “I love your blog.”
Billie laughed. “So much for going incognito.”
The press was there, too, clustered across the street. Anything the Deegans did was a big deal in this town, this week more than ever.
We could hear the band doing a sound check inside. They sounded good. Billie said something to me, but in that moment I wasn’t paying any attention. The last time I’d been at Robo’s, Red had been here, too. I sensed that he was nearby again, and I started mumbling warding spells to myself, trying to figure out how I might extend my magic to protect Billie as well. I wasn’t even sure it was possible, though I couldn’t imagine why it wouldn’t be. Act of will, right? Well, I’d kill myself willing her to be safe if it came to that.
“Fearsson, are you listening to me?”
I grimaced. “No, I wasn’t. I’m sorry. What were you saying?”
“What were you saying? I heard you muttering something.”
“I was thinking about work.” Too many lies, too many secrets. “This is more than dancing, remember? This is a work night for me.”
“Right!” she said, a conspiratorial smile lighting her face. “I’m your girl Friday.”
“That’s right.”
“Who are we here to talk to, boss?”
I laughed and shook my head. “This isn’t a game, you know. I probably shouldn’t have brought you at all.”
“Why not?”