“We’ll be going back soon,” she promised me with a pat on my arm.
I nodded, too choked up to say anything. Leo gazed up at me with expressive canine eyes, his losses echoing my own. It seemed that we had all lost something up there. Or had maybe found something but hadn’t been able to hold on to it. The only question would be what Lonna would have to sacrifice.
Lonna dropped me off at Galbraith’s office at five minutes until two, then drove off to take Leo to her apartment, where he could transform back to human and dress. Then she’d drive him to UAMS and go to her office, which was right down the street from the hospital complex.
The air inside Galbraith’s foyer was stuffy, and I wondered if the air-conditioning was broken. If so, that would motivate me to get this meeting over with quickly. I hesitated at the door, all too mindful of what had happened the last time I was early. Leo seemed to be a different person every time I saw him, which made dealing with him unpredictable and oh-so-exciting. I was happy to hear that the relationship between him and Kyra Ellison was one-sided, as much of a bitch as that made me.
Galbraith opened the door himself. “Doctor Fisher, there’s no need to stand outside in the heat. Why don’t you come in?”
“Um, thanks.”
“I apologize. The air is broken in the foyer. I’ve called the maintenance crew, but there’s no telling when they’ll be here.”
“Typical.”
“There’s someone who’s been wanting to meet you.”
“Actually, it’s to see her again,” said a voice I hadn’t heard in years.
“Iain?”
A tall figure emerged from the gloom in the back of Galbraith’s office, where three chairs sat around a low, round table with an antique coffee service. Iain McPherson. I hadn’t seen him since the International Behavioral Genetics Society meeting in London a few years ago.
“Joanna, you still haven’t managed to hit five-two have you?” he taunted as he enveloped me in a bony hug. Between us, we may have had enough body fat for one normal skinny person. He’d always reminded me of a greyhound with his lanky build and long nose.
“Iain, you’re as obnoxiously British as ever.”
“That’s Scottish, young lady.”
“Uh-huh. Technicality. You’re still part of Great Britain.”
He rolled his eyes. He had a few more wrinkles around them and a little more gray, but he had hardly changed at all. He was still the same old Iain, whom I’d joked was my conference husband even though he didn’t share his bed with women.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as we sat down. Galbraith passed me a white porcelain cup and poured coffee out of a silver pot.
“Your grandfather and I had been corresponding. He said he was close to a breakthrough and would let me know how it shaped up soon, but then I heard nothing from him.”
“He’s, ah, deceased, we think.”
“I’m so dreadfully sorry to hear about that.” He leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Galbraith had seen the letters I sent Charles and had contacted me to that effect. Of course I had to come and see if he had left anything, if I could pick up where he stopped.”
“Right. That’s what I’m trying to do as well.”
“You’re no longer with Cabal?”
“They got bought. There was a fire. Just bad timing all around. I got laid off.”
“Why would a company that has so much to gain with the new gene therapies lay off their most promising epidemiologic specialist in CLS?”
I looked away. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“What about that chap you were working with, Robert?”
“He’s still there.” I didn’t say anything else and hoped that he would get the hint. He had known there was something going on between the two of us, but I didn’t want to discuss that in front of Galbraith.
“I see.”
Galbraith cleared his throat. “So you had some questions for me?”
“Would you like me to step outside?” asked Iain.
“No, that’s okay. I think I may need your help with this matter soon.” I took a deep breath. “I know that the circumstances surrounding my grandfather’s death are somewhat suspicious.”
Galbraith inclined his head.
“I was wondering if he’d actually made arrangements recently. Did he seem to think he was in danger?”
“He essentially told me that he was going into the field and would likely encounter peril there. He wanted it to be expressly stated that he wanted you to have the bulk of the estate. I had the impression he counted on you to continue his work.”
“Were there any safe-deposit boxes or anywhere else he might have left papers or notes for me?”
Galbraith frowned. “Not that I can recall, but I will look through the documents again to see if, in my dotage, I misplaced something. There was one folder that he wanted me to hold for you until you had become more acquainted with the Manor and its secrets.”
And the werewolves. “What do you know about this butler he arranged for me? You said there was something I needed to know.”
“Yes, Gabriel…” He tapped the arm of his chair. “His last name escapes me at the moment.”
“It’s McCord,” Iain said. “Gabriel McCord.”
“You know him?”
“If it’s the same bloke I’m remembering. He was a member of the Society in the UK, sort of a research assistant, but he wasn’t at the meeting you came to. He certainly was interested in your work, though. He made copies of all the slides and notes I brought back.”
“When was that?” Galbraith asked.
“Five years ago, to the month.” I did some mental calculations. “You’re missing the meeting right now, aren’t you?”
“I am, but it’s worth it to see you again.”
“Flatterer.”
“That’s interesting,” Galbraith said as he got up and moved around to his desk to pull out a file. “I believe your grandfather had me start looking for domestic help at about this time last year, and this Gabriel person contacted me in response to the advertisement we placed.”
“My grandfather actually looked for a butler?”
“He was planning on having some renovation done on the house, and he wanted someone to keep the mess and chaos at bay while he worked. He had a woman from the village who would cook and clean for him occasionally, but he needed something a little more permanent.”
“That must have been Louise.” I tried to block the memory of the last time I’d seen her. “Who also died under suspicious circumstances.”
“Really?” Iain raised an eyebrow at me. “Does death always follow you, or is this a recent development?”
“It has ever since the fire.” I fingered the tip of the scar at my collarbone. “That’s when the chaos started.”
The braying of a car alarm startled the three of us.
“That’s my rental!” Iain jumped and headed toward the door. “What could have set that off?”
My mind flashed back to the night my lab burned. The sound of my car alarm had broken my concentration and called my attention to the smoke that crept under the door.
It's nothing to worry about. But there was something else, some small noise I couldn’t identify. My heart thudded in my chest and sent roaring waves through my throat and skull. Every instinct told me something wasn’t right. Iain opened the door to the lobby, and I ran after him.
“Don’t go out there!” I gasped and held on to the sleeve of his jacket.
“I have to see what set it off! It’s going to eat up the battery!”
“Give it a minute. Maybe it’ll go off.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Joanna! All I have to do is click the lock button to stop it.”
My stomach clenched as he opened the heavy wooden door and pointed the remote at the black Lexus. I forced myself to watch as he pushed the button so I could yank him inside as soon as the alarm stopped. We tumbled to the floor just inside the door and knocked over an end table.