Changeling Detective Agency - Shadows In The Starlight Part 22

A shadow moved at the top of the stairs. Gwen looked up and smiled.

Something in her face brought a look of alarm to the pimp's eyes, and he craned his head toward the source of that malevolent satisfaction.

And started screaming.

Anya's ghostly body tumbled down the stairs in eerie silence. She landed at the pimp's feet, one limp, translucent arm flung out wide in such a manner that it seemed to go through him.

He kept screaming even after the vision faded away, and his eyes were wild as they tracked something moving about the room. Something only he could see.

For just a moment, fear s.h.i.+mmered an icy path down Gwen's spine. Maybe memories this painful and powerful left more than a psychic echo. Perhaps there really was something else in the room.

She shrugged away that thought and left the man alone with his ghosts or his guilt. It didn't particularly matter to her which.

Once outside, she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Damian's number. After all, she'd cheated him out of a drug bust, so she owed him. This ought to pay off the debt with interest.

Gwen dropped off Marina at Sister Tamar's safe house and called Adrian from her car. He agreed to meet her in the park where Damian had set up the drug bust.

He was waiting when she got there. Instead of speaking, Gwen held up the picture of Erin.

"I know this girl," he readily admitted. "She is one of us."

"Tell me."

"We met years ago. When we became intimate, her powers started manifesting. Two years ago, I brought her to the earl. She agreed to work for him in distribution."

"That herbal store down in Tiverton. The Green Man."

"Yes."

"But that's not your only means of distribution."

"Of course not. We offer something for everyone. The drugs were sold in all of Tiger's clubs. We have people working the schools. And, of course, street deals."

"Do you have some on you?"

He handed her a capsule. She pulled it apart and spilled the finely ground powder into her hand. Animage of a rocky, almost lunar landscape flashed into mind.

"What is this stuff?"

"A very rare plant. It was found in a place in western Ireland called the Burren."

"It grows there?"

He hesitated. "It was found there. The Burren is one of the strangest ecosystems on earth. There are many plants among all those rocks that have no business being there: alpine plants, plants from the Mediterranean coast."

"Where is this one from?"

"That is hard to say," he replied carefully. "But it's being grown here, locally."

"Show me."

Moonlight sifted through the purposefully stunted limbs of apple trees, glinting on the tiny green globes that promised future fruit. Gwen walked down a row of trees, but saw no other fields beyond. As far as she could tell, this place looked like any other farm in rural Smithfield.

"Okay, where is it?"

Adrian pointed to a low-growing meadow flower in the gra.s.ses, a dainty blue flower growing above fernlike foliage.

"That's it?" Gwen marveled. "You're growing organic Ecstasy in a freaking apple orchard?"

"Yes. This is the only place in the world where it is grown."

"Who owns this place?"

His smile was faintly mocking, and his eyes searched her face as if greedy for her reaction. "It would appear that you do."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

"I own h.e.l.l's happy acres?" she demanded. "Is there any sleazy real estate in Rhode Island that Edmonson didn't own?"

Archer's smile broadened. "Actually, this farm belonged to your parents."

Gwen waited for some emotional response to this. Something was there, right under the surface, but she just couldn't get to it. Or perhaps she didn't want to.

"Is that the reason Edmonson killed them? To get control of this drug?"

"In truth, I don't think Edmonson wanted them dead. He wanted to know where the plants were originally found.""But they died in the car crash."

Adrian's only response was an eloquent shrug.

"Why would he admit to killing them?"

"Because he was ultimately responsible. He started a course of action that could only result in their deaths. By our laws, there is only a slight difference between responsibility and murder. How could it be otherwise, when you're talking about a people who can influence others to do their bidding?"

Like Ian Forest. Despite everything he'd done, Gwen still felt the man's magnetic pull.

Gwen scanned the rows of trees. "So how does this work?"

"The herb is picked in midsummer. Bunches are hung in that barn over there. Once they are dry, they are sent away for packaging or processing."

"Where?"

"No one particular place. The scope of this business is still fairly small, and it's operated as a cottage industry. This is a precaution, as well as a practicality."

"I'll need the addresses of those cottages."

"Of course."

She turned a narrow-eyed gaze toward him. "You're being very helpful."

"Of course," he said again. "After all, you have my oath."

"Sure, but that doesn't mean you have to be so happy about it. You really don't seem to mind selling out your boss."

"Technically, I'm not selling him out. You are, after all, the earl's only heir."

Gwen nodded as if she actually bought that. For the time being, it was better to let this lunatic think she was ready to climb onboard.

"Is there anything in the barn?"

"No. Last year's crop has been processed. There is still some of the product in distribution channels, but the new harvest is only weeks away."

"Is this profitable?"

"Not particularly. It will be in time, perhaps."

"Then why are you doing this?"

He smiled faintly. "Why not? Haven't you ever used your Qualities to toy with the humans?"

She was about to say no when the image of the pimp's chalk-white face and quite literally haunted eyes came to mind.

"Only in a good cause," she said grudgingly."You don't consider simple entertainment sufficient reason?"

"That's sick," she said flatly.

"I don't see why."

"Because they're people?"

"They are vermin," he hissed. His face darkened, and suddenly he no longer looked like a cute blond singer from a particularly vapid boy band.

"The humans breed like rabbits. They control the planet's resources and destroy the environment in the process. Every year more species disappear, squeezed out by 'human progress.' There is a very real possibility that we, the Elder Races, might join them. What harm is there in indulging those few small pleasures that remain to us?"

"Like f.u.c.king with the humans."

Her sarcasm found no foothold in Adrian's worldview. In fact, he looked pleased that she'd grasped the concept so readily. "In a word, yes."

Gwen took a deep breath. "How many of us are left?"

He waved aside this question. "Our diminis.h.i.+ng strength has less to do with our numbers than with our Qualities. The Old Gifts are disappearing or changing. Our birthrates are down, and acceptable powers seldom manifest with real strength."

"Okay, but what does selling drugs to humans have to do with any of this?"

"It proves that they are weak," Adrian said flatly. "They are driven by their appet.i.tes, eager for any chance to shrug off personal responsibility. They find the mildest chemicals and herbs debilitating."

He stooped and plugged a spring of lacy foliage. "You and I could eat a large bowl of this herb with sliced tomatoes and Italian dressing, and feel no ill effects whatsoever."

"Unless there was a lot of salt in that dressing," Gwen retorted.

Adrian rocked back on his heels, looking as if she'd struck him across the face.

"It is hardly the same thing," he said stiffly.

Gwen let the point go. "So you get your jollies from watching people make fools of themselves."

"By exploiting their weakness," he emphasized. "Those of us who are strong suffer no ill effects. Those who are weak sink ever deeper into their pitiful little swamps."

"I don't like it. In fact, I want this stopped," she said, sweeping one arm wide to indicate the field.

His smile was cold. "That may not be your decision to make."

"Why not? I thought you said I owned this place."

"True, but I also said the earl's property would fall to you if you met the terms of inheritance. Have all three of your Qualities manifested?"

Gwen shrugged. "Ian Forest is working on that."One corner of Adrian's mouth twitched into a sneer. "In that case, I wouldn't plan to collect your inheritance anytime soon."

Gwen parked Sylvia's black Mercedes beside the road, around the corner from The Green Man and beyond sight from the parking lot. Her landlady didn't mind if Gwen used the car from time to time. Not many people would a.s.sociate the elegant vehicle with Gwen, but you never knew who might stop by for a cuppa and wonder why she was skulking around the shop.

She found a fairly comfortable spot among the trees to the west of the shop and settled in, lying on her stomach to keep out of view. It was a little damp, but she'd been on worse stakeouts.

Alice Powers drove up shortly before ten. The lights flickered on in the shop, and the tearoom lights quickly followed. Had to have that morning hit, Gwen thought. Most likely the shop owner was thoroughly hooked on her own products.

Within moments, a white Lexus pulled up in front of the shop. Gwen sat bolt upright, startled by the familiar vehicle. She quickly caught herself and dropped down out of sight.

A small, slim woman got out of the car and tucked a strand of her crimped red hair behind her ears.

"Trudy Wa.s.serman," murmured Gwen. "Why am I not surprised?"

What she was was p.i.s.sed. What with one thing and another, Gwen had enough to deal with without tripping over Trudy.

She waited until the redheaded woman returned to her car and pulled away. She marched into the store and grabbed two boxes of the Green Man tea. Alice Power's face darkened with dread when she took in the grim look on Gwen's face.

"Have you found Erin?"

"Not yet. Sorry, but I don't have time to chat," Gwen said, throwing a twenty on the counter. She left without waiting for her change and ran to the Mercedes.

Fortunately, there weren't too many ways to get from Tiverton to Providence. Gwen followed at a distance until she ascertained that Trudy was going to take highways: Route 24 north to I-195, then west to Providence. All the better. It was easy to tail someone in a crowd.

Trudy drove straight home. Gwen parked beside the Lexus in the lot across from the condo. She jogged over to the building and rang the bell a couple of times before Trudy responded.

"Hey. It's Gwen. I've got something for you."