Addict (Hunter #2)(15)

Liv’s voice was low so the boys couldn’t hear her. “You bitch,” she breathed righteously. “I loved you like a sister for years. I did what I did to protect you and you don’t even ask me for an explanation. You’re just judge, jury, and executioner. I might have been wrong, but I also loved you. You know what, Kelsey? Maybe I was wrong. Trust me, sister. I don’t particularly want to waste my time getting back into your life when I know I’m not perfect enough for you. I would spend the rest of the time waiting for you to turn on me. I need your professional services.”

Hugo’s hand slid over my shoulder. It was a good thing, too, because Liv was getting to me. I didn’t like seeing myself through her eyes. All the years of friendship played through my head, including the fact that once she’d saved my life. I’d spent months stewing in happy, comfortable anger. Was there something to what Liv was saying? I settled on dealing with the problem I could handle. “What’s this case you need my help on?”

Tears sprang to Liv’s gorgeous eyes, and that did nothing to alleviate the guilt that gnawed at my gut. There were dark circles under her eyes. I wondered exactly what had been happening here while I was happily ensconced in Italy. It didn’t look like the time had been kind to my ex-friend.

“It’s Scott,” she said. “He’s missing.”

I felt a warm hand push itself into mine.

“Do we have a case?” Lee asked, his face so serious I had to school mine.

“Looks like it, buddy,” I replied. “Let’s take the rest of this meeting in the office.”



Sean and Rhys split at the first sign that the day had taken a distinctly work-like tone, but Lee sat in the chair beside mine, his brown eyes looking Liv over. His small hands were steepled in front of him and a distinctly somber air surrounded him.

“And this Scott is your boyfriend?” Lee asked seriously.

Liv stared at me, her lips a flat line. “He’s nine, you know. He’s not exactly assistant material.”

“My actual assistant can’t be here until he wakes from his undead stupor. Lee’s the best I got. Besides, he’s very astute. He knows pretty much everything that goes on in this club, which means he knows more about the supernatural world than most people. He’s also an awesome little thief.” I glanced at the boy who carried my father’s name. “You know she’s a teacher at your school, right?”

It would intimidate a lesser child, but Lee was having none of that. “She teaches high school. She hasn’t had the chance to suspend me yet. Did you have a fight with him?”

“No, not exactly.” Liv sat back in the comfortable chair I was sure Quinn had decided looked like something out of a film noir.

My office had a distinctly art deco look to it. I kept expecting a femme fatale to walk in at any moment, but I just had Liv and her gentle, accusatory eyes. I was feeling the sting of her earlier indictments.

Was I being too harsh on her? On everyone? Marcus thought so. I knew that. I felt his disappointment every time I wouldn’t take a call from my mother. But I was truly stubborn and pushed through, unwilling to deal with unpleasant emotions.

“Scott is too lazy to ever get involved in an actual fight.” It was so much easier to focus on the case. “Has he been working lately?”

Scott’s employment history was spotty to say the least. He preferred to mooch off his perpetual fiancée. They’d been engaged for four years. Most people would have been married in an elaborate ceremony, popped out a couple of kids, and gone through a righteous divorce by now, but Liv and Scott hadn’t even set a date yet. Scott was content to mooch off her not very profitable career in mentoring tomorrow’s supernatural creatures.

“He got a job at a club downtown,” Liv offered.

“Is this his usual work?” Lee asked. It was a good question. If I hadn’t known the man we were discussing, it would have been my next line of inquiry.

“He’s worked in restaurants mostly.” Liv sighed when she realized I really was letting him help me.

Hugo sat in the background, studying one of the many volumes lining the walls of my office. I noted it was a book on forensics. I wasn’t certain when I would need that unless Quinn intended for me to become a medical examiner as well. Unlike Lee, Hugo didn’t seem terribly interested in playing detective.

“Scott managed some restaurants, mostly fast food and delis,” I explained to Lee. “It’s different than running a nightclub, as your papa could tell you. The last time I talked to Scott, he was managing a burger joint in Addison.”

“That’s when he met this guy named Julius,” Liv said with a grim expression. “I knew he was bad news. He was starting a club downtown. Brimstone is the name I heard it called. It’s underground. Ether has become too mainstream for some folks. Dev doesn’t allow drugs and he’s serious about the whole ‘place of peace’ thing. Some folks want a more…liberal establishment.”

“So this is where the criminals go,” Lee observed astutely.

“Probably,” Liv admitted. “Scott turned him down the first time, but this Julius guy came back with an offer for a lot of money.”

That didn’t seem right to me. Scott was a dipshit. He rarely held a job for more than six months. It wasn’t that he was dumb. He was intensely lazy. He started out well, all full of enthusiasm and vigor, but then work would mess up his football-watching schedule or conflict with bowling night. Inevitably, his good intentions failed and he either walked out or got fired. Why would some guy with money want Scott on the team? “What exactly did this Julius want Scott to do?”