From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(69)
Artemis dodged her, and the goddesses circled each other, eyes glowing and power charged in their hands.
“Purple rain! Purple rain!” Perry yelled, running into the fray after Dita.
When Perry caught her, she pulled Dita’s arms, dragging her toward the path away from camp. Dita let Perry guide her away, but her eyes never left Artemis, though her rage and wrath ebbed by a small degree.
She shook Perry off. “Don’t act like you have your shit together, Artemis. Orion is gone and by no fault of mine. Deal with your own baggage without taking it out on everyone else.” She punctuated her words with the jab of her finger. “Insult me all you want, but it’s not my problem that you can’t get over the fact that you loved and lost.”
Dita turned and stormed up the hill, and Perry gave an awkward wave and apologetic smile before she turned and trotted to catch up, leaving Artemis standing among her Oceanids. The nymphs lowered their bows and turned to stare at her.
Artemis cleared her throat and held her chin high. “Back to work, and retire early, for we hunt at dawn.”
No one moved.
“That is an order,” she snapped.
And the Oceanids dispersed with whispers and looks.
Her cheeks were hot as she blew back into her tent, closing the flap with a snap. She dropped onto her bed, cradling her head in shaky hands, and there in the dark, she found truth in every word Aphrodite had spoken.
Day 8
THE LATE MORNING SUN cut through the chill as Jon walked up the sidewalk to the Gold Panda Pawnshop.
After he’d left the shooting range the day before, he’d called Hank Campbell to let him know Josie was safe and that she’d refused his help once again. They’d talked for a while. Hank believed Rhodes had been planning on leaving since he killed Anne. And, if he’d been working on setting everything up for months, he wouldn’t have made many mistakes.
Finding him wouldn’t be easy.
But that was where Jon might be able to help.
He walked under the yellow awning illustrated with a fat cartoon panda eating bamboo, and when he pushed open the door, the bell dinged, announcing his entrance.
Jimmy Li stuck his head out from the office. “Goddamn, if it isn’t Jon Landreaux,” he said with a smile.
“Jimmy, what’s up, man?”
Jon approached the counter, and they clasped hands and pulled into a hug, clapping each other on the back.
“Damn, bro. Look at you.” Jimmy shook his head and looked him over. “It’s been years, Jon. Where the hell have you been?”
Jon rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, well, the short answer is New Orleans.”
“How long have you been back?”
“Little over a month.” Jon glanced around the shop. “What’s been going on around here? You still in the business?”
Jimmy looked over his shoulder. “Man, you’re lucky my old man’s not here with you asking me about it all out in the open like it’s no big deal.”
Jon chuckled. “Old Man Li speaks no English.”
“He might not speak it, but he understands every single word.” Jimmy rested his hands on the counter. “Yeah, I’m still in the business. You need some IDs made? Security badge maybe? College ID? Gym membership?”
“No, nothing for me. I’m looking for info this time.” Jon pulled a photo of Corey Rhodes out of his pocket and pushed it across the counter. “Have you seen this guy around?”
Jimmy picked up the picture and took a hard look at it. “No. Who is he?”
“A good friend of mine’s partner was killed, and this guy did it.”
“Oh shit, man.”
“They brought him in but couldn’t charge him, and as soon as they let him out, he split town.” Jon shook his head. “This guy’s smart. He’s been killing girls for years, and the cops don’t have so much as a speeding ticket on him.”
Jimmy was stunned. “A serial killer? Whoa.”
“Yeah. I think he’s been planning on leaving for a long time. It was too clean. This guy is meticulous. If he was gonna do it right, he would have gotten papers. Ghost papers.”
“It would be the best way to disappear,” Jimmy agreed. “If you’re right, he should be easy to track down. There’s a shitload of work involved in setting someone up with a ghost ID, and it’s risky. We’ve got to find someone with the same general stats—similar age, height, and weight. It’s getting harder and harder to pull it off, too. Everything’s gone digital, but none of these government agencies check their records against death records unless there’s a reason. Right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing and all that. But, now that government agencies are connecting their databases with search engines, ghosting will likely become a thing of the past.”
Jon laughed. “Did you just nerd out on me about government agencies?”
Jimmy feigned hurt. “Hey, don’t joke. Forgers could be out of a job in the next fifteen years, the old-school ones. It’s all about digital now, which I am so down with. The number one rule for all entrepreneurs is to adapt.” He tapped his temple.
“Entrepreneur, huh?” Jon smirked.
“Don’t act all high and mighty. You’re in the same boat, Mr. Private Investigator. Anyway, let me ask around and see what I can dig up. I know a lot of other entrepreneurs in forgeries, so hopefully, I can find something. I owe you big time. You’ve gotten me out of more than a couple of fixes over the years.”