Iron Cast(56)

She stumbled into the common room, where the furnace was fuming. Even so, it was only marginally warmer.

“Another few inches of snow since last night,” Ada said.

She was on the couch, her legs curled beneath her, her blanket around her shoulders. Her hair was still wrapped in the silk scarf she wore to bed. She had a damp newspaper in her lap, and there was a mug of something hot on the table. Corinne stared at it enviously for a few seconds, then went to stand by the furnace, willing the warmth to seep through her layers.

“Where’s Saint?” she asked.

“The Mythic. He left a few minutes ago.”

Corinne didn’t have anything nice to say about the Mythic or its inhabitants at present, so she adhered to the old adage and said nothing at all.

“A hemo went missing last night,” Ada said. “Apparently he was snatched right off the street.”

“Ironmongers?”

“I don’t know. There’s not much to the article. His name was Stuart Delaney. A musician at the Red Cat.”

“Never met him.”

“Me neither. I wonder if those HPA agents had anything to do with it,” Ada said. There was a frown etched between her eyebrows as she took a sip of her coffee.

“If Carson is taking money from the agency, then he must be up to his eyeballs in something,” Corinne said.

She moved reluctantly away from the furnace and huddled onto the couch beside Ada.

Ada handed Corinne the mug and flipped the paper open to the back page.

“There was nothing in the obits about Johnny. Do you—do you think we’re supposed to write one?”

Ada’s voice was thin and wavering at the edges, and she didn’t look up from the paper. Corinne shrugged and took a long sip, not caring that the bitter drink scalded her tongue and throat. Discussing Johnny’s obituary wasn’t something she could handle this early in the morning.

“When Gabriel gets here, we need to talk about tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“If we want to see the Witchers, we’ll have to leave here by eight. We’ll sweet-talk our way into the back rooms and get them to tell us what they know.”

The details of the plan were still fuzzy, but Corinne knew she would find a way. If Carson was in the dark, then the Witcher brothers had to know something about Johnny’s death—or maybe the Witchers were behind it all. Either way, after tonight the Cast Iron crew would know who killed him. Then they could start planning their revenge.

Ada hadn’t replied. She was giving her the look she always gave when Corinne had forgotten something she shouldn’t have.

“What?” Corinne asked, already feeling a headache coming on.

“It’s Tuesday.”

“So?”

“Tonight is your brother’s rehearsal dinner.”

“Oh for cripes’ sake,” Corinne said, plunking the mug onto the table. “Don’t we have more important things to worry about?”

“If you miss the rehearsal dinner, your parents will have every bull in the city looking for you.”

Corinne scowled at her. “I could call and—”

“What excuse could you possibly give that your mother will accept, Cor?”

“What’s going on?” Gabriel was coming down the stairs, unwinding his gray scarf. His coat was still covered in flecks of white. Ada had given him the keys last night, when he had insisted on going home.

“Corinne is trying to dodge her sisterly duties,” Ada said.

“This is ridiculous,” Corinne said. “I can’t waste all night at my stupid brother’s rehearsal dinner. We need to talk to the Witchers and find out what they know.”

“We could go without you,” Gabriel pointed out.

“No we can’t,” Ada said.

“Don’t even think about it,” Corinne said.

Gabriel shrugged out of his coat and sank into an armchair. Corinne groaned and struggled to climb to her feet without sacrificing the warmth of her blanket. She shuffled to her room, sighing indignantly all the while. She left the door open as she dug through the trunk at the foot of her bed, searching for the dress her mother had given her for the occasion months ago.

“You don’t understand. I’m never going to get out of there,” Corinne shouted to them.

“The dress is hanging on the doorknob,” Ada said.

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is.”

“I’m looking at the doorknob right now and I’m telling you, it’s not— Oh.” Corinne pulled off a few scarves and uncovered the cream-colored dress. “My mother will keep me there all night. Unless—”

She had an epiphany and poked her head out the doorway. Gabriel and Ada were both watching her expectantly.

“We need to get you a tuxedo,” she said to Gabriel.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“It’s perfect. The dinner is at the Lenox. You’ll be my escort; then I’ll pretend to fall ill and we’ll tell my parents that you’re driving me home.”

“Brilliant plan, except that there’s no way in hell that I’m—”

Corinne shut the door before he finished. Thirty seconds later Ada came in, still wrapped in her blanket. Corinne was on her knees by her cot, trying to see if the shoes her mother had provided were hiding in one of the shadowy corners.