Seduction by Erik Henry Vick

Author:Erik Henry Vick
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Ratatoskr Publishing
Published: 2020-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

7

Shaking his head, Leery said, “What can I tell you, Lieu? McCoy's paranoid.” He slumped into the Van Helsing’s guest chair and glanced at Nogan for support.

Van Helsing floated out of her chair, drifting toward the ceiling—a sure sign she was upset. “Twice, Leery! Twice, the LM’s office has ordered you to look at this again. Is there any possibility that Delilah Lara didn’t do this?”

“None,” said Dru.

Epatha Van Helsing raised a spectral hand like a traffic cop of a foregone age, ordering her to shut up without looking at her. “Leery?”

Oriscoe stood staring off into space.

“What? What is it, Leery?” Van Helsing drifted closer to him, a sepulchral chill emanating from her in waves.

He grunted. “Maybe it’s too neat, Lieu.”

She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “Explain.”

“It was too easy. Like we followed the breadcrumbs right into the witch’s house instead of back to safety.”

“Come on, Oriscoe,” muttered Dru. “We followed the evidence right to Lara’s door. She did it. Even she says so. We know she did.”

“Is that right?” asked Epatha with deceptive mildness. “How do you know?”

Leery thought about giving his partner a warning look, but she had to learn somehow. What’s coming might be painful, but painful lessons were often the best. “Do tell, Dru,” he said.

Nogan bobbed her head and began ticking the points off her fingers. “Eddie Thompson was easily identified—he had his wallet in his pocket. His name led us to Fiona Rae Gill, the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Gill not only confirmed the identification but instructed her underling to cooperate fully. She’s Thompson’s next of kin here in the States. Her secretary admitted to taking Eddie on several romps through the seedier sex clubs in Times Square. At a dump called The Red Door, we talked to the club owner, and he remembered seeing Eddie leave the club in Delilah Lara’s company. We surveilled Lara after unsuccessfully trying to interview her in her brownstone. She took off, and we chased her. She used every trick she knew to seduce Leery, to get him to let her go and probably”‍—‍she cut her gaze away from the lieu, brushing Oriscoe’s gaze for a moment‍—‍“‍to consume his essence, boosting her power. During the interview, she confessed to killing Thompson.” Dru shrugged. “Quod erat demonstradum.”

“And you see nothing in that chain of events that might seem weird? No unexplored avenues?”

Dru pressed her lips into a thin line, shaking her head.

Van Helsing drifted toward the ceiling; eyes closed. When she opened them, they blazed down at Oriscoe. “Is she too pretty?” she demanded.

Leery had been watching Nogan. He’d wanted to see how she reacted to the tongue-lashing he was sure would follow. “What, Lieu?” he asked. His stomach sank toward the floor as he met Van Helsing’s gaze and saw the red-hot anger there. “Is who too pretty?”

Epatha twitched her head toward Nogan. “Your partner. Your partner, the succubus. Is she too pretty?”

“I don’t get it, Lieu.”

“Has she seduced you?”

“I’ve done nothing‍—‍”

Van Helsing froze Nogan with a look, then turned her gaze back on Oriscoe, quirking one eyebrow.

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