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Chapter Twenty-eight

Paranormal Problems Bureau

Griffin

I'd been planning my interrogation of Asher all the way here. Unfortunately, when I exited the lift on the top floor of the PPB, it was to find the over-ostentatious reception room—if you could call such a large room a reception room—completely empty. I wandered over to Asher's desk and made myself comfortable in his chair. If I'd hoped the intrusion into his private space might make him magically appear to chastise me, I was to remain disappointed.

Oh well! If the man himself wasn't here, perhaps I could learn something useful from the contents of his desk. When a scrutiny of its surface provided nothing interesting, I opened the top drawer and started rifling through it. Pens. An unused notepad. A large A4 diary. The diary proved uninspiring with nothing but work appointments detailed within its pages when I'd been hoping for something more like this is how I knew an address I should never have known.

When the rest of the desk drawers gave up a similarly uninspiring bounty apart from a bumper pack of Mars Bars hidden right at the back of one—who knew Asher was a secret sugar freak?—I made my way to Cade's office and entered without knocking.

Cade sat at his desk. His head jerked up at the sound of my footsteps, but he relaxed when he saw it was me. "Come in," he drawled sarcastically.

"I did."

He glanced over my shoulder, frowning. "You and Ben were asked to attend this meeting. Where is he?"

I feigned surprise. "Damn it! I knew I'd forgotten something." When Cade only raised an eyebrow, I gave him the proper answer. "He had something he needed to do first. He'll be here soon."

"How is he?" Cade asked.

Instead of taking the chair, I lowered myself onto the corner of his desk. "He's okay. The doctor said it'll be a few weeks before he recovers fully from the concussion. He's not letting it slow him down, though. He's stubborn like that."

Cade nodded. "He impressed Kendrick. He said he'd never seen anyone be quite so brutal with their words."

I grimaced at the memory of how Ben had aggravated Flynn. "Impressive isn't how I'd describe it. More like foolhardy and dangerous. He could have gotten seriously hurt. Even more hurt than he is already."

Cade shrugged. "It got the job done." He studied me for a moment. "And are the two of you okay? "

A warm glow filled my chest, and I struggled not to smile. "We're fine. Actually, that's why I came early today to catch you alone. I need a witness this weekend and I wondered if you'd be up to the job?"

"A witness! Are you going to court? What've you done?"

I rolled my eyes at the conclusion Cade had jumped to. "Nobody's going to court. Well, Flynn might be, given he's a murdering bastard, but apart from that…" A sudden attack of nerves had me examining my fingernails as an excuse not to look at Cade. "Ben and I are getting hitched at the registry office this weekend, and I thought you might like to be there. I know I can trust you to keep your mouth shut about it until we're ready to tell everyone. We want to get the marriage out of the way, and then we'll have a big do and make it common knowledge. We figure we've already waited long enough, and yes, I know that was my fault, but it's done and I can't rewind time."

Cade's silence had me lifting my gaze. His eyes had gone wide, and he was staring at me like I'd grown a second head. When he eventually regained his composure, he sat forward in his chair. "Wow! I can't believe you're actually getting married."

"Believe it," I said. "Ben's expecting me there and if I let him down again, I'll become one of his crime statistics."

Cade laughed. "In that case, I'd love to be a witness."

With that sorted, I moved on to my second reason for arriving early. If I couldn't talk to Asher, I'd talk about him to the man who knew him best. "Where's Asher?"

"Not here."

"I can see that. Where is he? I was hoping to have a word with him."

Cade gave an expansive shrug. "I'm not his keeper. "

"No, but you are his boss." I slid off the desk and onto a chair, stretching my legs out in front of me. "You know he's the reason I got to Ben in time, right? If he hadn't turned up outside my building with information he should have had no way of knowing, it could have been a very different story."

"I'm aware of what happened."

Cade's words were too careful. Too guarded. Which told me he knew something.

"I want to ask him where he got the information."

"You should."

I narrowed my eyes at Cade. "Or maybe I should just ask you."

Cade gave a less than convincing laugh. "I don't know how Asher's mind works. He's just as much of an enigma to me as he is to everyone else."

"Right…" There was no keeping the disbelief from my voice. I'd known Cade long enough to know when he was lying and he was doing it now. Before I could call him on it, Cade's office door opened to admit a blond man I recognized all too well and a dark-haired man I'd never seen before.

Cade let out a hefty sigh. "Does no one knock anymore?"

John shrugged as he strode our way, the usual smirk on his lips. "I don't work here anymore, so I figured I could do what I want." He stopped dead when he got close enough to realize I was the man sitting with Cade, his brows shooting up. "Bloody hell! You found your way to work, Griffin. What happened? Did you get so drunk you went the wrong way and ended up here?"

The gloves were off. I guess, as unlikely as it seemed, John had been censoring himself in our previous encounters. The funny thing was that in my newfound state of happiness, I found I didn't mind. In fact, his forthrightness was refreshing. At least I knew where I stood with him. The Griffin of old would have told him to fuck off or ignored him completely. But Ben had eviscerated that man in a hotel room in Manchester, and a different man had made the return journey to London.

I stood and squeezed his shoulder, the leather of his jacket squeaking beneath my fingers. "It's good to see you again, John."

He shot me a suspicious look. "Is it?" He looked to Cade. "What's wrong with him? Did you make a robot that looks like him and talks like him, but doesn't have any of the personality defects?" He didn't leave Cade any space to answer. "Speaking of robots…" He jerked his head toward the door he'd come through and left open. "Where's Glacier Pants?"

"John…" The quiet admonishment from the dark-haired man at his side had me studying him. He was very handsome with dark wavy hair and green eyes brighter than your average shade. Not as handsome as Ben, but still handsome. "We said we'd attend this meeting, find out what Cade wanted, and keep our heads down," he continued.

I laughed, John shooting me another strange look as if he'd never heard me laugh before. Perhaps he hadn't. I hadn't had an awful lot to laugh about in my self-imposed world of denial. "I don't think John's capable of keeping his head down."

"Tell me about it," the dark-haired man said. Despite aiming for fed up, fondness saturated his words. He stuck his hand out for me to shake. "I'll introduce myself, seeing as it doesn't look like anyone else is going to do it. Bellamy."

I shook his hand. "Griffin."

His quiet nod said he recognized the name, but wasn't about to comment on anything he might have heard, which given it had been from John, I could only imagine how uncomplimentary it had been.

Despite the door being open, a quiet knock came from it, Calisto standing politely outside when I turned to see who it was. "Can I come in?" he asked

"At least someone still knocks," Cade pointed out as he waved him inside.

I frowned. "You invited Calisto to this meeting?"

"I did," Cade said, his voice neutral.

"Why?"

"I just did."

More secrets. I was beginning to wish I'd been a little less oblivious for the last few years. While Bellamy introduced himself to Calisto, I mulled things over. Calisto's presence presumably explained Asher's absence, the weirdness of the two of them never having met still scratching at my brain. I should have asked Cade how Asher went MIA every time Calisto set foot up here, and more importantly, why?

John had taken up a position against the wall, one leg hitched up and his arms crossed. His body language said he was bored, but the blue eyes surveying the room and paying close attention to what everyone was doing said the opposite. It was John who tired of the small talk first, raising his voice to be heard over it to bring it to a crashing end in his usual blunt way. "As fun as this is, what is it we're waiting for exactly?"

"Me," Ben said as he walked into the room, Cade having provided him with temporary ID so he could bypass all the security systems. Despite it only having been a few hours since I'd last seen him, the bruising and the bandage packed quite a punch, making me want to rush over there and wrap him up in cotton wool so he'd never get hurt again. I fought the urge to go to him for a few seconds before deciding what the hell. What did it matter what anyone else thought?

I enfolded him in my arms and squeezed him tight. "I missed you."

He laughed, but didn't break free from my embrace. "You saw me this morning. We had breakfast together, remember?"

"That was hours ago." With Ben smiling at me, there was no question of not kissing him. And I may have gotten slightly carried away, the kiss continuing for longer than I'd intended. Upon breaking apart, I realized the room had fallen silent, all eyes on us. I cleared my throat as I tugged Ben forward. "What? Anyone would think you've never seen anyone kissing before?" My defensive words didn't stop the rush of heat to my cheeks.

"We've seen people kissing before," John said sardonically. "We just didn't know you could show such tenderness. It's…" His brow furrowed while he searched for the right word. "Well, it's sweet, actually, and I never expected to say that about you."

John's judgement apparently got Bellamy's seal of approval if his smile was anything to go by. He joined his boyfriend, John obediently lifting his arm so Bellamy could tuck himself into the space and plaster himself to John's side. They looked happy, and I had to admit that it looked good on John, his smirk immediately giving way to something softer.

Cade gestured to Ben. "This is Detective Chief Inspector Ben Weaver, who, as you probably just worked out, is also Griffin's boyfriend. They're recently reunited after a long separation."

Calisto's eyes went wide, and he turned to look at Ben like he was the second coming of Christ. "I've heard of you. You caught Satanic Romeo."

Ben tugged me closer. " We caught Satanic Romeo. "

The next couple of minutes comprised more introductions, Ben not having met anyone in the room except Cade. It was Bellamy who eventually voiced what everyone else was thinking. "Why are we here, Cade?"

Cade led us over to the comfier seats in his office, John and Bellamy choosing to keep their position by the wall. Which was just as well because if they had wanted to sit, there wouldn't have been enough seats. I couldn't help thinking that if Asher had been here, there would have been exactly the same number of chairs as people, even if he'd needed to click his fingers and produce them out of thin air.

Cade started talking only after everyone had settled comfortably—Calisto to my right and Ben to my left. "We're all here because we have a common problem. One that doesn't seem like it's going to go away."

Calisto frowned. "What problem?"

Cade focused on John and Bellamy. "I'd like you to tell your story if that's okay with you. Griffin knows bits, but not all of it, and I don't think Calisto and Ben know any of it."

Bellamy looked unsure for a moment. "How censored do you want it to be?"

Cade gave a wry smile, something about the question seeming to amuse him. "Completely uncensored."

I had to admit that the tale Bellamy and John told between the two of them was a fascinating one, particularly when they got to the part where John had brought Bellamy back to life and he'd stayed back, all thanks to a mysterious mask, which according to Cade's follow-up investigation now seemed to have disappeared into the ether along with its strange keeper. Despite the story holding my interest, it wasn't until the name of O'Reilly came up that I got the reason for Cade bringing us all together. "Fuck!" I said, everyone except Ben and Cade, who knew exactly why I'd said it, turning my way.

Then it was our turn to bring everyone up to speed, Ben and I detailing the nightmare we'd just lived through until it all came full circle and O'Reilly once again reared her—well, I doubted she was ugly if Flynn was her son, but it was as good a word as any—head.

"So, as you can see," Cade said. "We have something of a situation."

"You said she was in Germany," John said accusingly. "And that you'd inform us if she set foot back on English soil."

"I did," Cade agreed. "And she was. Until 5 o'clock this morning, when she got on a plane and flew back. So I'm telling you now. I presume news of her son's arrest for multiple murders has reached her."

"Do we think she knew what Flynn was up to?" Ben asked, his eyes narrowed in a switch back to detective mode.

Cade pulled a face. "It's hard to believe she didn't when he was doing it for her. Either she put him up to it, or he was doing it off his own back to do what she couldn't with the mask."

"And what is that?" Bellamy asked. "We never knew what she wanted the mask for."

Ben let out a sigh. "To bring her daughter back to life. Janessa O'Reilly died six years ago and, from what we can surmise, Abigail O'Reilly isn't ready to let her go."

An uncomfortable feeling settled in my gut. Because much as I might not want to have something in common with a woman cold-blooded enough to hold John and Bellamy at gun point—leaving them with no choice but to use a graveyard of the Victorian dead as a weapon to keep the mask out of her hands, and who may have sent her son on a killing spree—I had a certain empathy with her, because if I got the chance to bring Whitney back, could I honestly say I wouldn't do whatever it took?

"You think," Ben asked slowly, "that this isn't over yet? That she'll keep trying?"

Cade nodded. "I'm sure of it. I'm also sure that now she's back in the country,"—his gaze skated back to Bellamy and John—"that she'll have a few scores to settle."

John rolled his eyes. His shoulders had sagged, though, and he'd lost a lot of his usual bravado. "What are you planning to do about it?"

Cade smiled. "I'm planning to stop her. With your help." He walked over to his desk and pulled a folder out of his top drawer. He held it up to John and Bellamy with a question in his eyes. "What do you say? Are you ready to sign these contracts and come back to work?"

John closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall in the universal sign of asking for strength. "I was hoping she'd fallen down a well or something in Germany." When he opened his eyes, there was a grim determination in them. Letting go of Bellamy, he strode over and snatched the folder out of Cade's hands. "Fine! I didn't stop her once, only for her to find another way of doing it." He waved his hand. "Give me a pen."

When Cade provided one, he signed before passing the other contract, along with the pen, to Bellamy. Apparently, Bellamy was also going to work for the PPB in some capacity.

Calisto had been so quiet during the meeting that I'd almost forgotten he was there until he cleared his throat. "If all she wants is her daughter, then maybe we should let her bring her back. If she'd gotten her way with the mask, then the murders wouldn't have happened. "

"People like O'Reilly," John said, "don't just stop at one thing. Do you really think that if she had an artifact that powerful in her hands, or a demon to do her bidding, that she'd stop at bringing her daughter back to life? I've met her and I can tell you she wouldn't. She's a dangerous woman. Far too dangerous to let get her own way."

Calisto nodded, bright spots of color appearing on his cheeks. "I see."

"Where do I come into this?" Ben asked.

"As a liaison between us and the police," Cade explained. "And… before you ask, yes, I've okayed it with Baros. He's happy to share information with us, and vice versa."

With nothing left to say, the meeting wound down. When everyone else drifted outside Cade's office, I stayed, my list of questions for him having only grown. "Why was Calisto here? He has absolutely nothing to do with any of this."

Cade met my gaze, his expression a strange one. "He will."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's all I can say at this point."

"Why does Asher avoid him?"

"Who says he does?"

I rolled my eyes. "They've never met. I can't think how that could have happened unless one of them went to great lengths to make sure it didn't. You know, like Asher, conveniently not being here today. Don't tell me he didn't know Calisto was going to be here."

Cade rounded the desk to squeeze my shoulder. "You think too much."

"I've hardly thought about anything but whiskey for the past few years, so I'm making up for lost time. I'm assuming you're not going to answer my questions?"

Cade crossed his arms over his chest. "Let me ask you a question."

"Great! Answer a question with a question. Why am I not surprised?"

"What do you know about Calisto?"

"What do I know?" I frowned, not sure what he was getting at. "Friendly. Too friendly most of the time. Acts like a kicked puppy, if you're mean to him."

"I meant more to do with his skills as a necromancer."

I regarded Cade silently for a few moments. "Okay, I'll bite."

"What's your success rate?" Cade asked.

"Slightly above the national average."

"Which is?" Cade prompted.

"Seventy-five percent."

Cade nodded. "What's Calisto's success rate?"

"How the hell should I know? We never work together."

Cade left a deliberate pause. "Ninety-five percent."

"That's impossible."

"Isn't it?"

I thought about what he'd said for a moment. "He must be fabricating his numbers. Is that what you're getting at?"

"He isn't. I checked, and then I got someone else to check. Everyone he said he brought back, was."

"Then…" I had nothing, settling for a nonplused shake of my head instead.

Cade drifted over to the window to stare out of it. "There's a war coming, Griffin, and we're going to need Calisto on our side when it gets here. That's all I can say at the moment."

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