24

The day after Dwayne was proven innocent, there’d been a huge party at the Evans family home, and needless to say, we’d all been there. It’d been wonderful seeing him in proper street clothes instead of that hideous orange jumper. He’d worn a genuine smile the entire time, hugged everyone, and confessed to me how his old employer had already reached out and offered him his position back. Apparently, no one at his workplace had believed him guilty to begin with. They were eager to have him back.

The settlement for his false incarceration had been done last week, and Craig had been downright giddy with how much Dwayne had gotten. Of course, I wasn’t privy to such information—it was Dwayne’s business and no one else’s. But he’d lost his house and car because of the arrest (no one to make payments on either), and he’d confided in me that he could buy whatever he wanted outright. And that was what he planned to do.

I personally couldn’t be more pleased with how it had all shaken out. Craig had already submitted the paperwork to start the civil case against Solomon, which was just icing on the proverbial cake. The beatdown was a very long, long time coming.

I was a bad person because I not only wanted him locked up for all this, but I also hoped he got shanked in prison.

Today, on this glorious Saturday, I sat upon the couch with my niece and apprentice while Donovan was out playing basketball with his brother. It was a rare moment when Brandon and Mack were in town, so I didn’t begrudge Donovan the fun. Right now, the girls and I were chowing down on some Chinese food and trying to come up with the right costumes for my wedding.

Easier said than done.

“You sure I can’t just wear a tux and slap a silly bow tie on it?” I asked again.

Both girls rolled their eyes so hard, they went off into the street. If you see them, they’re blue and green, one’s a little near-sighted. I’ll pay for shipping.

“No, that’s boring,” Skylar informed me again. “Why have a costume party for a wedding if you’re not going to take advantage?”

She had me there.

“I think I’m going as a psychic after all,” Abby muttered, scrolling through images on her phone. “I’ve got half this costume already. It wouldn’t take much more than a crystal ball and a hooded cape to do the rest.”

I was jealous of my apprentice right now. She’d found the right thing in ten minutes. Meanwhile, Skylar and I were still on the struggle bus.

“Did Uncle Donovan settle on something?” Skylar inquired.

I did a double take. “Since when do you call him uncle?”

“Well, he will be really soon, right? I call you Uncle Jon, so it’s only fair.”

“Please, please call him uncle for the first time when I’m there. Just so I can see his reaction. He’s going to be so happy.” I’d need to get someone poised with a camera too.

“Done. But what is he going as?”

“A knight.”

Both girls went oooooh at the same time.

I nodded along because, yes, that costume was absolutely appropriate and he’d look insanely good as a knight. No doubts about that.

“Maybe I should coordinate with him?”

“You could be the prince he’s protecting?”

“Or king,” Abby tacked on. “Or do whatever is your favorite instead.”

Now, I had to admit the prince thing was very tempting. I’d run it by Donovan first, get his take on it, but I did see how that would look really fun together in pictures.

My phone rang on the kitchen wall. Setting my plate aside, I popped up and skedaddled over there to answer it.

“Hi, this is Jon.”

The sound coming through was a bit choppy but understandable.

“ Hey, Jon. Marc and Javier here ,” Marc said. “ We got a situation on our hands. Could really use you in the field, buddy. ”

“Oh shit, is this a now thing?”

“ Pretty much. Let me read you in. You know how I’ve got this one Materializer I’ve been trying to lay hands on, and he’s been evading me ?”

I’d first heard of this the day of Dwayne’s court hearing. They’d been frustrated even then, as this guy was on the list of Materializers, but he’d lost his license due to stupidity. Now, he worked all over the place in any job he could land, which made him hard to track down. They were relying on the good old-fashioned method to trace his location. Namely, searching for hints of him through databases and socials.

Didn’t seem to be going well.

“Yeah. I take it you’re still not able to lay hands on him.”

“ I wish I could say otherwise but…yeah. Thing is, the more I try to catch this guy, the more suspicious he gets. Name of my suspect is Chad Holzer, aged twenty-three. He’s a college dropout and working freelance as a stage magician. Now, get this—he went to the same college as Tylesia Evans. Plus, right now, I’m in Georgia. You see why he’s my main suspect. ”

I blew out a low whistle. Georgia was where we suspected Tylesia had disappeared to, so yes, I absolutely did see what he meant. “Tell me what you need and I’m there.”

“ I need two things. You and Grant Walker .”

I saw sense in it the second he said it. He needed me in order to prove whether this was our perp or not. He needed Grant to help track the guy down. Marc’s tracing ability couldn’t always take him to the perp in question, after all. Sometimes it led to whoever had left the strongest imprint.

I was all right with a road trip, but Grant…Grant was harder to take away for long periods of time. He was very much an emergency responder, so taking off with him for more than a day was generally difficult.

Perhaps sensing my hesitation, Marc hastily added, “ I honestly think with all three of us, we’ll be able to pin this guy in two days. Maaaaaybe a bit longer .”

“True, it’s hard to evade Grant for long. Tell you what. I’m game. Donovan’s out right now, but I’m sure he’ll be willing to do this too. Assume you have at least the two of us and that we’ll leave tomorrow morning. I’ll call Grant next and see if I can take him with me or not. Text Donovan where you want us to meet you.”

“ Done. I’d offer to fly you guys here, but… ”

“If you make me get on a plane, Donovan will end you. He just about had a heart attack over the last plane trip I was on.”

“ Hahahaha, fair. Very fair. Okay, keep us posted .”

“Yup, call you back shortly. Well, assuming I can get hold of Grant quickly.” Which wasn’t always the case.

I hung up, then dialed Grant’s number. Only, as I dialed, I realized I had an audience of two girls and two cats.

“We going somewhere?” Abby inquired.

“The two of you are not going,” I informed her firmly. “You are not at the level to chase down criminals in the field yet. Your respective parents would murder me if I even tried—”

“ Why the murdering ?” Alan’s smooth tenor answered.

Dammit, I hadn’t heard the call pick up.

“Hey, Alan. I was informing my apprentice and her anchor they’re not coming into the field with me.”

“ Ah, right, Abby and Skylar bonded. I’d heard. Congrats to them both .”

“I’ll relay that. I’m actually calling because I need you and Grant. Is he busy?”

“ Define busy .”

“Can I take him on a road trip for two to three days and it not be a problem?”

“ Hmmm…normally I’d say it’s problematic, but he’s hit the requirement .”

“Ahhh.”

Part of the procedures for being a licensed psychic with the government was being held to a very strict code on how much a psychic could use their ability before they were required to rest. It’d been necessary to input because some of us—especially people like Grant Walker—could easily be abused otherwise. His was a talent few others had, and it was lifesaving, so it was hard for him to say no. But the man wasn’t a machine. He had to rest sometimes. He had to take a break for his mental health, if not his physical one. Hence the reason for the requirement to begin with. For every forty hours he worked, he was obligated to take ten hours off. For every work week he completed, he had to take a day off. But if he hit a full one hundred and twenty hours without taking those breaks, then he was compelled by law to not work for a full week.

Grant hit the requirement all the time because he was constantly on the go. It was the hazard of being super powerful and awesome.

“How bad is it?”

“ He’s edging toward a hundred hours right now. Honestly, getting him away from here will make it much, much easier on all of us. He’s too accessible to everyone .”

“I’d point fingers, but I’m in that glass house with him. So you’re saying a road trip with friends is just what he needs.”

“ In a nutshell. He’s taking a nap right now—we were up until dawn this morning—but I’ll wake him up in about two hours and inform him we’re going. How about that ?”

“Sounds good to me. Um. We need to leave tomorrow morning, though. Want me to swing by and grab you? You can just ride with us.”

“ Sure, works for me. ”

Curiosity overcame me and I had to ask. “If it was an all-nighter, did you guys save them?”

“ Fortunately. It was a carjacking case, but there were twin boys in the back seat. ”

“Oh shit.”

“ Pretty much our reaction. Because the car was constantly moving, it took Grant all night to find the location when they actually did stop. Boys were okay. I mean, hungry, needing a diaper change, but otherwise all right. They’re not even two, so I don’t think this will be something they even remember .”

Fortunately for them. No wonder Grant had burned up so many hours, though. “I’m glad to hear it. Well, be ready to roll by nine. I’ll let you know if the plan changes.”

“ Will do. ” Alan hung up.

“Uh, Master?” Abby called from the bar.

“Yes, my young grasshopper?”

“Donovan wants to know why he got a random address from Marc.”

“Text him back and say we’re chasing down a perp tomorrow with Grant and Alan.”

“Okay.”

I loved apprentices who could text for me. Since I, y’know, couldn’t.

Even as I called Marc back to confirm Grant and Alan were available and coming with us, I had a feeling I’d spend more time on the phone coordinating with people than actually packing for this trip.

Hopefully, though, this would be the break in the case that we needed. It was all well and good to free Dwayne, but I was still half convinced his sister was alive. I wanted to catch the perp who did all this even if she wasn’t. A rogue Materializer loose in the world was the perfect nightmare fodder. No thank you. Seriously, no thank you.

Now. Hopefully, with mine, Grant’s, and Marc’s powers combined, we could catch this sonuvabitch.