Page 28
“Only flight movements—they don’t want me taking off. ”
I snorted. “You have got feet in human form. You can run if that was your intention. ”
He grinned. “Yeah, but it’s border alarmed. Go out of the state, whether by car, plane, or train, they’ll jump me. ”
“What about work? You need to fly to do your job. ”
“I can do that. The fire authority just has to report my hours and flight areas. ” He grimaced. “Not that I’ll be doing much of that until my arm heals. ”
Which wouldn’t take all that long—another week at the most and he’d be out of plaster and into flight rehabilitation. I continued on to the kitchen. “Was Lyle at the court?”
“Yeah. ” Keale trailed after me. “He didn’t look happy, I’m telling you that. ”
Not entirely surprising given he’d consumed a fair amount of alcohol last night. “Did he say anything after the case?”
“Nah. He pretty much pissed off as soon as they bailed me. ”
Going where? I wondered, a little uneasily. He had a day job, but given his recent obsession with all things Mona, I doubted that he’d actually been sighted at work recently. Hell, if I was perfectly honest, I was surprised he’d turned up to represent Keale.
“You had breakfast?”
“Yeah, at the remand center. I could go for something decent though, if you’re making it. ” He sat somewhat stiffly at the table. “Numar told me he probably owes his life to you. ”
“I'm not sure about that, but he was pretty well out of it when I found him. ” I grabbed some eggs and smoked salmon out of the fridge, then lit the stove. “Oddly, he couldn’t remember anything about that night, either. ”
Keale snorted. “Not surprising if we drank as much as the cops are suggesting. ”
“If you had consumed that much, you would have been as comatose as he was. You certainly wouldn’t have been flying anywhere. ”
“Maybe I’ve just built up more of a tolerance to the stuff than he has. ”
I shot him a severe look. “What, you’re trying to end up in jail now?”
“No, but facts are facts, Harri. ”
“They are, and when we get all of them, we’ll know if the cops are right or not. ” I paused to break a dozen eggs into a bowl, then said, “Tell me about Rebecca. ”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Because, at the very least, she can confirm that you hadn’t touched a drop the week before your apparent binge. Remember, the cops suggested you’d been drinking for days. ”
“Well, a dragon can in one night consume enough to make it seem that way. ” He half-shrugged, and pain flickered across his features. Obviously the painkillers weren’t deadening all sensation. “She began working in the hotel near home about a few weeks ago. I started chatting her up, just for the hell of it. ” He smiled. “Couldn’t hurt, I figured, even if she seemed way out of my league. ”
“I can’t imagine why you’d think a woman working at a bar would be out of your reach. ” I seasoned the eggs then poured them into the pan. “And hey, you do work for the Country Fire Authority. ”
Which these days is a pretty important job, especially in the more rural communities. Dragons generally handled the back-burning and clearing undergrowth duties—important tasks given the volatile nature of the Australian bush—as well being a major resource with it came to putting out fires.
He grimaced. “She just seemed classier than that—she gave off the vibe that she really didn’t really belong there, if you know what I mean. She was way above my usual type, anyway. ”
And that was almost the exact same words that Numar had used to describe Mandy. Coincidence? Maybe, but there seemed to be an awful lot of them happening recently. “But you applied the Finch charm and she succumbed?”
“Totally. Putty in my hands, she was. ” He gave me a sideways glance. “You’re too fucking easy to talk to. I normally don’t say things like that to women. ”
“We’ve known each other since high school. ” My voice was dry. “I don’t think there’s anything you could say or do that would actually shock me. ”
Except, perhaps, crash into a helicopter.
I peeled the smoked salmon apart and added that to the omelet. “Did you ever bother asking her much about herself?”
“Nope. Too busy enjoying myself. ”
And no wonder given the narrow window of mating fertility. Then I frowned. “You said you met Rebecca at the hotel?”
“Yeah, and it was the stuff dreams are made of. I mean, not only classy and fertile, but able to get me free drinks. I was in heaven. ”
And why wouldn’t he be when male dragons usually had all of the fun, and none of the responsibility when it came to their offspring? “Didn’t you tell me last week that Rebecca hated the smell of alcohol?”
“She did. ” Keale hesitated. “That really doesn’t make much sense, does it?”
No, it didn’t. There was something rotten in Keale’s Garden of Eden, that was for sure. “Where about in Research does she live?”
He wrinkled his nose. “She had a little place on Joslyn Road, just off the Research-Warrandyte Road. Pretty, but filled with antiques. I was always wary of breaking something. ”
“Number?”
“I never took much notice. It was a little wooden place on the right hand side of the road. Had all these white and yellow daisies crawling through the fence. ”
“I’ll find it. ”
He frowned at me. “Why? I mean, even if she does confirm that I hadn’t been drinking the days before, it still doesn’t alter the fact I was before I crashed into the helicopter. ”
I cut the omelet, then pulled out two plates and handed him the bigger half. “It still can’t hurt to question her, Keale. There’s always a chance you mentioned where you and Numar were going that night. We need to piece together exactly what happened—even if it does no good. ”
“Maybe. ” He accepted the omelet with a nod of thanks. I retrieved some cutlery from the dishwasher, then sat down opposite him. He added, “Just be careful. A female in heat can be very fucking touchy. I wouldn’t like to see you crisped or anything. ”
It wasn’t exactly on the top of my list of things to experience, either. “Did you ever remember to ask her last name?”
“That I managed. ” He grinned. “It’s Price. ”
“Which hotel does she work at?”
“She works at the Grand. Does day shift Monday to Friday. ”
I nodded and waved a fork at our food. “Dig in. ”
We both did. The phone rang just as I was scooping up the last bit of egg. The number wasn’t one I knew. “Hello?”
“Harriet Phillecky?” a male voice said.
“That’s me. What can I do for you?”
“My name is Bryan. ” He hesitated, and cleared his throat. “I’m a friend of Val’s. ”
Something deep in my gut clenched. “What’s happened?”
“I was asked to call you. It’s about Val,” Bryan said. “He’s been beaten up pretty badly. ”
Oh fuck, I thought. I’m going to kill my father.
“How bad is bad? Is he in hospital?”
“No, the little fool refuses to go. I called an ambulance, and they’ve patched him up. ”
I breathed a little easier. If Val had been truly bad, he would have insisted on being taken to hospital. He used to go to emergency if he had anything more serious than an infected toenail. “Where is he? Home?”
“Yes. I’m here for a little while, but I’m rostered on later. ”
I glanced at my watch. “It’ll take me twenty minutes to get there. You able to stay that long?”
“Sure. As I said, I’m not rostered on until later. ”
“See you soon. ”
“Problem?” Keale asked, as I hung up.
“Yeah, someone’s beaten Val up. ??
?
I grabbed my coat and purse, then hesitated. My house had been raided twice, and now Val had been beaten up. It might have no connection to Mona, but dare I take the chance? Keale could take care of himself, but he had a still healing arm, a battered back, an electronic restriction device on his ankle, and the possibility of Prevoran in his system. In human form, he wouldn’t have much hope if another Goliath turned up.
“Look, you might want to call Guy and invite him over. This case I’m investigating for Lyle has turned nasty, and I’d rather you not be caught alone. ”
“I can take care of myself,” he said mildly. “I don’t need-”
“The last time we had an uninvited guest, it took three ogres to bring him down, and even they had trouble. ” I didn’t bother mentioning my battle with Goliath. Keale might have thought anything I could handle, he could.
“Oh. I’ll invite Guy over, then. ”
“Good move. ” I handed him the house phone. “Tell him there’s beer wasting away in the fridge. That’ll get him here faster than you can hang up. ”
“He’s not working today?”
“No. The union called a strike on the demolition site he’s working on. They’ve been out for weeks. ”
Keale nodded and dialed Guy’s number. I squeezed back past Kristo and headed for Sandridge. I found parking just down the street from Val’s and jogged back to his hot pink building. Mona’s apartment still had the blue and yellow police tape strapped across it, and I wondered if Kaij thought she’d been murdered within. I rapped loudly on Val’s door, and it was almost immediately answered by a tall, red-haired man whose muscular frame practically filled the doorway. Val obviously had far better luck with men than I did—but then, he could sing.
“You must be Harriet,” he said, and stepped to one side.