Griffin smiled. “I love that you’re in charge but don’t know who does what.”
“Hey, I’ve been busy ... as you well know.” I called Oliver, blurting out the question almost immediately. I ignored his sigh and then relayed the information to Griffin. “Tate O’Neill runs the yacht club. It’s a seasonal position. Apparently he’s retired, but enjoys doing it during the summer.”
“I’ve never heard of him.” Griffin plugged the information into his phone. “He doesn’t have a record. I’ll talk to him.”
We stood together, watching the medical examiner’s team work. They waded into the water and dragged the body to the dock, where they had unrolled a body bag. Looking for something to discuss, I landed on Griffin’s daughter Lily. She was a few months old now. “How is the baby?”
Griffin smiled at mention of his daughter. “She’s a tyrant, like her mother.”
He was the only person I knew who could be happy about that. Well, maybe not the only one. Cormack Grimlock, Lily’s grandfather, also found her demanding personality adorable.
“I haven’t seen you guys around much lately,” I said. I had a place on the island, but I spent almost every night at Grimlock Manor these days. There were a couple reasons for that. The biggest was the research going on regarding the Reaper Council. To be fair, the food and ambiance of the house were second to none, so it wasn’t exactly a hardship. Until the last week, Griffin and his wife Aisling had been staying at the house with the baby. They’d returned to their Royal Oak townhouse several days before, however, and taken a bit of the light of the house with them.
“We thought it was best that we spend some time in our home,” Griffin said. “Lily thinks of Grimlock Manor as her home. It seems weird considering that Aisling and I are adults. We bought the townhouse, but we’ve spent the better part of the last few months allowing Cormack to run our lives.”
That wasn’t exactly how I saw it. “I don’t think he’s running your lives. He just ... loves his granddaughter.”
“He does,” Griffin agreed, “but it’s weird for me to live in that house. There are so many people running around it’s like a hotel. We want to get Lily on a schedule.”
“I kind of miss her,” I admitted. “I especially miss watching Cormack rock her in the nursery. I’ve noticed him staring into the room when he thinks everyone has retired for the evening. I think he’s sad.”
Griffin balked. “I don’t want him to be sad. I love him. As far as fathers-in-law go, he’s the absolute best ... and that’s something I never thought I would say when I first got together with Aisling.”
“I get it,” I reassured him. “You need a semblance of normalcy in these are crazy times.”
Griffin hesitated before nodding. “I do, but ... I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hyper-vigilant. We feel closed off from the world right now, even though Jerry and Aidan are right next door. They’re constantly popping in and out, but they’re consumed with planning their wedding and that’s a distraction I don’t need.”
Aidan Grimlock was Aisling’s twin brother. He was engaged to her best friend Jerry, and if the conversations I’d overheard were to be believed, the wedding was going to be an absolute spectacle, which fit Jerry’s over-the-top personality to a tee. Cormack was footing the bill and sparing no expense.
“If you’re uncomfortable being at home right now, you don’t have to stay there,” I offered. “I mean ... there’s strength in numbers. We have a legitimate threat right now. I’m not sure having Aisling off by herself is wise, especially when everybody on the Reaper Council knows exactly how devastated Cormack would be if something happened to one of his children.”
“That’s what worries me,” Griffin admitted as the techs began dragging the body toward the dock. “I’m about to tell Aisling that I think we should move back to Grimlock Manor. She’s been gung-ho about making this work, but I think she’s doing that for me. Her greatest fear is that something will happen to us and that Lily will be left in the townhouse alone.”
“Like me,” I mused, the words escaping before I thought better of them.
Griffin’s eyes filled with sympathy when they locked with mine. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
I waved off the apology. “It’s okay. I was older than Lily. I also had magic to call on, though I really can’t remember if I knew how to use it back then. Lily is completely helpless right now. I think it’s okay if you want to move back into the manor. There are a lot of people there who would lay down their lives for her.”
Griffin nodded in agreement. “I’m going to talk to Aisling about it today. We promised to take the baby to Grimlock Manor for dinner because Lily is trying baby food for the first time and Cormack wants to watch. I think I’ll tell her to pack enough stuff for at least a week and we’ll go from there.”
I patted his shoulder. “It probably feels like losing, but you’re looking at it the wrong way. Everybody wins in this scenario, including your wife and daughter.”
“Yeah.” Griffin straightened as the medical examiner’s team closed the distance. “What do you have?”
The lead tech, who wore a name tag that read “Chris,” lowered his end of the body bag and handed Griffin what looked to be a clump of wet ... something. I couldn’t quite make out what it was.
“Male, approximately twenty-five to thirty-five years old, dressed in nice pants but missing his shoes,” Chris replied. “That was almost completely out of his pocket, so we grabbed it separately. It’s too wet to get prints from if someone did try to steal it.”
Griffin flipped open the wallet. “Grayson Thorpe,” he read from the license. “Does that name mean anything to you?”
I nodded, a feeling of dread washing over me. “He’s one of the organizers of the convention being held here this week.”
Griffin’s forehead creased. “What sort of convention?”
“Furries.”
His expression didn’t change. “I don’t know what that is.”
Even though I considered myself worldly, it was awkward to explain. “Oh, well ... .”
“They’re people who like to dress up as animals and have sex,” Chris announced, drawing Griffin’s eyes to him.
Clearly believing Chris was messing with him, Griffin made a face. “What are they really?”
“He’s telling the truth,” I offered. “That’s what they are. Er, well, the sex thing isn’t important to everybody, but it is to some of them. It’s a ... lifestyle.”
Griffin’s eyes widened as he looked between Chris and me, and for a moment I thought he was going to accuse me of lying. Instead, he pulled out his phone and typed something in the search engine on his browser.
“Don’t look at the pictures,” Chris warned.
“Oh, man!” Griffin covered his eyes and scowled. “I can’t believe this is a real thing.” He looked horrified.
“I don’t see how it’s any different from dressing up in black leather and playing dominatrix,” I countered. “I believe that’s something you and Aisling do. I’ve seen her with a whip.”