“Al was trying to own me,” I said in my own defense as David checked his phone and frowned. “And Trent still has money,” I added, but him flying out first class instead of in his jet left me wondering. “Why does everyone think he’s broke?”
“Maybe it’s the lawsuits,” Jenks smart-mouthed. “Ivy is still trying to recoup her losses after hitching her wagon to you. Paycheck to paycheck doesn’t look good when you’re slated to be Cincy’s master vampire after death. Poor girl.”
“I didn’t ask her to leave the I.S. with me,” I said, but Jenks was on a roll.
“I’m the only person who has come out of this better than they went in,” he said proudly.
“I’m better off,” David said, his head down over his phone. “Ivy is better off by far. Al is, too, for all his complaints. And Trent?” David grinned, showing his teeth. “I didn’t have to kill Trent to prevent another Kalamack from taking over the world.”
Because of me, I thought, but I was too embarrassed to say it. Because of me, Trent had grown into who he wanted to be, not what his father had made him: frighteningly resolute in his pursuit of a goal and blind to another’s pain.
“It’s harder to scare people into doing what you want when you don’t have any money,” David said, ruining it.
Jenks laughed as I put a hand on a hip. “Why do I even listen to you?” I said.
“Because I look good in leather and scruff,” David replied. “And what would the papers print if Rachel Morgan went out without a boy toy?”
They were both laughing, but Sharron had finally gotten off the phone, and I pushed past David, willing to ignore it.
“Good news!” Sharron said brightly. “They like the terms that Jenks offered, and with your preapproval, we’re all set. The place is yours.”
My God, we are going to do this, I thought, breathless as Sharron locked the front door, beaming as she turned to face us. “I’ll jump back to my office,” she said, eyes bright, “print out the contract, and move this forward before the weekend and everything slows down. Congratulations! If everything looks okay in the inspection, you can be in by the end of the month. I’ve got your good-faith check from the last place that fell through. All you have to do is pick out your furniture.”
“Month?” I turned to Jenks, wincing. I could probably couch surf for a while, but it wasn’t the image of self-reliance I was trying for, and interviewing clients at a coffee shop would get old really fast.
“Can we move this any faster?” Jenks asked for both of us.
Sharron turned, the big key in her hand. “It’s empty,” she said, her eyes distant on the future. “So maybe a few days to line up the inspection.” Her focus cleared on David. “I’m sure you can get proof of insurance expedited, and your mortgage is sitting there from the last time we thought we had something. I’ll keep an eye open for a closing cancellation. They don’t like it when we push for speed, but things have been easier since the Turn.” She hesitated in thought. “Maybe two weeks if nothing goes wrong?”
I exhaled, and beside me, David seemed to relax. “Two weeks is better,” I said, wondering whether, if I was really nice to Constance, she might let me and Jenks hang out on the boat tied to Piscary’s quay a couple of extra days. Probably not, I thought sourly. I’d downed Pike, her scion, after catching him poking around the boat, and pride meant everything to the undead.
“Great!” Jenks took flight. “I can still get a late spring garden in if I hustle.”
Sharron extended her hand first to me, then David, the woman clearly pleased. “This feels good, Rachel,” she said as she backed to her car, her phone still in hand. “I told you we’d find something before you lost your place.”
“Nothing like waiting to the last moment,” I muttered, and Jenks bobbed his head. Constance was coming. I could see it in the new graffiti and the uncomfortable headlines. Not to mention my new escorts driving around Cincy in a beat-up brown Volvo. “Thanks, Sharron!” I called out as the woman crossed in front of her car and waited for traffic to clear. “I can’t believe it took this long.”
“Everyone finds their place eventually!” she said happily as she got into her car and slammed the door shut. I could tell she was relieved we’d pulled the trigger on this one so fast. We’d been looking for ages, and her time-invested/commission ratio was probably nearing the break-even point. Not that she would ever complain. She was too professional for that.
Jenks landed on my shoulder, the barest hint of a sour green dust spilling from him. “It wasn’t as if we weren’t trying,” he muttered, and I nodded. We’d lost the last two places due to miscommunications and a buyer’s market.
Sharron’s passenger-side window went down with a whine. “I’ll text you when I’ve got the paperwork in hand,” she said as she stretched across her front seat. “Where are you going to be the next couple of hours?”
Hours? I thought, thinking she must be tired of properties being jerked out from under us, too. “Ah, Junior’s?” I suggested. “It’s close to your office. I could use a coffee.”
David leaned closer. “She has no idea what you are talking about.”
I stifled a wince. No, she wouldn’t. Only a handful of people called it that. The why was a long story. “Coffee shop a few blocks from your office,” I added. “The one with the circles on the floor.”
“You got it. See you in a few.” Sharron’s car window went up, and, after looking behind her, she pulled out and was gone.
“Congratulations, Rachel,” David said, and I waved for Jenks to go hover by the door so I could get a picture to send to Trent and Ivy. “I’m glad you’re moving out of Piscary’s and a door that half of Cincy has a key to.”
I looked up from my phone and met his eyes. “Seriously?”
Jenks zipped closer, and I tilted it so he could see the picture. “Who’s going to bother Cincy’s resident demon?” he said, and I blew his dust away before it blanked the screen.
“We do okay,” I added, but he was right, and I quashed my nervousness as I pocketed my phone and we started down the sidewalk to where I’d left my car.
“I know you do.” David took a long step to catch up. “It’s just . . .”
My unease deepened. His hands hung free and his eyes were on the rooflines. “What?”
He scrubbed a hand over his bristles sheepishly. “Three idiots tried to jump me this morning on my run. They fled in a brown Volvo.”
My eyes widened and Jenks’s dust shifted to a surprised red. “Seriously? Are you okay?” I blurted, and David looked at his fist. It was skinned. I hadn’t noticed until now.