“Most would call her a fake, a token or object reader. I know what she can do. I’ve seen it. And not just with things either, but with people as well. She’s found...there was a missing child, and Dillon was able to find her.” She asked him where she was. “Ah, there lies the ten million dollar question. I don’t know. I can usually...well, contact her through a link that we share. Most of the time, there is just the two of us working this thing. I can find things as well, you see, but not like she can. She is brilliant at it. But as of a few weeks ago, I have not been able to reach out to her at all. It’s like I’m hitting a wall.”
“And you know that she’s not been killed.” He nodded. “And how do you know this? I mean, for sure. Could there just be nothing there because she’s gone to you? I don’t mean to be cruel, but I’m trying to understand this.”
“I appreciate your questions. I’ve asked myself the same ones over and over. If she’s gone, then why has she not contacted me? Or one of you? It’s...we have both said that should either of us die, then we were to contact Steele Bennett or one of his men. As far as I know, she has not.” That was a good way to know but not foolproof. “And there is this.”
He held up an envelope, and she walked to it to see if she could make it out. But it was too dark where he was, and she just saw it had a name on it. Dillon Malone. He moved it when she asked him to, and then she could see it did indeed say that name.
“Is this her or you?” He laughed. “Yeah, that’s not a traditional girl’s name, so I thought I’d check. Who are you by the way? And why have you come to me?”
“Her name is Dillon, as is mine, but I go by my last name. I have since I was a youngster. She’s my onlyest.” Vinnie nodded and sat back in her chair as he continued. “I got this letter yesterday. And it said I was to contact you if I was going to get any real results. The rest of the people in the business will help, but this note said I was to have you help me. I don’t know why, unless you do.”
“I don’t know anything about any of this.” She watched the man as he paced on his end. He seemed to be talking to someone, and she reached for Mitch to let him know what was going on. He said his daughter is alive. How do I find out if she’s alive or not without running into her?
I’ll ask Billy or Connie to look. Aster can too. She is having fun at the shop, by the way. I guess her and the man that is helping you out are getting along really well too. Oh, and you should know that you’ve sold some really big pieces today. I don’t know which ones, but...we’re kinda busy here. She asked him where he was. Right now we’re in an old court house. I mean really old. There are some clients here that have been here since the turn of the century. Hang on, love, Aster is here now. Let me ask her.
“I’m going to send you a copy of this letter I have.” She looked at Malone and he showed her the letter, but she couldn’t read it any better than she could the envelope. “Do you have a fax machine there?”
After giving him the number, she moved out of her rooms into the hall. Hugo was there as well as Gilda, like they were every night when she rose. She was being updated on things from Gilda as they entered the office. She pulled the letter off just as Gilda left her with the phone messages she had. As she read over the file, she felt her world sort of tilt. She wasn’t just supposed to find this girl, but she was to keep her safe as well.
“Do you know what it means?” She told Malone that she didn’t. “Neither do I. Why does whoever wrote that think you can protect her any more than I can?”
“I don’t know. But you said she’s human. And that you are as well.” He nodded. “Don’t lie to me, Malone. I’m not in the mood to be fucked with here.”
Aster said she’s not dead. Being held, but not dead. Mitch paused before continuing. What’s going on?
I don’t know just yet. He told her to get back to him if she needed him. Always. I will always need you. But her father is lying to me. I’m not sure why, but he is.
“She’s not human. I am, but she’s not.” He sat down and looked to her like he was floating on air. “She’s not my daughter either. Not of my blood anyway. She is, however, something special. And as for me lying to you, it’s all I’ve done to keep her safe since I found her on my front porch. She can find people and things, as can I, but she’s so much stronger than me. I just want her home and safe.”
“And this letter, it’s real?” He told her it was. “All right. She’s not dead. A friend of mine looked around and she’s not dead. But you lie to me again and I will drain you. You do understand that, don’t you?”
“I do, and I won’t. I just need her to come home to me.”
Vinnie glanced at the letter she had in front of her after Malone left her. It said that he was to contact Victoria Riley. Not Vinnie Graham, but Riley. And he was to tell her everything that was listed on this letter.
No police. No Feds, and absolutely no weapons at all were to ever be on her person when she came to talk to them. Whoever they were, they expected her to be easy.
“Fuck that shit.” She grinned at Hugo when he tisked at her. “Hugo, my dear friend, we might just get ourselves in trouble over this one.”