to a coffee shop isn’t much better.”
“I’m staying at the Westin next door.” He pulled out a key card “See? Room seven-oh-four. I swear this is just coincidence.”
Samantha’s eyes stayed trained on him. “Damn high level of coincidence.” She considered his card. It looked real enough but that didn’t really confirm his story. Was he being truthful? Was this all coincidence combined with shitty people skills?
The man didn’t push, barely moving except to sip on his drink. He looked tense, Samantha noted, but more as if he were holding his breath for her answer than waiting for her to see through a ruse. In the end, his respect of her thought process prompted her to give him a chance.
“I’ll make you a deal. I’m not forgetting last night, but I will let you try again, right here, right now. If you manage not to piss me off in explaining why you’re looking for my mom, we’ll talk.”
* * * *
Eli nodded, quietly marveling. Damn, this woman was smart. Normally he would have already written her off as an iron clad no-go. “Fair enough. First of all, have some breakfast. I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so take whatever you like and leave the rest.”
She eyed him. Then took the cookie and dipped it in her drink. “Thanks.”
“No problem. What say we pretend I emailed you and asked to meet here?”
“What was the topic of the meeting supposed to be?” She asked, but seemed to relax.
“Your mother.” He held out his hand. “And I would have introduced myself as Eli Tawson.”
“Samantha Parker.” She shook, grip firm, dry and certain. “So, what about my mother?” She frowned. “To be honest, I would have ignored an email like that. Still has shifty written on it.”
“Even if I told you she probably wasn’t dead?”
Samantha drew in a slow breath, as if counting to ten. “What the hell are you talking about?” She hissed. “Dad helped dress and bury the corpse. She’s definitely dead.”
Eli nearly groaned aloud. Damn it, the file didn’t say anything about a corpse. “I see. Have you heard of her deal?”
“What kind of deal?” Samantha snapped. “There was nothing in her will.”
Eli frowned. “A will? When was it written?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but three months before I was born.”
A will made so close to deal consummation meant Marie knew something was going to go down. Either she’d been planning a run or planning a fight. Apparently, she’d succeeded in both.
“Something wrong?” Samantha asked. “Dad said it wasn’t an easy pregnancy, so she was worried.”
“Hmm.” Eli mused, watching her sip her drink. He frowned. “You married?” he asked.
Samantha glanced at her hand, appeared to think for a moment, and then shook her head. “No. It’s my mom’s wedding ring. I just wear it on the ring finger to keep the creeps at bay.”
“Sorry. Apparently it sucked at it.” Eli muttered idly.
She laughed. Maybe he wasn’t doing so bad. “I only told you the truth because whatever scheme you’re trying to sell me doesn’t have anything to do with whether I’m married or not.”
“Wow.” Eli chuckled. “Pretty harsh.”
Samantha shrugged. “How the world works sometimes. Being single and a woman, I have to evaluate threats like this daily. Is his attempt to buy me a drink or a drug? Is he trying to get me alone to rape me or to ask me out?”
“Ah, so this is normal paranoia. How am I doing so far?”
“Pretty shitty.” She replied promptly. “Look, just drop the act. You still haven’t told me what you want. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want something. So what is it? Not sex or death, you would have done way better to attack me in the apartment. Money? Legally, I don’t owe you shit, and I bet my mom didn’t either. You said she made a deal with a Diego. So where’s he, where’re the papers?” She paused, frowning. “And while we’re at it, what’s with the contacts? Your eyes are all screwed up.”
Eli stared at her in shock. “My eyes?”
“Yeah. All black with swirly pupils. Kinda cool, actually. Freaky, but cool.”
Dark, swirling eyes? His glamour showed nice chocolate brown, so what was she talking about? Without the glamour his eyes were–Eli surged up in panic. She’d seen his eyes! How the hell? He needed to get out of here, fast. “Keep the stuff,” he stammered, and walked out.
* * * *
Samantha stared after the man, twirling the ring around her finger. She shrugged. “Weird thing to get all tied up in knots over.” she said. She looked back at the table, then her computer, and smiled. She had snacks for the next few hours. That was a plus.
Still, this was getting stranger by the minute. Once she was finished tweaking and checking the site, she needed to pay a visit to her mother’s papers and try and dig up something about this Diego guy, maybe phone her father. That was sure to be pleasant.
* * * *
“Eli, talk sense. What the hell do you mean, ‘she saw my eyes’?”
The other man’s large, tanned arms were crossed around the beer he was nursing as Eli drummed his fingers on the table. “Exactly what I said, Francis. She said it, clear as day ‘what’s up with your eyes? They’re all black and swirly.’” He groaned, rubbing his face. “Asked me if I was wearing contacts.”
Francis shook his head. “You sure you weren’t distracted? From what you said, this is a weird case as it is.”
“I’m sure. My cover wasn’t blown or anything–besides, I’d think she would have commented on the paper-white skin and the black claws.”
“I guess. Still, man, might only be a matter of time. Though, I hear if a Damned falls in love with a mortal, the mortal can see their true form.”
“Uh, yeah, except for the whole thing where I actually don’t like the chick much. I mean, sure I’ve got to hand it to her–she’s tough and knows what the fuck she’s doing, but she’s also paranoid and shut up tighter than a nun’s legs.”
“Gross, man. Point taken, though.” Francis frowned, rubbing his chin. “The only other alternative is her sensitivity. She’s either descended from a Damned, been touched by one, or has some sort of other latent power.”
“Checked her history. Diego didn’t ever get a hand on her as a baby. Her family’s clean.”
“So, latent power. Any artifacts, trinkets?”
“Nothing obvious. Mother’s wedding ring. The ring might be a
