"Let me in," he said. "I need to talk to her a little. Not interrogate or upset her, just talk to her."
Harper nodded, trusting that he wouldn't do anything to frighten Heidi. She opened the door and led the way to the kitchen, where the four imps had gathered.
Knox smiled at Heidi, who was sitting on the countertop, munching on a cookie. "I heard you had a bit of an adventure today. You must have been very scary to make a bad person run away."
"My scream hurt his ears."
Sensing Knox's confusion, Harper said, She has a sonic scream.
Ah, I see. "From what Harper tells me, you were very brave. I will find the person who did this, okay? They'll never bother you again. I just need you to tell me whatever you remember about him so that I can find him."
Heidi's little button nose wrinkled. "Well -"
"What did he look like?" Martina interrupted. "Tall? Short?"
"He was tall," said Robbie. "He had broad shoulders."
Heidi nodded. "He -"
"What about his hair?" said Martina. "Blond? Red? Brown? Black?"
Heidi opened her mouth to answer, but Robbie beat her to it. "He had a buzzcut."
"Did he tell you his name?" Knox asked Heidi.
"Yes," she replied. "He said it was -"
"He won't have given her his real name," Robbie scoffed. "He could be anyone. I've never seen him before."
Heidi did a cute little growl. "Will someone please let me talk? Jeez."
Harper bit her lip, stifling a smile. "They don't mean to talk over you, Heidi-ho, they're just anxious. Now what is it you'd like to say?"
"He said his name was Dean. I don't know if it's true. Check." She pulled a brown leather wallet out of her pocket and handed it to Knox.
Jolene framed her face with her hands, smiling. "You fabulous little girl!"
Levi grinned and tugged on one of her ringlets. "You told him he was really tall in that shaky voice to make him bend down so you could rob him, didn't you?"
She grinned back at him. "Uh-huh."
Harper kissed her cheek. "Clever girl."
She smiled brightly at Jolene. "Can I get a puppy now?"
Harper looked at Knox, who'd opened the wallet. What's his name?
Dean Bannon.
///
Huh, so he had used his real name. Never heard of him.
I have. He's a stray demon for hire. His address is right here on his driver's license. Levi, grab him and take him to the boathouse. Knox rattled off the demon's address, and the sentinel nodded and strode out of the house.
Jolene walked over to Knox, eyes hard. "I want that bastard."
"I have questions for him," said Knox.
"So do I – this son of a bitch is mine."
Harper put a hand on her shoulder. "Levi will get him, Grams. Once Knox is done with his questions, you can have him, okay?"
Jolene's shoulders lost some of their stiffness. "All right. He'd better be alive when you hand him over, Thorne."
Knox couldn't give her any guarantees, since it would really all depend on exactly what the fucker said. "I'll do my best not to kill him."
Jolene snorted. "I suppose that's the best I can hope for."
It didn't take long for Levi to retrieve Dean. In fact, they were already at the boathouse when Tanner drove Harper and Knox back to the mansion. She wasn't surprised that Knox tried to talk her into going inside and leaving the interrogation to him, but she was having none of that shit. Heidi was her cousin and that motherfucker had tried to snatch her. Harper wanted to look into his eyes. She needed to do it.
He was tied to a chair, mostly naked, when Knox and Harper strolled into the boathouse with Tanner in tow. The hellhound went to stand beside Levi near the wall while Harper and Knox halted in front of their captive. He didn't look like a criminal, she thought. He looked more like a doctor or a teacher – someone harmless and nonthreatening. She supposed that was his "weapon", so to speak.
No one said anything. The tense silence stretched out until the anticipation had to be almost excruciating for good ole Dean. He spared Harper only a brief glance; his attention was on the predator glaring down at him. He was wise not to look away from anything that dangerous, in Harper's opinion. Knox might look cool and composed, but they could all sense that he and his demon were far from it.