Ashes(80)

"You're right. I will."





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





At the knock on the door, Knox called, "Come in." He looked up from the multiple computer monitors on his desk as Keenan strolled into his home office.



The incubus flicked a brief admiring glance at the three abstract art canvases of mechanical clockwork on the gray wall. "How was your vacation?"



"Good. Harper needed it." She'd also enjoyed it enough to stay the full three weeks and had agreed to return there at some point. First, she naturally wanted to be sure that everything was ready for the baby.



Keenan nodded. "I just caught her on her way upstairs. She seemed happy, relaxed. Looks like the break did her good." His brows lowered. "She was eating a raw carrot."



Knox rubbed his nape. "Yeah, she's had a few cravings lately. Mostly ice cream and raw carrots. I'm just hoping she won't start wanting to eat them both at once."



The sentinel shuddered at the idea. "Her stomach is more rounded. Amazing what a difference three weeks can make."



"Rodgers warned us that things would move pretty fast after she reached week eighteen." She was now twenty-one weeks pregnant and there was no way to hide it.



"She let me feel the baby kick." Keenan grinned. "That kid's feisty."



Knox smiled in agreement. "Just like its mother."



Keenan chuckled. "Yep. I'll bet you'll panic if it's a girl."



"Probably." Knox placed his hands on the desk. "Moving onto the reason I called you here …  what did you find out about Jonas' girlfriend?"



"Her name is Kayce Willard. She's from his lair, she lives with her roommate, she works as a model. And she's missing."



"Missing?"



"She hasn't been seen by anyone since the night after the boardroom meeting."



Knox swore.



"It could be that someone told her you suspect that she may have done some dirty magickal work for Jonas so she's lying low for a while. Who could blame her? But it could also be that someone …  disposed of her. I have members of the Force searching for her as we speak."


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Knox nodded in approval. "Anything else I should know?"



"Everything's been pretty quiet. No disturbances within the lair. The studio hasn't had any problems. McCauley has met with his grandparents three times since you left. He was his usual cold self, but they apparently didn't seem put off by it. They also haven't pressured Linda and Wyatt to give him up. In fact, according to Wyatt, they've been very cooperative and civil."



"Good. Keep me updated on the Kayce Willard situation."



"Will do." With that, Keenan left.



Knox made a few calls and answered a few emails, catching up on some of the work he'd missed. Guessing that Harper was in the nursery, he rounded the U-shaped executive desk and left the office to seek her out. Hearing a noise downstairs, he followed it to the kitchen. But it wasn't Harper he found sitting on a breakfast stool, drinking one of her strawberry smoothies while candy wrappers and empty chip packets littered the breakfast bar.



Knox sighed. "Lou, what are you doing here?"



The devil shrugged. "I was thirsty and a little peckish. Yes, I remember we had a chat about you not liking me just showing up, eating your food and stuff. Well, you chatted, looking at me with cruel intent. I think it was cruel intent. Could have been a promise of death. Maybe both. Although I would consider both at one time to be an excessive reaction." He peeked around Knox's body. "Where's your mate?"



"I was about to go find her and – Wait, are you stoned?"



"No, of course not. Really. You can trust me. Drug users always tell the truth."



Knox just sighed. He wasn't sure what exactly humans expected the devil to look like, but Knox suspected that it wasn't the version in front of him. Lou was wearing a baseball cap, scruffy jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt that featured a picture of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. Knox didn't know why, and he wasn't about to ask.



Lou was also wearing a denim jacket that had pink sequins stitched onto it. Harper liked to personalize her clothes by sewing diamonds, lace, and other appliques on them. She would also vengefully do it to your clothes if you pissed her off. When Lou had asked her to "jazz up" his jacket, she'd hoped the pink sequins would annoy him. Nope. The crazy bastard liked them.