Cain's Identity(59)

“Yes. What did you find?”
“I hacked into property records and searched for John’s and his lover’s names. John owns a little place in the French Quarter.”
Cain nodded. “Makes sense. That’s probably where this Nicolette lives. Did you check it out?”
“We did. Unassuming place, nice, but not flashy. She lives there, all right. We asked the neighbors.”
“What about the girl? What did she say?”
“We didn’t talk to her. She wasn’t in.”
“Didn’t you wait around?”
“We did, but she didn’t get back all night.”
Cain rubbed the back of his neck. “Where would she be? John came back to the palace without her. I think I would have heard if he’d brought her to the palace grounds.”
“There was something else really odd,” Eddie continued, his forehead furrowing. “Maybe it’s nothing.”
“What is it?”
“Well, on the outside the house is a little run down, needs some paint on the windows and the shutters and stuff.”
“So?”
“The door had just recently been replaced, and when I looked a little closer, I noticed that one of the hinges looked as if it had been bent and then straightened out again.”
Cain tilted his head to the side. “As if somebody had kicked the door in?”
“Yeah.”
“That might not mean anything,” Thomas interjected. “There’s plenty of crime in this city. Burglaries happen every night, I’m sure.”
Cain contemplated Thomas’s words. “You could be right, but I don’t like it.” He turned back to Eddie. “Did you mention any of this to the neighbors or ask them whether they heard any disturbances in the last few days?”
“I asked if they heard anything suspicious, but nobody did.”
“I want you to go back and dig deeper. I want to know where the girl is. John said she was injured. So it doesn’t make sense that she’d be venturing out in the middle of the night after just recently being attacked. She’s human, and even though John healed her, any normal human woman would be wary about being out at night without protection after having been assaulted. Find out where she is.”
Eddie nodded.
“We’ll go into the French Quarter tomorrow night and make inquiries,” Thomas said. “But first, I think we all need a shower to wash the stink of the bayou off us.”
Cain turned up his nose. “You get no argument from me there.”
He’d jump in the shower just as soon as he’d healed Blake with his blood.

28
 
Abel pulled into the alley and unlocked the car doors of his red Ferrari. He watched impatiently as the door opened and Baltimore slid into the passenger seat. Clenching his jaw, he waited until his guard slammed the door shut and turned his face.
“You fucking idiot!” Abel greeted him.
Baltimore lowered his head in a show of submission, but not even that gesture did anything to quench Abel’s urge to hurt somebody.
“Do you have any idea what your stupid behavior led to?”
“I’m sorry, Abel!”
“Sorry doesn’t fucking cut it! Imbecile!” He bent closer to his underling. “Did you have to go against her wishes? Was it necessary to attack her?”
Baltimore thrust his chin up. “I didn’t attack her!”
Abel flashed his fangs. “I don’t care what you call it! It doesn’t change anything about the outcome! Now Cain has banned you from the palace grounds. You’re no good to me out here! I needed you inside the palace walls.”
“I couldn’t know he was going to show up.”
The flimsy excuse gnawed on Abel’s nerves. “That’s not the point! Besides, the way those two are right now, Faye would have gone to him anyway and told him what you did, even if he hadn’t shown up. He’s taken her back again, and with your stupid move you’ve probably made things worse and brought them even closer together. That wasn’t my plan!”
“I understand.”
“You understand nothing, you idiot! Or you wouldn’t have done it. Now Cain trusts her again, or why did my spies report to me that he spent the entire day in her chambers, shacked up with her?” Abel slapped Baltimore across the face. “I wanted to isolate him, and what do you do? You drive him into her arms so he has an ally in the palace.”
“But we’ve still got John.”
“Just as well! We’ll need him now more than ever, seeing that I can’t rely on you doing your part. I’ll have to rethink our approach.” He leaned back in his seat and stared out the windshield. In a few hours the sun would rise again and bring him ever closer to the day of Cain’s welcome home celebration. And if Abel hadn’t set up a solid plan by then, the opportunity of ripping the throne right out from under him would slip through his fingers.