Page 15 of Speak of the Devil
But her angel blood had sure smelled his demon blood as soon as things looked as if they might get really physical. After that, she couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
History probably wouldn’t repeat itself, even though he didn’t think the red-haired woman was anything other than a regular mortal with some psychic ability. They existed in the human population and had for thousands of years — if not more.
No, probably better that he continue his solitary existence for a while longer, if for no other reason than he was still getting his bearings and introducing anything new into his life here wouldn’t be a very smart idea.
Then the woman shook her head and moved toward the exit, the one that led to the casino’s parking garage.
Was she leaving?
It sure looked that way. He wanted to swear, knowing it would be a lot more difficult to continue the pursuit with his own vehicle still sitting in the garage over at the Bellagio.
For now, though, about the only thing he could do was keep to the shadows and hope he’d be able to catch a glimpse of her car as she drove past. If he got her license plate number, then it shouldn’t be too hard to track her down.
And now Caleb enters the crazy stalker phase of his exilewent through his mind, and he couldn’t quite keep himself from grinning. Anyone watching would have thought for sure that he’d lost it.
He hadn’t, though. This was just a way to amuse himself and waste a little time. Besides, the longer he stayed out, the more he could delay going back to his empty house.
Yes, there she went, driving past in a little white Hyundai Kona hybrid. The make and model of the vehicle weren’t important, though. No, what was important — even more than her license plate, which he quickly consigned to memory — was the magnetic sign affixed to the passenger-side door.
Dunne & Dunne, Las Vegas Real Estate Experts.
Ah, she was a realtor. That at least explained why she’d been dressed the way she was, although he had to admit that he’d also met plenty of real estate agents who weren’t nearly so formal.
Now he knew where she worked…and that would allow him to learn a whole lot more.
Much more than he’d been expecting, actually. Sure, he went immediately to the Dunne & Dunne website after he got home — well, once he’d ordered some DoorDash and poured himself a beer — and confirmed that the red-haired woman was Delia Dunne, junior partner in the agency, which appeared to be run by her mother Linda. The older woman resembled her daughter a great deal, except for the red hair. Was Delia’s father the redhead, or had a couple of recessive genes popped up from somewhere?
It happened.
The truly interesting stuff, however, he found through Googling Delia’s name, since the agency website didn’t offer much beyond the bios of its two agents and a listing of all the properties they were currently representing. Well, and an enigmatic “additional services” tab, which sent you to a web form to fill out, along with a phone number you could call.
Exactly why people would feel the need to explore that “additional services” tab became clear soon enough. Delia was a cleaner, although not the sort the mob called in to mop up after a particularly bloody hit.
No, she was someone who could sense if a house was haunted and then perform the necessary rituals to send the resident spirits on to the next plane of existence.
Well, that explained why he’d sensed such a powerful psychic aura around her. But what the hell had she been doing roaming around those casinos? Were they haunted?
He didn’t think so. Although ghost-hunting wasn’t his field of expertise, his demon blood still allowed him to sense if any other entities were lurking around a place, and he hadn’t detected a single thing as he walked through the casino floors.
Well, nothing except a lot of desperation, greed, and bad choices.
The doorbell rang, so he set his laptop down on the coffee table and went to greet the DoorDash driver and collect his bag of Thai takeout. Once the transaction was handled, he headed back into the living room and fished out the box of spring rolls, figuring he’d munch on those first before he moved on to the entrees and rice.
Now that he was back at fighting weight, he didn’t need to worry about how many calories he consumed or how much grease or fat or sugar might be contained in any of his food. Just another benefit of the demon blood that flowed in his veins.
With his free hand, he opened up his laptop again and stared at Delia Dunne’s photo for a long moment. There was something very no-nonsense about the set of her pretty mouth and the way her hazel-green eyes met the camera, as though challenging the photographer to say something about her admittedly offbeat side hustle.
He wanted to know why she’d been exploring those casinos with so much purpose today, even as he tried to figure out the best way to approach her without arousing too much suspicion. If he hadn’t just bought a completely updated and remodeled house, he could have posed as a prospective client looking for a new home here in Las Vegas.
No, he needed to think of something else. She was the most interesting thing he’d come across in his new life, and he wasn’t about to let this go.
Frowning a little, he wiped his fingers on one of the napkins tucked into the bag of takeout and picked up the container of cashew chicken he’d ordered, then absently fed himself a few bites as he considered the problem.
Even though he already owned a house, that didn’t mean he might not be interested in purchasing a second property for rental income or finding a fixer-upper he could flip. He certainly had enough ready cash on hand to buy a distressed property. Hell, his new identity had awesome credit and he could probably qualify for something pretty impressive, although the last thing he wanted was to get bogged down in the mortgage process.
No, much better to look for something he could buy for cash. Besides, presenting himself as an investor with that kind of ready capital would probably make him that much more attractive as a client.
Speaking of which….
