Changeling Detective Agency - Shadows In The Starlight Part 23

"What is it?" Even through the intercom, Trudy's voice sounded suspicious.

"There's one way to find out."

The buzzer sounded, and Gwen yanked the door opened and took the stairs two at a time. She pushed past Trudy and shut the door behind her, then tossed the box of Green Man tea at the woman.

Trudy instinctively caught the box, bobbled it for a moment. When she realized what she held, her eyes widened into limpid pools of guilt.

"Don't bother trying to sell me on coincidence," Gwen advised her.The redhead tossed back her head and faced Gwen down. "All right, then, I admit it: I've been watching Erin Westland for some time now."

"Why?"

"She's married to Kyle," Trudy said, her tone suggesting that this should be self-evident.

"Again, why? Not why Erin married Kyle," she clarified, "although that's definitely a question to ponder another day, but why are you so interested in all the details of your girlfriend's ex?"

"Marcy was married to Kyle Radcliff for years. They have a history, and that can be a powerful thing.

You saw how she came running to you with his problems."

"So you decide to start following the second wife? That sounds dangerously like obsession to me. How long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks," she admitted.

Gwen raised one eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe a few months. Four or five."

"So how does this work? You follow Erin Westland down to her place of business, and decide to become a regular customer so you can keep an eye on the new missus?"

Trudy sighed heavily. "You're not going to believe this."

"That's probably true, but tell me anyway."

"I went down to The Green Man the first time not knowing Erin worked there. A friend of mine gave me a box of this herb tea. I really liked it, and asked her where I could buy it. She sent me down to Tiverton.

It's the only place that sells it."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Sally. Sally Lyons."

That name sounded familiar, but Gwen couldn't quite place it. "Describe her."

"Well, she's about my age-late thirties-and about my height and build, although she's slimmer, I'm sorry to report. She has long brown hair, lovely hands. She's a very pretty woman. Very feminine."

That could describe a lot of people Gwen had seen around. "Do you have a number for her?"

Trudy went off for her phone book, and came back from the bedroom with a slip of paper in her hand.

"Here's her home phone, though frankly, I don't know what you expect to learn from her. Just because she buys tea at Erin Westland's shop, it doesn't follow that she'd know something about the woman's disappearance."

"Couldn't hurt to ask. Can I give you a word of advice?" Trudy nodded cautiously.

"Stop drinking that stuff. It doesn't exactly bring out the best in you."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Gwen spent a good chunk of Tuesday at the station, going over her statement about Kate Myers. She got to the church five minutes after her self-defense cla.s.s was supposed to start.

Damian and Jason were already there, avidly discussing the merits of Jason's two-seater. The Miata and Damian's wreck were the only vehicles in the parking lot.

"I called it right last week," Damian told her. "Looks like you scared them all off."

"Looks like," she agreed. "Wait a minute-looks like we've got a couple of takers."

A blue SUV pulled into the lot, and two women got out. One was the blond political aide, and the other was the woman who had been so disturbed by last week's demonstration.

Gwen herded everyone into the bas.e.m.e.nt and pulled the attendance list out of her file. As she went down it to check off the names of the women who showed up, she noticed the name of one who hadn't: Sally Lyons.

That was the name Trudy had given her-the friend who'd turned her on to the funny herbals.

Gwen got the two women started practicing the holds and escapes they'd learned last week. Then she stepped into the stairwell and shut the door. She called Sally Lyons's number and got a recording.

As soon as the voice message was finished playing, she dialed Kyle Radcliff.

"Have you got a recording of Erin's voice?"

"I don't think so," he said hesitantly. "She never liked video cameras, and my voice is on our phone machine at home."

"Figures. What about the shop?"

He thought about that. "I'm pretty sure Alice left the voice message. But come to think of it, Erin probably left her own message on her cell phone."

"I'm not in my office and don't have her file handy. Give me the number."

He recited the number. Gwen hung up on him and dialed it. Sure enough, a young female voice invited her to leave a message. She hung up and dialed Sally Lyons's number again.

The voices were the same.

First thing the next morning, Gwen was at the address given on Sally Lyons's cla.s.s-registration form. A little boy was in the front yard, absently kicking at a Spider-Man backpack. He was definitely the kid in the photo Kyle had given her.

"Hey, Patrick," she called, feeling a stab of guilt over using one of an abductor's favorite ploys. Call a kid by name, chances are he'll a.s.sume he should know you. Why parents insisted on displaying their kids'

names on their shirts and hats and backpacks was a mystery to Gwen.

He looked up and waved at her. "Hi!"

"Is your mom home?""Yeah, but she's making faces today."

"Making faces," she repeated.

"Uh-huh. She's coming right out. You'll see."

At that moment Sally Lyons opened the front door, and Gwen definitely saw.

The woman with Erin Westland's child was one of the women from Gwen's self-defense cla.s.s, the suburban mom in pastel pink who'd been worried about hurting her workout partner.

Suddenly Sally Lyons was gone, and Erin Westland stood her in place. "Get away from my son!" she shrieked.

The woman unsheathed her claws and came at Gwen in a sudden rush, swiping a handful of manicure at Gwen's face.

Gwen leaned away from the blow and came back with a punch to the jaw. The woman staggered back three steps, then dropped straight back onto her a.s.s.

The little boy ran to her. She put her arms around him and glared over his head at Gwen.

"I'm not going back," she insisted.

"Well, that proves you've got some sense. I don't plan to take you and Patrick back to Kyle."

Erin sniffed. "I'm not afraid of him."

"Then what's this about?"

The woman gently moved Patrick away from her and put a hand under his chin, turning his face to hers.

"Go inside, honey. Mommy will be with you in just a minute, okay?"

The child's gaze flashed to Gwen.

"I won't hurt your mother," she said.

"You promise?"

Acting on impulse, Gwen said, "I swear it by moon and star, word and wind."

The little boy's face lit up. "Hey! Can you make faces, too?"

Gwen obliged by crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue. Patrick giggled. "Not those kind of faces!"

"Patrick," Erin prompted in one of those no-nonsense mother tones. He turned and scampered for the house.

"What didn't you want him to hear?" Gwen asked.

"He's in danger," Erin confided. "It's the others. They found out about Patrick."

"So?"

"According to the Elders, he can't exist." A bitter smile twisted Erin's face. "My son is a half-breed.""Nice try. I know about your pregnancy. It lasted close to four years. Patrick isn't Kyle's son."

"My relationship with Kyle goes back several years. I started seeing him when he was still married to your friend Marcy."

"Wouldn't surprise me. But what about the other men?"

"What other men?" Erin demanded.

"Kyle had quite a photo alb.u.m."

"Oh, that. Do you have any idea how easy it is to alter photos? Anyone who worked for Edmonson had access to a lot of p.o.r.nography. It wasn't hard to find a photographer who could shoot me in similar positions and impose my face on some other woman's body."

"Kyle was pretty p.i.s.sed off."

"That was the whole idea," she retorted. "I didn't want him looking for me. The man has an ego the size of Texas. If he thought I was fooling around, he wouldn't want me. If he thought Patrick wasn't his, he wouldn't waste another moment on him."

That also rang true with what Gwen knew of Kyle. "And what about Trudy Wa.s.serman?"

Erin huffed. "What about her? I was tripping over her every time I turned around, so I decided to give her another hobby."

"An addiction."

The woman shrugged.

"You're deliberately getting people hooked on this stuff. And not just Trudy."

"I need the money," Erin stated. "I've stretched my local ident.i.ties to the breaking point. It's time to start over, somewhere far away. The Green Man was giving me a chance to build up a nest egg-"

"So why aren't you gone?"

"I can't get at the money without giving myself away," Erin said. "That's where you come in."

Gwen lifted one eyebrow. "You're looking to hire me?"

"I figured Kyle might end up coming to you when I left. So I signed up for your self-defense course to see what you had. I figured, if you could find me, you were probably good enough to help me disappear."

"Glad to know I pa.s.sed your little test," Gwen said dryly. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm being shadowed fairly closely by one sneaky pointy-eared son of a b.i.t.c.h. If I can find you, chances are he can, too."

Erin's face fell. "I hadn't thought of that."

"I know where you can go. A friend of mine runs a safe house. There's excellent security, police protection. They won't bother you there-keeping a low profile is a high priority to these people."

"Our people," Erin corrected. She conceded with a shrug. "Very well. I'll go to this safe house.""You're welcome."

She shrugged again and started toward the house. Gwen fell into step. "I hope it won't come as a shock to hear that I don't exactly trust you."