Page 18 of Smokescreen (Knight & Daywalker #1)

I just sat in the passenger seat and let Davin drive after that. It took a while to get down into Avalon anyway, but I just...

If Charles truly had been working against my mother, then it didn’t matter who had killed him, my mother was the best suspect.

Likely, given those circumstances, most people would never believe it was anyone else, no matter what happened.

Even if I personally confessed tomorrow, everyone would blame my mother.

Of course, if I’d done it, it probably would have been because of her, even if she hadn’t wanted me to kill him.

We were halfway to downtown when my phone rang, and the number on my caller ID was weirdly long. I wasn’t much of a phone answerer, but that was weird, so I answered out of curiosity if nothing else.

“Knight.”

“Mr. Knight,” a familiar voice said, bringing to mind narrowed brown eyes that looked like nothing had ever impressed their owner in all of history, set in a face that was as smooth and expressionless as a pane of glass.

“Wu Mei.”

“Indeed. I understand that if you aren’t yet, you’ll soon be looking for me.”

Unsurprising, really. Vampiric society was as gossipy as TV melodramas about high school.

I’d have been surprised that Gerald hadn’t known about Charles’s death except that no one liked him, so him not hearing all the hot gossip wasn’t so terribly shocking.

“We were just on our way to your penthouse, if you’ve got some time to speak to us. ”

She...she laughed. That was weird. I’d never so much as heard her say she felt an emotion before, let alone express one with her voice. “I would love to see your adorable little face when I say this, but I’m afraid I can’t see you in my penthouse. You see, I’m in Taipei.”

For a moment, all I could do was blink in astonishment.

Was this a confession? Was she saying she’d killed Charles and run off to another country to.

..to what? The Senate was worldwide. If she had killed Charles, they would find her wherever she was.

There were no non-extradition countries for vampires.

If she confessed to me, I’d simply call my Consulate number and tell them.

If she claimed some kind of immunity because her brother was the senator of Taipei, well, there was no such thing.

Honestly, there was no way she could get away with it, if she confessed.

Her own brother would likely turn her over to save his own skin, if necessary.

After an interminable silence that I suspected she had wanted me to stew in, but that I’d used to think through all the possibilities instead, she spoke again.

“At my brother’s house, if you must find me.

Where I have been for more than a week. The moment that little weasel Mailloux approached me talking about overthrowing your mother, I knew.

One of the two of them was going to end up dead, and I would be blamed for it. ”

“You left town so no one could possibly blame you,” I said on a single, heavy exhale.

That was...actually, while being almost sociopathic in its lack of care for the lives of others, it was also very clever.

Pretty much exactly what I’d have been expecting of her, if I’d considered that angle.

“All right. Charles approached you about betraying the senator.”

“Don’t you try to tell me I’m responsible because I didn’t report him. No one would have believed me if I had.” Her voice was crisp, professional. Like we were talking about a project for her business rather than a man’s death.

I considered for a moment, trying to find an angle that would make her stop reacting with defensiveness and just tell me what I needed to know.

Business. “Frankly, I couldn’t care less why you acted the way you did, ma’am.

I’m trying to find out more about what Charles was doing that got him killed. Exactly what did he say to you?”

She was quiet for a while, and when she spoke again, her voice was begrudgingly respectful. “It was all innuendo. Wouldn’t we be better off with a different senator, and her time is over, and all that. He was trying to get me to say what he meant, rather than saying it himself.”

“So he didn’t actually say you should kill her?”

“No. He was trying to lead me into it, like a damned lawyer.”

Interesting. Like a lawyer. “Like a defense lawyer,” I clarified.

“I...suppose?” She’d gone bemused, and I heard the creak of a chair in the background, as though she was sitting back in it. Relaxed. “Like a bad Perry Mason book. Not that any of them were good.”

Me, I’d always liked Perry Mason. I liked all the TV and book detectives, and I’d grown up devouring all of them I could get my hands on. Raymond Burr had been fucking hot in the sixties, solving crimes and kicking ass in the courtroom. Plus gay icon, so bonus points.

Also, William Hopper as Paul Drake was the smoothest motherfucker ever born. The guy was private investigator career goals.

“And that was all? No other meetings, no one else bothered you about this? Just one meeting with Charles, and you left town?”

“What else was necessary? You can call me a rat, Mr. Knight, and I will accept that title proudly. I am a rat, and rats leave sinking ships. I wasn’t going to wait and go to the bottom with you all.

” She took a deep breath and let it out, which immediately made me think of Davin sitting next to me, breathing like the world’s weirdest vampire.

More likely she was smoking a cigarette.

Vampires didn’t seem to get anything out of smoking, but some of them liked to affect a certain style by doing it.

Villain, I thought. I could picture Wu Mei using a cigarette holder, like some old school movie villainess. Movie star was how I pictured all the women in my life, honestly, so maybe that was just me. It probably came from having the mother I did.

“Thank you, I appreciate your call and your forthrightness about this. I’m sure we’ll have it taken care of soon, if you’d like to come home.”

She scoffed on the other end of the line. “Oh Xiǎolóng. I think I will return when matters are settled. You never know what might come up before then. Who might become a convenient scapegoat, regardless of facts.”

She wasn’t wrong exactly. Things like that had happened in the world.

I didn’t think it would happen in this case.

I was almost certain that Mother wouldn’t allow it, but I understood her hesitance.

I was a little more hung up on the other part, though.

I didn’t know much—or any—about any of the Chinese languages, but I did love their food, so. ..“Did you just call me a dumpling?”

She laughed and hung up.

Well that was helpful.

Though actually...“Can you drop me at my bike?” I asked Davin. “There’s no need to go see Wu Mei. She’s been out of town since before the murder, and frankly, I don’t doubt she was telling the truth. She’s paranoid, and apparently saw this mess coming a mile away.”

He frowned at the road, but turned in the direction of the beach instead of toward downtown. “That won’t please your mother.”

I sighed, slumping deep into the bucket seat and letting my head fall against the headrest. “Lots of things about this whole mess won’t please my mother. But she ordered me to look into it, so look into it I will, whether she likes the outcome or not.”

“Of course. You don’t have to worry that she’ll be bothered by you doing as asked. She raised you. She taught you to be who you are.”

It was good that he wasn’t looking at me, because as the statement washed over me, I was...that was overwhelming. I’d never considered it, but this was the second time in a day the guy had said I was like my mother, one way or another.

It made some sense, because even though she hadn’t always had time to have a child in her life, my mother had definitely been my main role model.

She’d made time for me. Sometimes to a ridiculous degree, like renting out places that were usually only open in the daytime, so that she could experience them with me.

Theme parks, animal parks, aquariums. Heck, she’d even suffered the big D for me, complete with teacup ride.

Fortunately, they were open at night sometimes, since I doubted a company as big as that would make exceptions even for my mother.

It was odd, actually. While being an excellent mother, present and helpful and attentive, she had also been strangely distant. I was never sure if she was the best mother ever, or...well, no, I knew she wasn’t the worst. Sometimes I just wished she’d been a hugger.

I wouldn’t pretend that I had it hard, in any sense, but an “I love you” at any point wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Davin pulled into the parking lot next to my bike, and only then did he stop, cocking his head consideringly. “Where are you going?”

Interesting. Clever, even. I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed, maybe even a little charmed, or annoyed that he’d figured me out. As my mother had taught me very well, I hedged. “What makes you think I’m going somewhere?”

His expression was...well, it was the “don’t try to bullshit me” kind of thing I’d have normally found quite attractive.

Or maybe I found it attractive anyway, and was just also annoyed I might have to explain myself.

“If you were done for the night you wouldn’t have said take you to your bike, you’d have said take you to the shop. ”

Huh. That was clever. I was going to have to watch this one. “I have one more suspect I have to interview, but I think I should do that one alone.”

“This Whisper person? Is that a man or a woman?”

“No idea, but nope. I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for Whisper.” He continued looking at me quizzically, so I figured the best way to get rid of him was probably the truth, or some semblance thereof. “I’m going to question my mother, and I don’t think you want to be involved in that.”

His black eyes went round, and after a moment, he nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”

I didn’t know why, since Mother hadn’t raised me to be a toucher, but I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for your help tonight. I appreciate it. I know you didn’t agree to this business thing to become an investigator, but you were helpful.”

He shrugged, but there was a tiny pleased smile hiding around the corners of his usually expressionless lips. “It was...interesting. Can’t say I minded making Forsyth’s evening worse.”

I was sure I failed to hide my evil grin at that. “Highlight of the whole night. Still, I’ll try not to drag you all over the place, usually. I know you’re the tech guy and investigating is my responsibility.”

“If we’re going to be partners, we’ve got to be here for each other,” he answered quickly. “Don’t think you’re not going to have to come with me to do installations, if only to run interference with arseholes like Forsyth.”

Which was a fair point. I was so looking forward to that.

“Let’s start with Doc.” I turned and got out of the car, but leaned down into the open door to meet his eye.

“I think you’ll like him, he’s cool. I’m sure he won’t hate you for killing a vampire.

But I owe him one for saving Twist’s life, so I said we’d come look at his place and maybe replace the speaker and gate system he’s got.

He was hoping to get it connected to his phone. ”

“Easy,” he answered, and didn’t sound the least bit offended by the notion of helping repay my debts. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Your first appointment to show the space next door is at ten in the morning, so I hope you’re ready for it.”

Fuck me, so did I. What was a shop rental even worth?