The Demon in Me

sure he would make a decent salary, but enough to buy his mistress her own strip club? She didn’t need a PI license to notice that smelled a bit funny.

“Generous,” she said.

“He is.”

Eden glanced over at the T-shaped stage with three strategically placed poles. “Have you been dating him long?”

“Three weeks tomorrow.” Vanessa cocked her head to the side. “Hey, you’re supposed to be the one being interviewed here, not me.”

“Sorry, I can’t help it. I’m naturally curious.” Eden focused very hard and tried to sense something Otherworldly emanating from the girl. Was she a witch? Or was something else going on here?

And would a witch willingly put up pink neon wall art that looked like ten-foot-wide breasts?

A witch with bad taste might.

“It’s okay,” Vanessa said. “Actually, I love talking about Richard. I’ve never been so happy.”

“And he feels the same?”

“I hope so.” She sighed. “He’s so totally intense. Like when he looks in your eyes it feels like you’re being taken over completely, body and soul. Actually, that freaked me out a bit when we first met. I normally prefer guys who are way more casual. But Richard wanted me. And he didn’t take no for an answer.”

“Sounds a bit like a stalker.”

Vanessa laughed it off. “It does, doesn’t it? But I’m fine with it now. He likes to pick me up and drive me places. And he’s kind of jealous, which, considering my career, is not easy to deal with. But right now I’m so in love with him that it doesn’t matter.”

Despite her light tone, Eden could sense there was something unsaid there. A strange edge of desperation caused by more than her torturous choice of footwear.

“Do you know anything about him? Like where he works? Who his friends are?”

Vanessa’s smile faded. “I don’t need to know anything except what he tells me.” Her thin, arched brows drew together. “Let’s get back on your interview, okay? And keep the personal stuff out of this.”

“Yeah, of course. No problem.”

But it was a problem. Eden could tell, without any psychic skills at all, that this girl was in trouble. And she needed to keep her talking.

Eden shifted a bit on the stool and tried not to fall off. “You know, what you’ve told me about Richard reminds me of a boyfriend I had back in college.”

“Oh yeah?”

“He was really good-looking and friendly and everybody liked him. Including me. I was head over heels for the guy. But when we were alone he was completely different. A real jerk, actually.”

“Did he hurt you?”

Eden gripped the edge of the table. Damn. Why was she talking about this? There were parts of her life she really would prefer to keep in the past. Way in the past. But if it might help right now, then it was worth it.

“He wasn’t nice. Let’s just put it that way. But I’d convinced myself that he was so wonderful in other areas that it made up for the bad stuff.”

“So what happened?”

Eden cringed at the memories she normally kept tightly locked up and hidden away. “I ended up in the hospital for a while with a few broken bones, which was when I finally clued in that he wasn’t any good for me. And I’m not saying it wasn’t hard. There was a part of me that really did love him — he was the last guy I really felt that way about, actually. So ever since then I guess I’ve built up a bit of a brick wall when it comes to men so I don’t get hurt again. Nobody’s even come close to breaking through.”

Awesome. Eden Riley’s past mistakes and lousy relationships used as a way to bond with the mistress of a client’s husband. Those were some dark times and one of the many reasons she hadn’t finished her college degree.

Thank God for the superglue of time and distance. The broken bones only took a couple of months to mend and she was sure it wouldn’t take much longer for the rest of her to be completely repaired as well.

It was a goal.

“What was his name?” Vanessa asked.

“Zack. He was a fraternity guy. Lots of money, big future. I’m sure he’s somewhere doing something important right now.”

Vanessa looked angry on Eden’s behalf. “Sounds like an asshole.”

“Oh, he was. But that money helped him buy me lots of nice things when he wanted to get back on my good side. And it almost always worked, I’m sorry to admit. It’s definitely two years of my life I’d like to have back if I had the choice.”

Vanessa glanced around the empty club and then down at the paper in front of her that held the stripping resume of whomever Eden was impersonating. “Sounds familiar, actually.”

This girl wasn’t a witch casting spells to get some supernatural attention. This was a twenty-five-year-old exotic dancer who was in over her head and was playing along so she wouldn’t get any bones broken. Or worse.

Did Fay know what kind of a man she’d married? If she had, she probably wouldn’t have given up so much to be with him.

“Vanessa, if you want to talk—”

“Not a good idea.” She slipped off the stool she sat on. “I think this interview is over. Thanks for coming in. I really appreciate it. I have some other girls coming in, but I’ll let you know by next week, okay?”

This interview was over. Time to get to the important stuff. “Okay, full disclosure. I’m not who you think I am.”

Vanessa frowned. “You’re not Sugar LaCroix?”

“Uh… definitely not. No, I work for a private investigation agency.” Eden produced a Triple-A business card from her purse and handed it to her.

“This is about Richard?”

“Yes.”

A shadow of anger came over her pretty face. “So you were just making all that up about your ex-boyfriend to trick me into talking about him?”

“I wanted you to talk about him, but I didn’t make anything up. Unfortunately, it was all the ugly truth.”

“Who hired you?”

“His wife.”

Vanessa swore under her breath. “I knew he was married.” She blinked and looked up from the card. “You know, there’s something really not right about him. I thought it was just my imagination, but now I’m starting to believe there’s more to it than meets the eye.”

Eden was about to ask for more details when she was startled by a painful lurch in her stomach.

What was happening?

It was the same feeling she’d had in the elevator when she and Darrak had been separated too much. Where was he? And why wasn’t he staying close? Eden hadn’t moved at all since she’d entered the club, so that meant that Darrak was wandering away from the car. But where? And why?

“I have to go,” she said. “But please call me.”

Vanessa tucked the card into her cleavage. “I’ll think about it.”

Eden turned and left the club without a backward glance. The feeling in her stomach had already lessened.

So that meant he was close again. But she couldn’t see him anywhere.

He wasn’t in her Toyota parked just to the left of the front doors.

“Darrak?” she called, looking to her right and left.

She wandered to the side of the building. The sound of the traffic on Dixon Road next to the club was loud. She turned the corner to the rest of the currently empty parking lot.

She wanted to tell him what happened with Vanessa. Eden was no expert on the subject, but she was