He nodded. “I’ll be a couple hours though—we’ll need to question our suspect further and then process him.”
I hesitated. “If we’re not there, don’t panic. I need to go talk to Katie.”
His eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“Because she’s in charge of the wild magic, and it might be possible for it to do some of the leg work for us. Clayton and my father might be able to hide from us, but no spell they could ever create will hide from the wild magic.”
He frowned. “The wild magic in and of itself can’t communicate with you though.”
“No, but Katie will be aware the minute anything is found, and she can come find me. She’s done it before.”
He didn’t look happy, but he cupped my cheek and brushed his thumb lightly across my lips. “Please promise me you’ll be careful. Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t.”
I think he’ll consider the two of us investigating the suspect’s accommodation alone to be stupid.
Probably. We still have to do it, though. I kissed Aiden’s thumb and then grabbed the pack and climbed out. Once he was out of sight, I flung the pack over my shoulder and then walked around to the parking area.
Belle came out of the rear door, two travel mugs and several bottles of holy water tucked into a cardboard travel tray. She locked the door with her free hand, then reached into her pocket and tossed a small round object my way. I caught it and realized it was Ashworth’s diversion charm. It was a palm-sized wooden disk deeply etched with witch runes. Though its magic was currently inactive, its thick lines swirled around the disk, providing intriguing glimpses of the power and complexity of the spell. According to Ashworth, it would haze my aura and stop a tracer being used to find me. Whether it would stop a tracker on the truck, I couldn’t say.
I pressed the center of the charm to activate it, shoved it into the backpack, and tossed that onto the rear seat. Then, slowly and carefully, I went over the entire vehicle, looking for a tracking spell. I found it attached to the exhaust pipe, of all places.
I squatted to study it. Once again, the magic within was neither my father’s nor Clayton’s, but it was a whole lot more powerful than the charms given to James.
Belle squatted down beside me. “Can you defuse it?”
“Maybe.” I reached out and carefully plucked the outer thread free. The rest of the spell vibrated in response, but I couldn’t feel anything to suggest additional layers had been added to prevent exactly what I was about to do. I narrowed my gaze and carefully deactivated the spell. Once inert, I plucked it free, then rose and tossed it into the nearby bin.
“Given how exposed our car is out here,” Belle commented. “I think we should keep checking for trackers.”
“And not just magical. Aiden said it’s possible they’re using electronic ones as well.”
Alarm flitted across her features. “And how are we supposed to find them?”
“We don’t—he will.”
“Which isn’t going to help us out at this particular moment.”
“I know, but we’ll just have to take that risk.”
She climbed into the passenger side. “Let’s hope we don’t regret it.”
I started up the SUV, reversed out, and then accepted my travel mug, sipping gratefully as Belle read out the directions. The SUV did have navigation, but we’d been without it for so long in our old wagon that it was taking some time to get used to using it, rather than Google Maps on our phones.
It didn’t take us long to get to James’s hotel, as it was only a couple of kilometers out of Castle Rock, well before Louton. Only trouble was, there was already a ranger vehicle stationed out the front of it. Jaz leaned against the passenger side of the vehicle, her arms crossed and stance relaxed as she watched us approach.
I stopped and climbed out. “Aiden sent you here, didn’t he?”
“He did indeed,” she said, clearly amused. “He figured you were up to something more than what you’d said. And, given you were alone with the suspect for a few minutes, it really wasn’t hard to guess what.”
“Damn, that man really has got your measure,” Belle said with a laugh.
“That’s because the pair of you have a history of saying one thing and doing the exact opposite.” Jaz pushed away from her SUV. “James’s room is around the back. I got the key from the owner.”
I cleared my throat. “And I got it from James.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s evidence, you know.”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to break in and leave magical evidence behind.”
“Because that makes total sense to someone like me. This way.”
She led the way around the building. It was two-story and rectangular in shape, with a parking area out the back. Metal steps led up to the next floor, and rattled somewhat alarmingly as we went up. Jaz handed us gloves and then unlocked the top door. The hallway had six doors leading off it, three on each side. James’s was the second on the left.
We stepped inside. The room was basic but clean. The queen-sized bed looked comfortable, the bedside tables clear of junk, and the bathroom—off to our right—looked small, but at first glance appeared clean and tidy.
“Nothing setting off your magical radars?” Jaz asked.
I shook my head. “But that’s not really unexpected. He’s a wolf not a witch.”
“Then why did you come here if you didn’t think you’d find anything?” She opened the small wardrobe and peered inside.
“Because James got his messages magically around 10:00 p.m., and I wanted to be here in case one arrived.” I glanced at my watch. “We’ve only ten minutes to wait.”
“Then we’ll use the time to search the room. Belle, do you want to check the bed and bedside tables? Liz, can you go through the bathroom?”
I nodded and headed in. The
