“There was nothing in the area. It took about a year for the agency to take off. Now I travel from Dallas to Tulsa on a regular basis working cases.”
“Tell me about your husband? Did you get married young? I mean you only look a couple of years older than I am.”
Harley laughed. She didn’t mean too, but she just couldn’t help herself.
“I’m 35.”
“No way.”
“Yes, way. To answer your first question, I got married when I was in college. I received a scholarship for Columbia University.
“I met David my freshman year. He was an upperclassman, a junior. We dated all through my freshman year and over summer break he asked me to marry him.
“We got married during the summer break between my sophomore and junior year. It was like a fairy tale. My parents were low-middle income farmers from White Horse, Oklahoma.
“He was from a wealthy family. I was scared to death on our first meeting. There were so many snobs at Columbia. I felt like a backwoods hick. I just knew they would hate me. They didn’t. They loved me.”
“It does sound like a fairytale.”
Harley was sure she had heard the bitterness in his voice.
“Seems like you landed on your feet.” He said looking around.
“Most of what David left me is still in escrow and will be for years to come. He hated that I was a witch. From the moment, the shift happened he loathed me.
“His family didn’t believe in divorce or he would have left me that day. Instead, he stayed and made me pay for being born supernatural.
“If it wasn’t for his family helping me out I would have left the marriage penniless. David made sure the funds would be tied up for years if anything ever happened to him.
“Yes, I was very fortunate to have his family. That money came with a price. A price I paid every day. Most of what you see here is because of my blood, sweat, and tears.
“All of those, I have paid literally.” By the time, Harley finished her voice was shaking in anger. How dare he assume she lived on easy street? Even if she did, who was he to make her feel like she didn’t deserve it?
Harley stood up. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She didn’t wait for a response. She left and headed up to her bedroom. Once there she locked her doors and flounced onto her bed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Surprisingly enough Harley slept well. She was up early to help Mrs. Reyes with the cooking. It would help take her mind off the last couple of days.
She would need to head into the office today and fill out a report on the college students and the gargoyle. She was surprised that Lieutenant Meyers hadn’t been ringing her phone off the hook.
She would also need to go back to the site and clean up the protective circle she had used. Harley wondered if she should take the jester with her. She was pissed off at Aiden, yet he could prove to be useful if Zoe showed up during clean up time.
Lieutenant Meyers would need to be told some version of the truth. Harley was unsure what that would be. The best thing to do would be to tell him the truth. At least some of the truth. She didn’t want him going all gung ho on Luc and his vampires.
After breakfast, Harley told Aiden she would need to go back to Luc’s property. First, she would need to go into the office.
White Horse was a small town. Population about 750. Harley’s offices were on old Main Street. She had purchased what used to be an old-time grocer and set up headquarters.
Right now, she had three partners, four junior witches, and six other staff members. White Horse had always been known for its acceptance of pagan, poly, and paranormal lifestyles.
It was kind of the “scourge” area. Considering that Oklahoma was the buckle of the Bible belt.
Aiden spent about fifteen minutes wandering around the office building before he came into her office. She was on the phone with Lieutenant Meyers.
“Harley, we received the preliminary reports back on the victims. It doesn’t look like they were killed by the gargoyle.
“The bite and claw marks are not a match for the body we later recovered. By the way, where the hell have you been?”
“I’ve been busy, sorry. I didn’t mean to disappear. I had a little healing to do after my gargoyle encounter.”
“Are you ok?” Harley could hear the concern in his voice.
“Yes, I’m fine now. I plan on going back down to the site today for cleanup. I will do some more research. Can you get the bite and claw measurements for me?”
“Can do. I will have them to you within the hour. Be careful down there. Do you want backup?”
“No, I don’t need any backup. If I think I do, once I get down there, I will make sure and call.”
Aiden caught the tail end of the conversation. “Problems?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Are you ready to go?”
“Sure. You have a lovely place here. People seem pretty friendly too.”
“I try to hire the best people I can find. I’ve just lucked out that they are also amazing human beings.”
“You surround yourself with goodie goodies?”
“I surround myself with a variety of people. I don’t judge them by what others think. I judge them by my own experience with them.
“Everyone deserves to be known for who they are, not for who someone tells me they are.”
“Interesting. Is that why you allowed me to come with you or were you afraid of Luc?”
“I’m not afraid of Luc. I might have been a bit worried about Zoe. If she came
