“Har!” she said, her lips twitching. “You’d be surprised by how much this little truck holds.”
We headed for the park, Lea driving faster than she should because we needed to catch up to Alice. Fortunately, the Keeper drove like an elderly man, slow and a bit wobbly since she was generally looking everywhere but at the road.
We finally spotted Alice up ahead, her car weaving from side to side like she was drunk.
“Does she always drive that way?” Lea asked, her voice filled with concern.
“I’m not sure. I’ve only been in the car once with her. She does wobble around a bit when she drives. But I didn’t think she was that bad.”
The car slowed slightly as it came to the park entrance and then sped up again, zipping past the turn.
“What’s she doing?” Lea asked, pressing her foot on the gas to catch up.
“Maybe she spotted us,” I suggested.
“Not a chance,” Lea said, shaking her head. “This cloaking spell is fool proof.”
“Then she must have never intended to go to the park,” I said, a feeling of dread oozing through me.
We followed Alice in silence for ten more minutes, my chest tightening with every passing mile because I was beginning to realize where she was going.
I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. If I was right, Alice wasn’t playing for the right team. And my life was going to get exponentially more difficult if that was the case.
“What in the world?” Lea asked as Alice turned into the driveway of a well-known business.
My stomach twisted painfully at the realization that my suspicions had been right. “No, no, no. Alice, what are you doing?”
Lea parked the truck on the street, half a block from the entrance to Gnomish, Inc. and under a tree so the silvery glow of a quickly rising moon wouldn’t highlight its presence there.
I slumped in my seat, silent and miserable.
Lea’s gaze scoured me. “What’s going on, Naida?”
I turned a miserable gaze to her. “I wish I knew. But it doesn’t look good.”
“Do you think Alice is working with them?”
I shrugged, chewing my bottom lip as I tried to consider all the possibilities. “Maybe they threatened her again,” I said. “It’s the only thing I can think of that might make her do this.”
“This is bad, Naida,” Lea said softly.
“I know.”
“Maybe it’s time to call the police.”
I realized she was right. It was highly doubtful Alice was meeting a PTB as she’d said. And if she was giving a dangerous artifact to the bad guys…
I sighed. “If we call the police, they’ll arrest her.”
“Yes.” Lea’s tone was gentle, as if she realized what the current mess was going to cost me and understood my reluctance. But it would be selfish of me to think about that. The cost to Enchanted and potential future victims was more important than my worry about a job.
“Okay,” I finally said. “Let’s call Grym.”
Lea grabbed her phone from the cubby between the two seats and started to dial. I watched Alice go into the building and felt sick to my stomach. “How could you?” I murmured softly.
Something moved beyond the lights at the front of the building.
A shadow shifted.
I turned to watch as a slim figure slid from the shadows and stood staring up at the building. And then disappeared in a burst of soft green light.
I reached over and put my hand over Lea’s. “Hang up.”
She gave me a look that was tinged in impatience. “Naida…”
I shook my head, pulling her phone from her fingers and stabbing the button to disconnect. I handed it back to her. “We can’t call Grym.” I opened the door and started to climb out. She grabbed my arm.
“What are you talking about. We can’t go in there. It’s too dangerous. It’s going to be everyone against us.”
I gently disengaged myself from her grip. “You’re right, you should stay here. If I don’t come out in twenty minutes, then you can call Grym.”
“Naida!” She made an outraged sound as I slammed the door on her concern.
Lea climbed out of the truck and ran after me. “Why can’t we call the police?”
“Because I don’t want to get Sebille in trouble.”
“Sebille?” Lea frowned in confusion. “Why would she get into tro…” A lightbulb went on behind Lea’s pretty turquoise gaze. “Ah. What in the goddesses favorite Spanx is going on here?”
“I have no idea. But I’m about to find out.”
I stopped and grabbed her hand. “I meant what I said. You should stay here. There’s no point in both of us getting bludgeoned by gnomes.”
“As reasonable as that sounds,” she said, her expression wry, “I can help. I want to help.”
I didn’t have time to argue, so I nodded and took off running, Lea hot on my heels.
16
You Are In Violation Of The Queen’s Directives
I realized as we hurried toward the front door that we were going to be in trouble if the door was locked. Sebille was inside already and didn’t know we were there, so she couldn’t let us in.
I glanced toward the parking lot and it was empty except for Alice’s car.
So, who was Alice meeting?
The whole thing was just a mess. I was terrified that, when I found the answers, I wasn’t going to like them any better than the questions.
We tried the door and it was, of course, locked.
How had Alice gotten in? Had someone let her in? Or did she have a key?
My head was starting to hurt from all the questions.
Lea touched my arm, leaning close as she pulled me away from the door. “I can get us inside,” she said in a whisper. “But I suggest we look for a back door. We don’t want to stumble face-first into whatever’s going on in there.”
A grand suggestion.
I nodded, following her around the building in search of a less conspicuous entrance.
We found one half-way down the first side. The building seemed empty, all the windows dark, but
