“Why do assholes always have to go for the kids? Kids should be exempt from shit like this!” Her vehemence surprised me.
“So, do you have any ideas about who could be involved? Or why they’d take fae children?”
She started to shake her head, then tilted it. “Have you talked to that Margo beyotch in town?”
Rand exchanged a glance with me that spoke volumes. That was two votes against Margo. Turning my attention back to Suzette, I asked, “Not yet, but she’s our next stop. What can you tell me about her?”
The ghost bared her teeth. “She heads up the para and witchy black market in these parts. That woo-woo little shop of hers, with all its New Age crystals, fake love potions, charms, and nasty incense is just a front. I snooped around in the back of it, years before we got stuck on lockdown here at the resort. There was some scary-ass stuff back there. She had dealin’s with those Curtens sisters, too. A lot from what I saw. I tried to tell Jeremy, but you can probably figure out how that went. He can’t make out most of what I say.” She lifted a shoulder in a dejected half-shrug and her face fell. I suddenly realized how much it truly bothered her, not being heard.
“Did you see that ring I gave Jeremy earlier, when we were in his office?” I asked softly. She shook her head. “I Made it for him. Actually, for the both of you. You won’t have to yell to be heard, because he’ll be able to hear you easily now. I don’t know if I’ll be able to Make something that will allow him to see you or not, but I’m going to try. I know you two mean a lot to each other.”
“You did that . . . for us?” Hope warred with disbelief in her voice.
Before she could ask why, I said, “Both of you have been helpful in the past, so I wanted to do something for you in return. I know it has to be just as hard on Jeremy, not being able to hear you, as it’s been on you. This will help him out in the park, too, so there’s that.”
She gave me a curt nod, the last bit of suspicion finally leaving her expression. “So where all have you searched for these kids?”
“We just found out about this a couple hours ago, so this is our first stop.”
Suzette began to pace. “Well, you’re right in that there’s a lot of boxes and packages that come through here for paras that are off-the-grid, so-to-speak. It wouldn’t be hard for anyone who knows what to look for to figure out what’s goin’ where ‘n all. If those kids were actually the target, look for things like water toys that were ordered and where they came from. There’s a few local warehouses and manufacturers in the area that could have filled orders like that, and I’m sure it would be easy enough for a spell or a tracker to go right in the toy.” She stopped pacing and began thrumming her fingers on her thigh as her gaze became unfocused as she thought. “Water fae kids would need to be kept close to the water, maybe even in the water, right?” I nodded. “Check along the shoreline ‘n all the bigger inlets. You’ll likely have to look at fishin’ skiffs or any other boats capable of holdin’ decent amounts of water and recirculatin’ it to keep it fresh.” Her face suddenly paled and her throat moved as she appeared to swallow hard. “If they’re wantin’ to keep them alive, that is.” She looked up at Rand and I, her eyes wide. “You need to tell Jeremy—no, I’ll tell Jeremy—you’ll need that little boat of yours in the marina readied, right away.” She disappeared abruptly.
Rand and I just gawked, shellshocked. Finally, I said, “She was so much more help than I thought she’d be.” Not to mention everything she’d said made sense. The chances of those kids being kept somewhere along the shoreline or maybe one of the inlets were probably pretty high.
He responded, “You have a boat?”
Chapter 7
Investigating Margo
Rand and I ran for the restaurant. On the way, I dialed Clyde’s number and asked him to pick us up as soon as he could. We were going to pay Margo a visit. My next call was to Sam to let her know what Suzette had told us. She promised to look up everything the firm had on Margo and urged us to be careful. She did confirm that I had a boat with a permanent spot moored here, though. Beyond that she didn’t say anything more about it, but she sounded smug enough to arouse my suspicions.
At the restaurant, we were led straight to a back office with its own door leading to a small, private dock cordoned off from the rest of the area. That must be as much for the water fae to access the office as anything else. Suzette was already there, of course, hovering over Tess at the keyboard, with Jeremy acting as the ghost’s relay as Tess’s fingers flew over the keys. I wasn’t surprised to see the nearly empty plate of appetizers next to her on the desk. She paused to look up at us.
“Hey. I’m pulling up toy shipments and anything else that looks like it might be intended for younger kids. Great call.”
“That was all Suzette.” Jeremy beamed with pride at my words. “Jeremy, what can you tell me about Margo?”
His face darkened so fast, I almost stepped back. “Dat woman, she bad news. Jeremy tells yer aunt dat, but she no listen to ole Jeremy. She send dem bad t’ree to Stella an’ look whut ‘appen!”
His words
