Diamond Fire

“Nevada is marrying Rogan. I like Rogan. I like Mrs. Rogan too, and the East Wing side of the family seem decent. Look, most of them will go back to Europe after this, and we will never, ever see them again. We just have to get through the wedding.”

“No, Nevada has to get through the wedding. We have to catch a thief and prevent mass murder at the wedding ceremony. Have you seen them doing anything weird? Something that could help us find the Sealight or whoever took it?”

Bern hesitated. “Well, not sure if it’s related but you gotta see this. Hang on.”

His fingers flew across the keyboard and an image appeared on the middle screen, a table on a patio, flanked by some chairs. The picturesque shrubs rustled, and a tall, lanky man stepped out of them, like some kind of jungle explorer emerging from the bush. Mikel Ramírez adjusted his glasses, looked around, and took off down a path, away from the building into the orchard.

“Keep watching,” Bern said.

A long minute crept by.

Maria Ramírez stomped into frame, her chunky heels making clicking noises on the patio. A faint green smudge stained her white dress. There was a twig in her bleached blond hair. She was holding a martini glass in her hand. She took off her sunglasses, paused, like a hound finding the scent, and took off in the direction her husband had fled.

I put my hand over my mouth and shook my head. “This is just bizarre.”

“She chases him like this, all over the house.” Bern turned his blond head and looked at me. “At lunch, he excused himself from the table, and never came back. I think he crawled out of a window because neither of the exit cameras caught him, and then he was outside. He could have stolen the Sealight. He’s pretty good at sneaking around.”

“Yes, but he’s a lousy telekinetic, barely an Average, and everything in his file says he’s desperate for his father’s approval, so it’s unlikely he is hiding his power. He wouldn’t be able to lift the wall. What about Paul Sarmiento?”

Bern tapped a quick sequence on the keys. Ane and Paul came into view. They sat in the soft chairs overlooking the distant hills. Paul reached over to the table, lifted the small kettle, and poured Ane a cup of tea.

“They are joined at the hip,” Bern said. “If he stole the Sealight, she would have helped him, because I never see them apart for more than ten minutes. Also, most of them have used their powers since I started watching them. They levitate something minor or open a door with a wave of their hand. I’ll double-check on this, but so far, he’s done nothing. I don’t think he’s telekinetic.”

In other words, we still had nothing.

“Will you be here tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Bern said. “Why?”

“I’m going to poke this snake nest with a stick and I might need a lot of help.”

“I’ll be here,” Bern promised. “Catalina, don’t let this get personal. Let’s find the jewel, catch the poisoner, and be done with them. What they think of us doesn’t matter. This is an investigation just like any other. They are suspects. You only interact with them to get to your objective.”

“I know.”

We sat together in a comfortable silence, watching Lucian schmooze his father-in-law over some whiskey and cigars.

“Did you like him?” Bern asked.

“Not that much.” Not as much as I had liked Alessandro Sagredo. Walking with Xavier had been nice, before I realized he was a two-faced scumbag, but it was nothing special. But when I saw Alessandro, I wanted to snap my wings open as far as they could go and dazzle him with everything I had, so he would be mine forever. I liked him so much, I had to let him go.

Chapter 7

It was almost brunch time, and I was walking through the garden of Mountain Rose, carrying a mimosa in each hand.

“Turn to your right ahead ,” Bern said into my earpiece.

I turned and stopped at the neat little table with two chairs. The grounds were full of these little nooks, pretty places to sit and enjoy the outdoors. I turned toward the path and concentrated, letting just a little of my magic through. It came sluggishly. I was still tired from yesterday. My books said I would get better with practice. I tried not to think about how I would get that practice.

“Incoming in three, two, one.”

Maria Ramírez stumbled onto the path. She wore a white sheath dress that had a modest neckline but left her tan shoulders and arms bare. A thick gold chain hung from her neck and a matching cuff bracelet encircled her forearm.

I gave her a peek at my feathers and cast my shiny magic lure with my voice. “Would you care for a mimosa?”

Maria froze. Her expression relaxed and then she started toward me. “I would love one.”

We sat at the table and sipped our mimosas.

“It’s peaceful here,” Maria said. “It’s nice.”

“It is nice,” I said, saturating my words with more magic.

“Have you seen my husband?” Maria asked. “He would like it here.”

“No. Tell me about your husband. What kind of man is he?”

“He’s gentle and smart. And I love him so much. That’s why it hurts so much when he betrays me.” Tears welled up in Maria’s eyes. “He betrays me with men. I can’t compete with that. I can be prettier, I can be thinner, but I can’t be a man. And that’s what he likes.”

Oh God. “How do you know he likes men?”

“He had a secretary and I would catch them sneaking off together. When I would find them, all conversation stopped. And then the secretary was fired, but Mikel paid him five hundred thousand dollars. I saw the record of the payment in his office. Then there was the gardener. I would see them meet when they thought I wouldn’t notice. They would pass each other pieces of paper like children in school. Love letters.”

“Have you read one?”

“No.”

Somehow, I doubted folded pieces of paper equaled love letters. Drugs would be a much better explanation.

“And now he’s doing it again. Do you know who he is doing it with?” She leaned toward me. “Lucian. My husband is having an affair with Lucian. I saw Mikel leave in the middle of the night to meet with him.”

Maria gulped the rest of her mimosa. “I must find him.” Her eyes widened, her lower lip trembled. She looked panicked. All of her emotions were focused on Mikel. I wouldn’t get much out of her and it would be cruel to try.

“I think he went down that way.” I pointed down the path and pulled my magic back.

Maria jumped up and headed down the path without looking back.

None of that made any sense. If Lucian was bisexual, he would have had affairs with men as well as women. Lucian had a voracious appetite and he denied himself nothing. If he’d wanted men, he would have had men and there was no record of any male companions.

I texted Rogan. “Sorry to interrupt. Do you know why Mikel paid a large bonus to his secretary after firing him? There is nothing in the files.”

“No, I don’t but ask my mother.”

I texted Mrs. Rogan the same question. A grey bubble let me know she was typing the answer. It was taking her a while. I drummed my fingers on the table and drank a little more of my mimosa.

“That wasn’t a secretary, dear. That was Angel. He is what people of my generation refer to as an illicit love child. Mikel had some wild days and managed to father a child at sixteen. The family compensated the mother well, but when Angel grew up, he wanted a relationship with his father. He’s a sweet boy, but it didn’t work out. Mikel wasn’t what Angel was hoping for. Any progress on Sealight?”

“Not yet and thank you.”

“You have my full confidence.”

The phone chimed. Mrs. Rogan sent me a selfie of her and Mia Rosa in Mrs. Rogan’s office. They were giving me the V for victory with their fingers.

If Lucian and Mikel weren’t having an affair, why was Mikel sneaking out to meet him?

A thought occurred to me. “Bern, can you send a text message but make it appear to come from someone else?”

“Yes. Whose number do you want me to spoof?”

“I’ll tell you when I get home.” This will work better if I wasn’t here. They would let their guard down if all of us were gone.