Chapter
17
Kent
“You want me to go through that dark, icky tunnel, why?” Chloe was looking at the tunnel before them with disgust, and then she looked at Kent skeptically.
“Because Councilman Holden’s house is on the other side. Going through that tunnel will put us in his backyard, where you and I can then attempt to see if we can find any evidence that connects him to the snakes in the box or his brother’s death.”
He watched as Chloe sighed silently then nodded to herself.
“Okay, but if this ruins my Jimmy Choos, you’re buying me new ones, demon.”
Kent chuckled, grabbing Chloe’s hand to lead her through the tunnel. “Remember, when we get into sight of the house, try to stay as low as possible. If you think anyone sees us at all, let me know.”
Guiding her through the tunnel, they slowly made their way to the light at the end and what lay beyond. Anticipation hummed through Kent’s veins as they drew closer to the dwelling of the man he was starting to believe had killed his own brother. But the question of why kept rolling around in his head. He was hoping to find a clue to help him figure it out.
Once they reached the end of the tunnel, it opened to a steep hill, where Councilman Holden’s house sat.
“Why would anyone have a tunnel like this in their backyard, anyway?” Chloe quietly asked him.
Kent looked over at her. “It’s supposed to be a storm drain, but it’s the biggest fucking storm drain I’ve ever seen.”
“Makes you wonder if he put it back here as a means to escape or something.”
“Yeah, but who would he be trying to get away from?”
“Good question,” Chloe murmured.
“No more stalling, sweetheart. Let’s get up there and look around.”
Kent led Chloe forward in a walking crouch, up the hill and toward Councilman Holden’s house. It was a large two-story brick monstrosity that Kent had heard from his mother had been in their family for generations. It looked just as pretentious as the councilman, and it reminded Kent of his mom’s own house. Everything he hated about the upper crust demon society.
Pushing down his distaste for both his fellow councilman and the man’s home, they made their way up the hill until they were hugging one of the brick walls between two windows.
Leaning over to Chloe, Kent whispered, “We’ll go right. I’ll check one window, while you move on to check the next. That way, we get around the house as fast as possible. When we get toward the front of the house, stop and turn around; we’ll go the other way. I don’t want us to cross the front and take the chance that one of the Holdens might come out of the front doo—”
He didn’t even get to finish his sentence when they heard it.
Barking.
And not the happy, “hello, human” barking from a greeting dog. No, it was more like the “I’ll rip you to shreds” barking of a guard dog.
Chloe’s eyes went wide in surprise, while Kent cursed underneath his breath.
Holding his finger over his lips for her to be quiet, Kent backed up a few steps then peeked through one of the windows. Coming down the stairs were two Dobermans, the councilman following them down. Kent could hear Holden saying something to the dogs along the lines of “going potty.”
Kent’s fight or flight instincts kicked in. He knew there was only one logical thing to do—run. Grabbing Chloe’s hand again, he hissed in a low voice, “We have to go!”
They ran down the hill, back toward the tunnel, and were halfway there and almost out of sight of the house, when Chloe stumbled and fell. Kent lost touch of her hand and skidded to a stop on the grass to see what happened.
She was on her hands and knees, and when he looked behind her, one of her high heels were stuck in the ground.
“Fuck!” he exploded. Helping her up, he tried to drag her forward toward the tunnel, but Chloe lunged back for her shoe as the sound of angry barking burst through the air, heading in their direction.
“No,” Chloe growled angrily.
Tugging her forward again, Kent snapped, “Leave the goddamn shoe, Chloe, if you don’t want to become dog food.”
“You never leave a good shoe behind!” she cried out in determination, pushing Kent off her so she could once again lunge for her shoe. This time, she managed to reach it, grabbing the heel just as Kent grabbed her hand to drag her along behind him.
The barking was getting closer, with Holden yelling at the dogs in the distance to come back. Kent knew the dogs would find them any minute.
“We gotta haul ass, sweetheart, or Holden’s dogs will find us.”
Holding her shoe to her chest as if it were a precious commodity, Chloe ran in one heel, her gait awkward.
They ran down the hill and out of the oversized storm drain tunnel. Somehow, they managed to make it to his car without the two dogs catching up to them, but it was a close call.
Hopping into his car, Kent peeled out and got them the hell out of there.
So much for finding their evidence.
~~~
Chloe
Kent drove like a madman for several streets until he could blend in with Wilmington’s busy traffic. She spent that time thinking, What will we do now?
It wasn’t until Kent said, “I don’t know, sweetheart,” that Chloe realized she had asked that question out loud.
They needed a way into the house, but Holden had guard dogs. Her mind scrambled in circles.
How were they going to get past two guard dogs to find any evidence?
“Son of a bitch!” Kent suddenly yelled.
Chloe snapped her head in his direction and saw his hand raised up to swat at something. Her eyes darted over in the direction his hand was heading just in time to see a little spider walking across his dashboard before Kent crashed his hand down to crush it.
That was when it hit her.
They totally had a way into the house!
“Pull the car over!” she yelled excitedly to Kent.
Startled by her outburst, Kent swerved the car a bit, then calmly navigated until they pulled into a grocery stores parking lot and parked his car. Then he turned to look at her curiously. “What?”
Chloe turned in her seat to face him a little more. “I know how we can get into Holden’s house.”
Kent was shaking his head. “Short of drugging the dogs while Councilman Holden is gone, I don’t see how we’re getting in there.”
She gave Kent her wicked smile, the devious one she liked to use when she knew something no one else did. “That’s because you don’t have connections to a spider.”
“What the fuck, Chloe?” Kent asked in confusion.
Whipping out her cell phone, Chloe dialed her aunt Thea’s number. When her aunt picked up, she jumped straight to what she needed.
“Will you give me the number Manus left so we can contact him?”
“Who the hell is Manus?” Kent asked.
Chloe held a finger up to silently tell him to wait.
On the other end of the line, her aunt Thea asked, “Why do you need to get ahold of Manus?”
“To get ahold of Deo,” she answered simply.
“Who the hell is Deo?” Kent snapped impatiently from beside her.
Chloe leaned over and put her finger on his lips while giving him a wink.
Her aunt then said, “No conning family, Chloe.”
She sighed in impatience. “I’m not conning them, Aunt Thea. I need their help. Now, will you give me the damn number already?”
Thea rattled off a number, and Chloe disconnected their call without saying goodbye, immediately dialing in Manus’s number, but Kent snatched her phone before she could push the call button.
“Who the fuck are Manus and Deo, woman?”
It was now that she was looking at him that she realized what Kent’s problem was.
“Jealous, demon?”
His lip curled a little before he snapped, “Are you trying to make me jealous?”
Chloe usually didn’t like possessive men, but there was something about the look in his eyes that gave her butterflies in her stomach.
Reaching over, she grabbed his free hand and squeezed it warmly. “No, I’m not trying to make you jealous. Manus is the stepfather I mentioned, and Deo is my half-brother. I think they can help us. Now, can I please have my phone back?”
It wasn’t like Chloe to be this open, honest, and non-sarcastic with a man, but she was trying to let down some of her walls when it came to Kent. He wanted a chance between them, and for whatever reason, deep down inside, she wanted to give it to him. She just hoped she didn’t regret it later.
Kent sheepishly handed her phone back, blushing a little as he mumbled an apology.
Chloe let his caveman act slide. This time. Next time, she might have to whip her bitch out and remind him that she wouldn’t always give in to his Neanderthal ways.
She pushed the call button, and then listened to the phone ring. Finally, a male voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Manus?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“It’s Chloe Demos. I have a question to ask. Is Deo dead?”
“What!” Manus’s shrill cry came over the line.
“Well, it’s just that someone killed a spider in front of me a second ago, and I remember Deo telling us that if he was attached to his familiar when it died, then he would die, too. I don’t think the spider was Deo, but I thought I would check first before I asked for his help. So, is he, like, dead?”
She could hear Manus running from the other end of the phone, his breath coming out in pants, and then he was abruptly banging on what sounded like a door, yelling loudly, “Deo! Deo, son, are you in there?”
A few seconds later, an agitated younger male voice snapped, “What the hell, Dad?”
Chloe heard Manus’s sigh of relief, and then Deo ask again, “Dad, what?”
She didn’t waste any time. “Oh, good, he’s not dead. Manus, can you please hand the phone to Deo?”
“Why?” Manus growled in irritation.
“Because I have a favor to ask him.”