“Oh, I think you’re doing just fine.”
He chuckled softly. “What can I do for you, Mercy?”
“You remember that sea dragon I told you about?”
“The one you asked me to do the background check on?”
“That’s the one. We had our meet, during which he drugged me, then kidnapped me, then dumped me in a metal-lined cellar over in St. Francis Wood.”
“Shit, are you all right?”
“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
“Thankfully, from the sound of it. You want me to go beat him up for you?”
I laughed at the enthusiasm in his voice. Leith might be the boy-next-door type, but he liked a fight. It got the blood moving, apparently. I guess that’s why he’d become a private investigator rather than the lawyer he’d studied to be.
“No, I do not want you to beat him up.” Not yet, anyway. “I need to talk to him again.”
“You want me along this time?”
I hesitated. To be honest—and despite the fact that he’d drugged me—I didn’t fear Angus. But I certainly didn’t trust him.
“No, but I need to know if you’ve uncovered anything about him.”
“Mercy, meeting your kidnapper alone is not the brightest idea you’ve ever had—and you’ve done a few dumb things in your time.”
“Yeah, mostly with either Rainey or you standing right beside me.”
“Well, some damn fool has to protect you.”
“I’ll be fine, Leith. Really.”
He grunted, but it didn’t sound like he believed me. “We haven’t been able to find out much about him. He’s been running the bay cruises for about ten years and living here for about as long. He’s been a model citizen, is hardworking, and is socking away the cash, from what we saw of his bank records. We haven’t been able to uncover much about him before he came here, though.”
“He’s got a bit of a Scottish accent, so he may have come from there originally.”
“We’re running overseas checks, but it’s going to take time.”
“Which I don’t have,” I snapped. He didn’t say anything, and I took a deep, calming breath before adding, “Sorry, Leith.”
“It’s okay. I know the anger isn’t aimed at me.” He hesitated, and I heard a soft, feminine voice say something in the background. “Janelle says don’t be tempted to go to Whale Point this morning. Angus won’t be there, but they will have men watching the area, just in case you show up. You don’t want to go anywhere near them.”
Janelle was the psychic who worked with Leith, and a sweet old woman who had to be at least eighty. She’d been with Phoenix Investigations for as long as anyone could remember. According to Leith, the place would fall apart without her.
Though I hadn’t actually been planning to go anywhere near Whale Point, I still said, “But if those men are the ones who killed Rainey—”
Another murmur in the background, then Leith said, “They’re hired muscles, not the brains. They won’t give you answers, just more bruises and pain.”
All of which confirmed my decision to avoid the place like a plague. “What about Angus? Can I find him at his boat?”
Leith passed the question on to Janelle. “She says no, but to try the Heron on Pier 39. He should be back there at about seven. And she says to watch your back. He could be a marked man, and anyone with him could meet the same fate.”
Especially if that someone had already escaped from the very people who might now be after him. I drew in a deep breath, sucking in the morning’s heat, feeling it flush the sudden chill from my body. But it was harder to ignore the notion that I was getting in way over my head.
It wasn’t like I had a choice. Not if I wanted to save Rainey’s soul. I had four days left.
“Tell Janelle I’ll be fine and to stop worrying.”