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What the hell had happened? Burn marks--maybe froed spell A lethal one by the looks of the scraped floor Maybe Natalie fought them and lost I looked over the rooeable enough about witchcraft to figure out exactly what had happened, and then I headed back to her office

Had she been taken? The rooh a battle, and I was pretty certain that titches fighting would probably create a e in her planner and ht, penciled in for seven thirty, was the name Viktor

I plucked her phone from the cradle and looked at the screen The fancy output had several sorts of lists, including who she’d called, calls she’dcalls she’d actually answered I thu calls for yesterday Several before seven thirty

I tried the first A woman answered with an infor up the phone The next number was to a deli down the street--probably her lunch or dinner order I got lucky on number three

La Maison

One of the nicest hotels in the area, it was undoubtedly where Koslov stayed while he was in town The building was also adjacent to the alley where we’d found the burned remains

"Viktor Koslov’s room," I said to the operator

"One h, and I slamlanced at Natalie’s picture, propped on her desk She smiled from the arms of an older woman My stomach sank I had to help her And fast I itched to call Costa, to tell hio from here, but I couldn’t do that It wasn’t proper procedure, for one I had to call this in to my boss For another, I didn’t trust Costa Oh sure, I knew enough about him to knoasn’t a criminal, but that didn’t make him trustworthy when it came down to it I’d only known the man for a few days, and his partner’s words still reverberated through my mind

I picked up the phone to call the station Vasquez was going to love this

The lieutenant didn’t sound happy to hear h all of the evidence-- the dates, the MO, the ht be on to soht, Whitoddamn Covenant council member Are you still at the witch’s office?" Vasquez sounded irritated, but not angry That was good He ht actually believe me

"I’m at Natalie’s, but I’ll head over to La Maison" I tapped Natalie’s pen against her desk and wished that I had called fromfrorated "You’re to stay as far away from that hotel as possible You’re too close to this case, and I don’t need any fuckups in the takedown"

"This is my sister, Vasquez!"

"I know that" He lowered his voice "I’ here, Whith to pick him up and search his room, at least But you can’t be there" He cleared his throat "I’ in the air, he aped at the phone and tried toakin to aa house in its rarity--to try to planVasquez in this would ale And what if we didn’t catch Koslov?

Then I’d be coo there

I frowned and considered what I knew of Koslov and this perp’s MO Chances were very slim that Elaine or Natalie would actually be at the hotel It was a nice place and while I was certain they gave their best custoo unnoticed or unreported No He’d keep them somewhere no one would notice them My money was still on a warehouse or other out of the way du and then stared at the list that the vaiven us Even with me, Costa, and the officers Vasquez had ordered to help, we’d only checked half of the warehouses on the list I looked at the plotted map and frowned None of the warehouses were near La Maison, per se Most were clear across town

Only two dots stood out on the map that were anywhere near Koslov’s hotel He’d want to keep her close, right?

"Great," Ito the hotel wasn’t an option I ht as well check out the warehouse I couldn’t just sit and wait to hear back from Vasquez

I locked Natalie’s office door on my way out It was an easy to open handle lock, but I didn’t have a key for the door outside the waiting room, which could be secured with a sturdy deadbolt Then I took the elevator down to the lobby and stopped at the reception desk "When was the last ti an eyebrow at e to reain "When?"

She shrugged "No idea A few days, I guess I see her going to lunch occasionally, or out for appointments"