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“No They’ve struck out in terhpersons reports” She stabbed her fork into the cake with unnecessary force “Not surprising With e know fro on her body, she probably lived with her killer”
“We will find her, cher”
“Yes, ill” An absolute statement as she finished off the cake
He couldn’t help it Leaning in, he caught a cruht it to hishis thuone stiff at the contact, and now she moved with an unusual jerkiness to place the fork and saucer on a side table “Let’s go”
It wasn’t the response he’d been hoping for, but neither was it the light, flirtatious one he’d begun to find increasingly dissatisfying He loved playing with Ash, but not when she was using that play to keep hin he’d breached the armor she used to hold him at bay
“Any particular club you want to hit first?” he asked, after getting into the car and starting up the engine
“I say we start at the low end and work our way up We have no way of knowing if she was beautiful enough to be invited into the exclusive clubs” Beauty talked in the clubs, especially if sexual feeding was involved “But if she had been a regular at one of those places, or over at Erotique”—the most elite club in the city and located outside the Quarter—“her disappearance would’ve created more waves”
“I haven’t heard any rumors of such a disappearance,” Janvier confirmed
“Did your contact have any success in reconstructing her face?”
“Yes, I received the i dinner It has no life to it so we’ll have to be judicious in hoe utilize it” Janvier tapped a finger on the steering wheel, the streets shadowed and dark around them “She had to be in a one-on-one relationship”
“Why?”
“You saw at Giorgio’s how the cattle cling to one another If the victiroup, her house even if her va hi her—and theo You kno many times that happens in abusive mortal relationships Any reason it should be different for i out a breath at the bleak ugliness of it, she ran a hand through her hair, having left it down for tonight However, since she didn’t want anyone running their fingers through it in the clubs—it was creepy how an to braid it tight to her skull “The situation with Giorgio is bugging me You don’t think our victim could’ve been part of his harem, do you?”
Janvier shook his head “I made it a point to check hied out of the nest after becoio’s use of women apparently stops short of ood, smarmy suspect” She tied off her braid and considered whether to swap her heeled red boots for the hunter boots she’d left in the car She decided to stick with the heels since this was about blending into the clubs
“And you, cher—did you sense any disturbing memory echoes in his house?”