Lost Soul (Harbinger P.I. Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

smile on her face. “Mrs. Robinson paid us for a week and five hundred dollars to cover expenses.”
    “Let’s not spend it all yet,” I said. “We might end up giving her most of that money back.”
    Her face fell. “You don’t think this is a preternatural matter?”
    I sighed. “I think this one should be known as The Case of the Moody Teenager.”
    “Well, it might be more than just that,” she said hopefully. “Maybe James Robinson is demon-possessed or something.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “You make it sound like you want the poor guy to need saving. We’ll check it out, but don’t get your hopes up. I know you want your first case to be exciting, but this one really looks like James is just being a typical teenager.”
    “But he’s staying in his room all day.”
    I shrugged. “Maybe he’s trying to avoid someone. He might have had an argument with someone at that lake party.”
    “He only goes out at night and he wanders the woods,” she said.
    “Maybe he’s discovered Goth music and he’s exploring his tortured soul.”
    Her eyes lit up. “Tortured by….”
    “Not tortured by a demon,” I cut in.
    “What, then?”
    “Tortured by Goth music.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think this could be a preternatural case? Isn’t there even a slim chance?”
    “Sure there is,” I said. “That’s why we’re going to check it out.”
    “Great. So what’s our first move?”
    “First, we talk to the people who went to that party, then we go see James Robinson.”
    “Okay,” Felicity said. “Mrs. Robinson only gave me one name when I asked her who was at that party. She said she doesn’t know all of her son’s acquaintances, but there’s one guy who was definitely at that party: Leon Smith, James’s best friend.”
    “Do we have an address for him?”
    She nodded. “Address and phone number.” That was good. Felicity had been thorough getting the information from Amelia Robinson.
    “So, let’s give him a call and arrange a meet.”
    “The number is in my office,” she said, going to the door. “I’ll call him from the office phone in there.” She left and I got out of my chair went over to the window. Main Street was buzzing with people now. Maybe Dearmont wasn’t so sleepy after all.
    “Leon Smith is at home,” Felicity called out from her office.
    “Is he willing to talk to us?”
    “Yeah, I told him we were private detectives and we wanted to ask him some questions about the party at Dark Rock Lake.”
    “What did he say?” I asked as I left my office and shut the door. I stood in the hallway, watching Felicity as she set the answering machine on the phone and grabbed her purse from where it had been hanging on the back of her chair.
    “He said, and I quote, ‘Sure, that was a weird-ass party.’ He sounded more than willing to answer a few questions. He lives a few miles out of town. Do you have GPS?”
    “Yeah, I’ve got a portable GPS in the Land Rover.”
    “Weapons?”
    I frowned at her. “We’re going to question someone, not attack a nest of vampires. We won’t need weapons.”
    As we walked down the stairs, she said, “The Society of Shadows Investigative Guidebook say that an investigator should be armed at all times. You never know when you might be attacked. At the very least, you should have a dagger, preferably enchanted, and you should also….”
    “Yeah, there’s some stuff in the car,” I told her as we left the building and I locked the door. The day was really warming up. The delicious smell of donuts drifted from the shop next door.
    “Don’t you have any weapons on your person?” Felicity asked.
    “No,” I said. “I only got here yesterday and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to take an enchanted dagger through airport security.”
    She followed me to the back of the building where the Land Rover was parked. I could sense that she wanted to say something more to me regarding my lack of weapons.
    “What is it?” I