Succubus Lost (Files from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #2) Read Online Free Page A

I shivered.
    “Are you cold?” he murmured.
    “I’m fine, thank you.”
    Saved from his response by the door opening, I almost sighed in relief at the sight of the woman behind the door.
    Dark brown hair tucked into a neat bun at the base of her neck, she looked so like Wendy that I would have guessed them to be sisters. But Wendy didn’t have a sister, so the tall woman had to be her mother.
    “Annette Larson?” I asked
    A quizzical look on her face, she nodded. “Yes, I’m Annette.”
    “My name is Marisol Whitman, and I’m a detective with the Chicago Police Department. This is Agent Costa.
    We need to talk to you about your daughter.” Her polite smile faltered. “What? Is everything all right? Has there been an accident?”
    “We hope everything is okay. And we don’t know that anything has happened to Wendy, but we need to speak with her, Mrs. Larson.”
    She waved us into the foyer but didn’t invite us farther.
    “What is this all about?”

    “When was the last time you spoke to your daughter?”
    “I talked to Wendy last week; she was fine.”
    “Is your husband home?” I shot a quick glance to Costa. He was the lead investigator on this, so why was he letting me do all the talking?
    “No. Frank is out of town.”
    “We’d like to speak with him, as well.”
    “He’s quite unreachable. And he hasn’t talked Wendy.
    They don’t keep in touch.” She crossed her arms, and her face hardened. “What is this about?”
    “Wendy hasn’t been seen since last night when she left the library with another young woman who has been reported missing.”
    “Excuse me? Last night? Do you have reason to believe that something has happened?” Her voice was tight, as if she spoke through gritted teeth.
    “No…it’s just…” I struggled with how to explain.
    “The other young woman, for reasons we can’t divulge, is unlikely to have spent the night away from home if not coerced,” Costa said.
    Mrs. Larson let out a high-pitched laugh. “Oh my goodness, how silly. You come to my home and scare me.
    Make me think my daughter may be in danger or hurt. All because some overprotective parents can’t believe their daughter stayed out overnight?”
    “That’s n-not—” I stumbled over my words, trying to figure out how to explain in a way that wouldn’t sound stupid.
    Her amusement dropped as suddenly as it appeared.

    “Get out. Get out of my house.” She stomped a foot and pointed at the front door. “I don’t need you people coming in, worrying us. Take your prejudices elsewhere.” I looked at Costa, desperate for him to say something, do something, but instead he reached out and gripped my elbow, hand still cool against my skin, even through my blouse. Lightly, he tugged me toward the door.
    I searched my mind for a response, any kind of response to make her take us seriously, but it was as if all my training had never happened, all of my experience was null and void. As we stepped through the doorway, Mrs. Larson barely waited for us to clear the frame before slamming the door behind us.

    “So what was that, exactly?” I finally asked as we waited in line for a table at The Grill House.
    Costa glanced at me, and though I tried to keep the anger boiling in my stomach off my face, I wasn’t entirely certain I was successful.
    “She hasn’t talked to her daughter in more than a week. I’d be surprised if she spoke with her any more often than the occasional birthday or holiday. We weren’t going to get any information out of her.” I tapped my foot and stared at his calm face. “How do you know that? We barely got anything out of the woman.”
    “I’ve been doing this a long time.”
    I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him.
    “Been doing this a long time? Can you vague that up a bit more for me?”
    A grin touched his lips, and the small expression transformed his face from merely handsome to dangerous.
    “All right, if you’re going to demand all my secrets. She