Malichai didn’t doubt that everything Ezekiel said was there. The bed-and-breakfast was enormous. At one time it had been a small apartment building. Then it had been renovated to look on the outside like an old Victorian mansion. The owner had poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into it, making it into a vacation home for him and his extended family. He had been the one to create suites for his married children and their families. Marie and her husband had envisioned the bed-and-breakfast when it came up for sale.
“That’s good, then. I don’t like the idea of talking to Marie and Amaryllis at the inn. The only possible conclusion I can reach for Billy Leven to be in that room at that time in the morning was to plant a listening device. I planned on going with Amaryllis when she does the final walk-through to ensure the room is perfect. I can check for devices at that time. If we find one, we’re going to have to find a way to inspect each of the other rooms.”
“You’re right, Malichai. But Billy Leven? What would he have to do with those in the magic shop? I’m certain those people are tied to this plot, but Leven? Where would he fit in?” Ezekiel asked.
“Money? People do all kinds of things for money,” Mordichai said.
“It wouldn’t make sense to contact someone in North Carolina. They would contact someone here in San Diego,” Malichai pointed out. “Like they did with Shevfield.”
Ezekiel shrugged. “We can speculate until the cows come home, but that doesn’t mean we’ll know what’s going on. Malichai, you’ll need to arrange it so we can talk with Marie and see if we can get some of the team members into the bed-and-breakfast. I’d particularly like to have Draden and Shylah stationed there. Shylah is lethal. She looks sweet, like the girl next door, but she will take you down so fast your head will spin. I’d also like Trap and Cayenne to be here as well.”
“Is Trap allowing Cayenne to come? She’s pretty pregnant, isn’t she?” Mordichai asked.
Malichai snorted his derision. “I really fear for you, Mordichai. A woman is either pregnant or she isn’t. She isn’t more pregnant or less pregnant. Or ‘pretty pregnant.’”
Mordichai flipped him off. “With Cayenne, who knows? She might be more or less.”
“I have no idea when that woman got pregnant, so I don’t have a clue how far along she is, and Trap isn’t saying,” Ezekiel said. “She doesn’t look pregnant, but then Cayenne is built differently. I was surprised that Joe gave the okay for her to come on this one, especially since it involves being around the public so much.”
“Cayenne definitely isn’t comfortable being around people,” Malichai said.
“I’m not either,” Rubin said unexpectedly, as if he was defending Cayenne.
Malichai looked at him. There was no expression on Rubin’s face, but he was uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, that much was coming off of him in waves.
“Cayenne is very much loved, Rubin,” he assured as gently as possible. “She’s different, yes, but she’s a part of our team and a part of us. She loves Trap and makes his life a thousand times better. The thing is, as lethal as she is, as extraordinary, she still needs protection during times like this. Just as we do when we’re wounded or laid up. I’m shocked that not only Joe allowed her to travel but that Trap did. And I mean really shocked.” And he was. Cayenne might not be showing because she was built differently, but she had to be pretty far along.
He had no idea where Rubin’s sudden protective streak of Cayenne was coming from, but that well of darkness that sometimes shrouded both Rubin and Diego had settled over Rubin’s shoulders like a cloak. He looked at Ezekiel. His older brother had taken Rubin and Diego under his wing when he’d found them living on the streets.
The brothers were from a very poor part of the Appalachian Mountains and as teens they’d made their way to the city, where the streets had threatened to swallow them. Ezekiel had protected them, and taught them how to live on the streets. They’d stayed with Ezekiel, Malichai and Mordichai, following them into the service.
“The bottom line is, Trap is here, Cayenne will be,” Ezekiel said.
Rubin nodded. “Cayenne is not only dedicated completely to Trap, she is to our team.”
That much was true. “And Nonny,” Malichai said, hoping to lighten the mood. “Who wouldn’t be dedicated to Nonny? I can’t wait to get Amaryllis back to Louisiana and have her meet everyone there. Speaking of, do you think Zara will be coming with Gino?”
Ezekiel coughed behind his hand. “Yeah, that’s not likely. Danger here means Zara is stashed somewhere safe. Gino doesn’t like it if she stubs her toe. She’s on some killer research project at the moment, and from what I understand, doesn’t want to stop while the team is here. That’s causing a bit of a controversy. She never goes against Gino. And I mean never. He wants her to do something, she just smiles that sweet smile of hers and does it.”
He sounded so wistful, Malichai burst out laughing. “Is my sweet sister-in-law giving you trouble again, Zeke?” There was a taunting note in his voice he knew shouldn’t be there because Amaryllis was going to give him nothing but trouble, but having little petite Bellisia stand up to the force that was Ezekiel made for great fun.
“I’m not certain Bellisia knows the word ‘yes,’ Malichai,” Ezekiel said mournfully. “I’ve made a subliminal tape and play it for her at night, but so far it hasn’t done any good.”
Even Rubin laughed at that and Malichai realized his brother had deliberately turned the conversation into something that allowed them to laugh at Ezekiel. Zeke would do that for any of them. Bellisia was so tiny and yet she was a warrior through and through. Tough. Tenacious. Deadly.
Zara was sweet, gentle, kind and compassionate. She had been tortured and had never given up the GhostWalkers, but her feet had been damaged beyond the capabilities of any of the doctors to fix them. She could walk, but it was slow and careful most of the time. She was a strong woman and loyal to all of them. She would fight for them and with them if need be, but it was her brain that was her greatest gift. She was one of the leading researchers in artificial intelligence, something the government was very much interested in.
“What in the world did Gino do when his sweet, accommodating woman defied him and said she wanted to continue working instead of pulling back to the main house with the others?” Malichai asked, curious. He couldn’t imagine doing anything if Amaryllis defied him. What could a man do? A woman had the right to make up her own mind—except that Gino didn’t always think in modern terms.
“I don’t know, but before we left, he was bringing her to the Fontenot home,” Ezekiel said. “She doesn’t talk to Bellisia about her marriage to Gino. Bellisia had been so opposed to the match that I think Zara’s afraid if she tells her anything negative, it would be a betrayal of Gino. And before you ask, Bellisia tells me if I’m being a caveman, and then she announces it to the rest of you. She could use a little more of Zara’s silence on marital matters.”
Malichai laughed with the others. “I don’t think you being a caveman is a marital matter, Zeke. We’re used to it, but poor Bellisia thinks the sun rises and sets with you. It’s probably a shocker every time you act like the Neanderthal we know you to be.”