Golem in My Glovebox by R. L. Naquin Read Free Book Online Page A

taken my mother away from my father and me, wiped our memories, and relocated Mom to the East Coast to set up shop as an Aegis there. Art blamed my mother for his lack of upward mobility in his middle-management job.
    When he came back last year as Riley’s boss, he’d walloped me with a bad-luck curse to test me for Aegis-hood. In the end, I’d lived through it, and Art and I came to an understanding, even a grudging mutual respect. I put in a good word for him with Bernice, whose entire Board of Hidden Affairs had been murdered. Art got what he always wanted—a spot on the Board. Bernice got some much needed help. And Riley and I got left alone. Win-win-win.
    Until that moment, I’d had no further contact with him. This probably made Art as happy as it made me.
    “You found my mom?” I sat up straight, my heart beating fast. “Where is she? Is she okay?”
    “Wait, don’t get too excited. I don’t know where she is. But I do think I’ve figured out who did it. That’s more of a clue than we’ve had since she was taken.”
    A little of my excitement deflated. Not all, but some. “Oh.”
    Riley squeezed my shoulder. “What do you know, Art?”
    “Is that Riley? Am I on speakerphone? Take me off of speakerphone!”
    I stretched my legs down the steps and crossed my feet at the ankles. “There’s no one else around, Art. This is a secure line. You may proceed. Over.”
    Riley poked me in the side. “Quit teasing him,” he whispered.
    I winked. “Seriously, Art. Riley has to hear this, too, and nobody else is here. What’s going on?”
    He paused for a long moment. “Zoey, there’s a prisoner missing from the compound. I wasn’t here when she escaped, and I only found out this morning. She’s been gone for about two and a half years.”
    Riley scratched his cheek. “That’s not long before the Board members started showing up dead.”
    “Exactly,” Art said.
    “So who is she?” I asked.
    Again, silence. When Art finally spoke, his voice was low and quiet. “I can’t tell you over the phone. I really can’t. Bernice doesn’t even know I’m calling you. You have to come out here, Zoey. Bernice won’t listen to me, and you’re the only one who can fight this person.”
    If it weren’t for the shakiness in his voice and the fear seeping through the phone line, I’d think Bernice put him up to this to get me out there.
    I gave Riley a questioning look. He shrugged.
    “Art, let me call you back,” I said.
    “Hurry,” he said. “Bernice is going to be angry with me as it is.”
    I hung up and stared at the phone in my hand. “What do you think, Riley?”
    “We were talking about going away anyway. And a lead is a lead, even if it’s only Art putting clues together and coming up with the wrong answer. We might get something out of the information.”
    “We were talking about a weekend. This could take a week.”
    “Maybe more.”
    I rubbed the space between my eyebrows. “I’d have to talk about it with Sara first. She’s already taking most of the clients these days, and I have a consult tomorrow morning. Maurice would have a heart attack if I took off and left him for that long.”
    Riley leaned against the stairs and propped his elbows on the step behind him. “All right. Let’s think this through. What else have you got this week?”
    “A couple of follow-up appointments later in the week.” I ticked off items on my fingers. “Dry cleaning to pick up on Wednesday. I have to keep an eye on Stacy. We need groceries. Probably need to take the car in for an oil change soon.”
    “Lame. You’ve only had that car for a month. Sounds like you’re stalling.”
    “A week is a long time.” I peered around at my empty front yard. Riley was right. I was stalling. This was probably the quietest it had been at my place for six months. Earlier in the day, of course, we’d had a fairly full house, but that was because of the naming ceremony and party afterward. The brownie family had