Page 34 of Smokescreen (Knight & Daywalker)
She shook herself out of her reverie, blinking over at me. “Of course, dear. That’s why I wanted you investigating. I don’t imagine any convenient rats at his mansion had answers for you?”
I wondered why she hadn’t asked that at dinner, but then...
You can call me a rat, Wu Mei had said, matter-of-fact, as though she’d said it before.I will accept that title proudly.
“Wu Mei has been in Taipei since before he died.”
Mother didn’t seem surprised at that, just lifted a brow. “Has she?”
“She called me.” I cringed, remembering the conversation. “I also think she called me a dumpling.”
Mother’s eyes narrowed. “Jiaozi?”
Because of course my mother knew a Chinese language. Was it Mandarin? I honestly didn’t even know that much, to know the names of the languages. “No, another kind. The soup ones.”
A muscle in her jaw ticked, like her son being called a soup dumpling was especially insulting. Maybe it was. What the hell did I know?
“You believe that she left before he was killed?”
“I do. She’s even more paranoid than you are. He approached her to ask her to overthrow you, and she saw the writing on the wall.”
I stopped at the edge of her desk, standing, watching her. She didn’t respond, so we just stayed there in silence for a moment.
Of course, as always, I was the one to break and speak first. My mother had nothing if not a will of steel. “Writing you put there, Mother. You did this. You put Charles up to this mess.”
She might have won the initial stare down, but this time, she was the first to break eye contact. For the first time in my entire life, over thirty years, I saw a real moment of human emotion on my mother’s face: regret.
“There have been whispers,” she said finally, deflating in her seat. “A few oddities. Cars running late, windows left open. It hasn’t resulted in anything yet, but some day, the wrong car will be late, and I’ll be trapped somewhere to see the sun rise.”
That was . . . well, that was impossible.
Mother was immortal.
Literally.
Mother was older than the Gregorian calendar. Probably older than France. Maybe older than western fucking civilization.
Mother couldn’t die. Okay, she was already dead, but she couldn’t begone.
I crumbled into the chair across from her desk, staring at her, and after a moment, she continued without me having to sayanything. Thank fuck, because I couldn’t have opened my mouth for anything right then.
“I don’t think it was Mei, rat though she might be. Not Carmen either, bless her, she’s not nearly clever enough for it. I don’t even think it’s Forsyth. He doesn’t have the power in this town that the others do, not yet.” She pressed her hands into her desk, staring at the green blotter for a long moment before looking back up at me. “But it is someone. I discussed it with Charles, and we decided we needed to find out who, sooner rather than later. So...so you’re right. I did this. I got my best friend killed.”
What the hell could I say to that? Charles being murdered only proved that they’d been right, the pair of them, and someone was trying to kill my mother. Someone whohadkilled Charles.
“This wasn’t a late car,” I pointed out. “This was rash. Violent. Bloody.”
She winced and looked away but nodded. “It seems likely that his investigation turned something up then.”
“That, or someone loyal to you took offense to him suggesting a coup. Who are your biggest supporters in town? Maybe I should have started the investigation with them.”
It was bizarre, but she actually seemed shocked by the notion of someone protecting her having committed the crime. My ancient, jaded mother, stunned by the possible negative outcomes of her own machinations. She didn’t even respond, just sat there staring at me for a long moment.
I sighed, but leaned toward her, meeting her eye and trying to project sympathy. Iwassympathetic. I was also just a little mad at her. “Byzantine plots make messes, Mother. He was acting like he wanted to undermine your rule of the city. It’s only reasonable to think someone might have taken offense. It’s at least as likely as someone figuring out the truth. His assistantKate was planning on coming to see you about it. Reporting on the man she’d been working for for...how long?”
“Fifty years,” she muttered, then she looked up at me, again surprised. “She was?”
“She was. Said she overheard him with Mei two weeks ago, and it was difficult to get away to see you, but she thought you deserved to know.” I scooted forward in the chair again, laying my hands on the edge of her desk and drumming my fingers, suddenly filled with nervous energy. “Frankly, it was a bit impassioned, considering she hadn’t made it to see you. Maybe she was bullshitting me. It’s harder to tell with vampires than humans, but I’m pretty sure she meant every word.”
