Page 17 of Veiled Justice
Ogres were often hired by dodgy characters to act as bodyguards, henchmen or assassins – though the latter was mostly the purview of the griffins. Regardless, their contracts stated that their employer was the one with ultimate legal responsibility for all their actions, since the ogres would be acting under orders. They got to walk away from murders whilst their employers were pursued both criminally and civilly. Obviously the employers would deny ordering the ogres, so cases often failed to reach the threshold of being proven beyond all reasonable doubt.
Whatever my father’s – and society’s – feelings, I needed to do better in my thoughts and actions. I was serving Helga now and she deserved nothing less than my fullest efforts to find her killer and bring them to justice.
An uneasy thought slithered into my brain. I had to stop the killer before they struck again. Because taking a finger as a trophy said ‘serial killer’ to me.
I seriously hoped I’d be proved wrong.
Chapter 10
As expected, Krieg was prompt. He didn’t let himself into my flat this time, just rapped sharply on the door. I opened it and stared at him. He was dressed in distressed jeans, a grey T-shirt and a brown jacket that looked new. Every inch of him said he was wealthy and handsome. My brain did a temporary disconnect. He’d looked great in a suit, but in jeans moulded to him … yum.
‘You broke into my home,’ I blurted.
He quirked a dark eyebrow. ‘I didn’t break in,’ he said calmly. ‘I used your key to open the door. You were sleeping.’
‘Next time,’ I said firmly, ‘wake me.’
He smiled and a hint of warmth crept into his grey eyes. When he spoke, his voice was low and slow, almost seductive. ‘Is there going to be a next time when you’re sleeping in my arms, Inspector Wise?’
Damn my heart for the stupid little pitter-patter it gave. My face felt warm. I ignored his question and brushed past the sexy prick without comment. I needed more than four hours sleep to deal with this shit.
To my surprise, Loki flew to my shoulder. ‘You’re coming?’ I asked the caladrius.
‘Betterthan drying paint.’ The bird gave its usual shrug.
Ugh, fine. ‘Don’t be seen,’ I ordered.
Loki laughed at me with his cawing chuckle that set my teeth on edge; it was worse than a hyena’s laugh. Krieg looked vaguely amused for the second time in as many minutes. Great, I was entertaining the ogre king. I glared at him; if anything, his smile widened.
‘Let’s go,’ I said briskly and trotted down the stairs.
‘Where to?’ Krieg asked as we swung into his car. Loki took up position in the rear, resting on one of the headrests. Krieg looked at him in the rearview mirror. ‘No shitting in the car,’ he ordered.
Loki looked scandalised. ‘Never!’ A moment later he muttered to himself, ‘Only in cereal.’
Eww. I made a mental note to make sure Loki never flew over my cereal. Krieg chuckled and the warm sound rumbled round the car. He started the engine. ‘Where to, Wise?’ he repeated.
Feeling disconcerted at hearing the deadly man laugh, I gave him Louisa Carnforth’s address. After skimming Channing’s notes, she was my first port of call. Louisa had interacted with Helga, but Channing’s report had been annoyingly brief and he hadn’t mentioned the incident with the obnoxious Squiggins at all.
Krieg plugged the address into the Satnav and we drove off in companionable silence. At least, it was companionable for me because I had no idea what Krieg thought of it. I had no idea what Krieg thought about anything at all. His poker face was the stuff of legends.
We drove out into the rolling Cheshire countryside where the Carnforth family resided – and boy, did theyreside.The place had to be over fifteen-thousand square feet or more, and the mansion – it couldn’t be called a house – reared out of manicured lawns and well-maintained gardens. Built in red brick, it was sleek and modern. Everything about it looked top spec; there wasn’t so much as a flake of mortar out of place.
The heavy metal gates had been left open, granting us easy access to the driveway, and now I could see why: the whole area was abuzz. Someone was erecting a large white marquee and there were vans of florists and caterers lining the paved pathway.
‘Looks like they’re hosting a party,’ Krieg commented.
I swallowed the sarcastic ‘no shit’that wanted to spout from my lips. Sassing the ogre king was a sure way to an early, unmarked grave.
We climbed out of the car. Somehow, even in his casual clothing, I could see Krieg would fit easily into a place like this. There wasn’t a hint in his body language that suggested he was intimidated by the show of wealth. A home like this in an area like this meant the property had to be worth a cool fifteen or twenty million.
‘Go and listen to the caterers and florists,’ I murmured to Loki. ‘See what they think of the Carnforths.’
‘Sky has ears,’ he promised, putting his own spin on ‘the walls have ears’ before he flew off.
Krieg rang the doorbell. A maid dressed in an honest-to-goodness French maid’s outfit opened the door and took two steps back, eyes wide. ‘Oh … Ogre,’ she stuttered. Then her eyes took in all of Krieg’s muscles and she inadvertently licked her overly-full lips. I didn’t blame her.
‘That’s right,’ he rumbled. ‘High King Krieg, at your service.’ He shot her a dazzling smile and she literally fainted dead away. Luckily, he caught her before she hit her pretty blonde head on the oak parquet flooring. He laid her down in the recovery position with an ease that told me that sort of thing happened a lot.
