Page 1142 of One More Kiss

Peggy nodded. “Had him for sixty years. One of the only shipments he decided to keep instead of rehoming. But when a siren bonds, you can’t very well just give it to someone else.

Graham and I both nodded in response to that. Yangtze sirens weren’t necessarily rare. They lived all over China, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, and other surrounding countries. But they had a very unique relationship with humans. If they stumbled across the right human, and no one had ever figured out exactly what it was that made a human and a siren particularly compatible, they bonded for life. They reacted to that human’s emotions and physical well-being. Unfortunately, they tended to outlive their humans, and they only bonded like that once. But it was as strong a connection as human and pet could ever possibly get.

And when something happened to the human. When they got sick or were in danger or…died. Well, then a siren became lethargic and began to lose color. They stopped eating unless they were absolutely about to starve, and they never sang again.

I pulled up next to the aquarium and looked down at Raleigh, swallowing the lump in my throat. “When did this start?”

“This morning. I’m at a loss. I can’t help myself, I can’t help Al, and I don’t have any idea how to help Raleigh.”

“Ginkgo tea.” Graham and I looked at each other. We’d replied in unison.

Graham continued the explanation instead of me. “Ginkgo tea. An aquarium this size, you want to add ten grams of dried ginkgo leaves to a steeping bag, then just leave it. Change it out every other day.” He righted himself and nodded to the air. “It won’t fix everything, but it usually helps ease some of the loneliness.”

I nodded, honestly impressed. A fish and game officer who actually knew his shit wasn’t something I was used to. Certainly not what I was expecting from him. “It’ll prevent grieving sickness from settling in. That way when we find Al, Raleigh won’t be in such bad shape.”

Peggy looked straight at me, and so did Graham, and it was only under all that scrutiny that I realized exactly what I’d said. But I didn’t have the time to issue a retraction, and honestly? I probably wouldn’t have anyway. Not to Peggy’s face. But I could tell that Officer Graham definitely had some thoughts about me implying that we were going to retrieve her husband for her.

Peggy sighed. “That’s a very sweet proclamation, Titus, but I don’t expect you or anyone else to go scouring Portland for Al.” She nodded to Graham. “If you can put the words out with your contacts, I would appreciate it. I’ve already contacted the authorities, but EGW might be more inclined to want to find him, since he’s been part of the community so long.”

I sort of just waited for Officer Graham to reply. That would determine how I responded to him, and to Peggy.

Graham nodded. “I need to talk to Alan Fishbein. So we’ll be looking for him, and we’ll let you know what we turn up.” He pulled a small notebook out of his breast pocket and took a single step closer to her. “If I can get any info you have on him, and on the shipment he was receiving? And then I also have a few questions about the jeweled tortoises, in case you have anything that might lead me in the right direction.”

* * *

After he finished up,I led Officer Graham back out. As soon as we reached the corner of the building, he stopped me. “Rhodes.”

I sighed. “I was really hoping to avoid the part where you’re mad at me. I wasn’t thinking. It just kind of came out of my mouth.” Although while he’d been questioning, Peggy, I’d had a lot of time to think. Way more than I gave myself before running my mouth off. “But if you have to be mad at me for implying some things about your job, then fine. I don’t blame you. I’m just a silly little pet shop owner, not a big bad EGW officer. But I’ll tell you this: I want to find Al. He’s important. To Peggy, to me, to the whole community, and I don’t want—“

“Rhodes.” His voice came out gruff and rough and very sharp. Enough to stop me from talking. When I shut up, he fixed that light-sucking laser gaze on me. “I made contact with you, and you’re driven to help. I’m not reprimanding you for saying something. I’m just hoping that you can see me around. Not everyone working in your industry’s as accommodating of EGW as you and Peggy Fishbein have been.”

Oh. That wasn’t the answer I was expecting. At all. “I mean. Of course.”

He nodded curtly, then slipped his shades back on. “Good. Call someone in to look after your shop, then you can help me track down this Lakshmi Patel that Peggy was talking about.”

I didn’t usually take well to being ordered around, but when Officer Graham told me to call someone, my phone was in my hand. It was only once Declan picked up that I realized he’d asked for Lakshmi, and my mouth ran on autopilot. A common problem for the day, apparently. “Shit.”

“Nice to hear from you to.” Declan’s voice came over the line. “What’s the problem?”

I filled him in and, with a little cajoling, got him to watch the store for the rest of the day, then I hung up and turned back toward Officer Graham. “Does it have to be Lakshmi?”

“Yes.”

I groaned, then gestured back down the street, back toward my shop. “We’d better take your truck, then. And stop by the liquor store.”

---