I shrugged. “Probably be dead, most likely.”
“I don’t know. You’re pretty smart, Cupcake. Maybe you would have been running the whole show by now.”
“That had been the plan,” I muttered.
“Huh?”
I sighed and looked at him. “I said, that had been the plan. Abe was grooming me to take over the coven.”
Morales whistled low. “But you left anyway?”
I nodded. “Like I said, I doubt I would have survived long enough to put my management skills to the test.” I shook off the heavy feeling the conversation lowered over my skin. “Besides, if I hadn’t left I never would have had the pleasure of dealing with your annoying ass.”
He flashed me a sideways grin. “You love my ass.”
I glanced toward the ass in question. “It has certain charms. Too bad you insist on talking so much and ruining it all.”
He laughed then, crumpling up his trash and stashing it in the bag. With a jolt, I realized this hastily gobbled lunch was as close to a date as I’d had in months. The last official date I’d had was with a mortician named Barry Finkleman, whose idea of a good time was taking me to a funeral trade show to ogle embalming equipment. That thought was depressing enough to make me wish I had some whiskey to add to my soda.
“What’s wrong? You’ve got that frown that usually means you’re thinking too much.”
I gave him a dirty look and chugged the rest of my drink. “After that meeting with the mayor, I’m just hoping LM’s gonna have something to help us find this Dionysus guy.”
Morales pulled the car toward the side of the road and pushed the gear into P. “Only one way to find out.” With that he shut off the ignition and hopped out. As he jogged around the front of the SUV, I took a couple of seconds to admire the rear end we’d just discussed. It really was a world-class ass.
In the next instant Morales stopped and turned toward the car, staring at me from the curb. He tapped his watch. “Tick-tock, Cupcake.”
I grabbed my bag and climbed out of the car. “You got cash?”
He frowned. “Remind me to introduce you to reimbursement forms when we get back.”
“Hey, you’re the higher pay grade here. It’s up to you to deal with that bullshit.”
He shook his head and turned away like he knew pushing the issue was a waste of time. Smart guy.
I jogged to catch up with him in time to walk through the gated entrance to the park. Well, park is a generous term for what was really just a dirt lot dotted with a few benches and bent metal structures that used to be swing sets and seesaws. Back in the day, it used to be the playground for the families of those who worked at Babylon Steel. Now it was a nighttime recreation area for potion junkies.
But we’d arrived during the day, so all the hex-heads were passed out in their rabbit warrens waiting for night to fall so they could get their next fix. The only people we found there that afternoon were the very ones we’d been looking for: Little Man and Mary.
While they technically were two people, the pair came as a single unit. Mary was a six-foot-tall tank of a woman with the intellect of a child, and Little Man was the size of a baby with the intellect of an adult. Their mother had been a fertility potion junky, but her dealer had fucked her over by giving her an experimental potion. Unfortunately, baby Mary had grown too large in utero and killed her mama on the way out.
About the time Mary hit puberty a large mole on her chest had grown into her brother, Little Man. He never grew larger than a baby so she could easily carry him around in a carrier strapped to her chest. One time I asked if they ever thought about having surgery to separate. Mary’s reaction to the question was… violent, so I never brought it up again. But I knew from experience she was fiercely protective of LM, and there was no way he could survive on his own in this world, and Mary could never survive the mental rigors of living without his guidance, so in a way their relationship was symbiotic.
Morales had met the pair before during our last big case a few months back. Still, his shoulders tensed once we spotted them on their normal bench. The last time he’d met them, Mary had had a negative reaction to an offhand comment my partner had made, so I couldn’t blame him for his caution. Especially since the last time we’d tried to talk to the pair, they’d run like frightened animals. Still, it was odd to see such a big guy get freaked out by an intellectual cripple and a homunculus who would have lost a wrestling match against a toddler. “Relax,” I said. “As long as you don’t do anything to make her think you’re a threat to Baby”—Mary’s pet name for Little Man—“it’ll be fine.”
“That’s the problem. That little fuck loves to stir the shit.”
“Then keep your mouth closed and let me do the talking.” It had taken me a while to trust Morales enough to introduce him to my snitches. But now that I had I didn’t want him doing anything else to jeopardize my relationship with them. As tricky as it was to deal with LM and Mary, they tended to give me good intel most of the time.
“Is that bacon I smell?” A bored voice floated back over the bench toward us. I wasn’t sure exactly how he knew we were there, since Mary’s back was to us and LM couldn’t see over her shoulder. Still, I’d learned not to underestimate LM because of his size.
Mary didn’t get up or turn to address me. Instead, she waited for Morales and me to come around the bench. When we did, I stopped and gaped. “What the fuck happened?”
Little Man had a busted lip, and one of his wrists was swollen and purple. Mary had her left hand in a cast and a large bandage across her forehead that bore smears of blood that had seeped through the gauze. LM chuckled, but the noise morphed into a pitiful cough. “Had a little trouble.”
“No shit,” Morales said, coming forward. “Who did this to you two?”
The move earned him a menacing growl from Mary.
LM raised his uninjured right hand. “Careful, Macho. Sissy’s a little more protective than usual ever since the attack.”
Morales shot a worried look at the woman and backed away. “Sorry,” he said to Mary.
“Tell us,” I prompted. “Is this why you ran from us the other day?”
His gaze scooted left, as if he’d been hoping I’d have forgotten about that. “Had a misunderstanding with a business associate is all.” LM sighed and leaned back, like he was enjoying sharing his woes with an audience. “The fucking moon. Got people acting a fool.”