When Nita had her fill of pink drinks and scoping out New York singletons in the bar, we went to a restaurant with a sidewalk café for dinner. After the earlier rainstorm, the evening felt fresh and cool, so it was pleasant outdoors. “This is so awesome!” Nita gushed, staring around the sidewalk. “I feel like a rock star.” Then her jaw dropped as she gasped. “Oh my gosh! I totally forgot to tell you! I saw that guy from that band today. They must be playing in New York.”
“What band?” Gemma asked.
“You mean Katie didn’t tell you? Well, not long before she came back here, this rock band stayed in our motel. They must have been getting away from it all or writing an album, or something, but they caused some problems and my brother threw them out.”
“That band?” I blurted as my heart sped up and got stuck in my throat. When Idris had come to my hometown to teach magic to previously undiscovered wizards, Nita had decided (with some nudging from me because I thought it might explain some of his eccentric wizard behavior) that Idris was a rock star hiding out in a small town. It took all my self-control not to sound demanding as I leaned across the table and asked, “Where did you see him?”
“Not too far from the hotel, when I went out to lunch. I thought about going up to him and saying something, but then I remembered that my brother kicked him out of the motel, and I didn’t think he’d be all that thrilled to see me.”
Marcia got a look of sudden revelation, her mouth opening into an O, but I kicked her under the table before she could say anything. I’d told her about my adventures back home, and I could tell she’d figured out who the rock star really was.
I wanted nothing more than to jump up right then and run to the hotel to search that whole area, but I reminded myself that Nita had seen Idris around noon, and he probably wasn’t still hanging around. Then I remembered that I still had Owen’s cell phone. “I’m going to make a quick trip to the ladies’ room,” I said. “Be back in a sec.”
It was counterintuitive to head inside to talk on the phone, since it was noisier and the signal was weaker indoors, but this wasn’t a conversation I could let Nita overhear. I scrolled through the directory. Surely Owen had Sam on speed dial. Ah, there he was. I placed the call and hoped that Sam had whatever communications technology or magic he used working.
The gargoyle answered on the second ring. “Hey, Katie!” he said.
“How’d you know it was me?”
“You’re calling from Owen’s phone, and he’s not in a place where he can make phone calls at the moment. Who else would it be? So, what’s up, doll?”
“I’ve heard about an Idris sighting earlier today.” I gave him the time and approximate location as Nita had described it. “We need to check it out. If we can capture him and get him to talk, that might help Owen’s case. And I’m sure I could think of some ways to make him talk. I’d certainly enjoy trying.”
“You and me both. I’m on it, sweetheart.”
The evening ended early, since Nita was working mornings, and her eyelids were growing heavy by nine. As we left the restaurant, Marcia grabbed my arm and said, “Want to go do something else?” She didn’t let go until Gemma said she was heading home with Nita to call Philip. When they were gone, Marcia said, “What’s going on? You and Rod have both been acting weird since Wednesday, and I can’t get him to tell me why. You won’t talk in front of Nita. So now that Nita’s gone, spill.”
I gave her the short version, to which she responded with a low whistle and a shake of her head. “No wonder Rod’s been nuts, and I’m amazed you’re as sane as you are. You think this guy Nita saw is Idris?”
“It sounds like it. Or it could be a real New York wannabe rock star who looks like him.”
“Let’s go check it out.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I found Idris, aside from maybe knocking out a few teeth and sitting on him until Sam got there, but I was tired of inaction. Marcia and I headed back to the hotel to canvass the neighborhood, and as we walked, I brought her up to date on all the recent happenings. By the time I was done, she was ready to go after Idris with her bare hands, too.
I took mental note of the businesses in that general area. There might have been a Spellworks store Idris was visiting, but I wouldn’t see it because those stores were mostly illusion, and Marcia wouldn’t see it because the stores were veiled against the nonmagical. However, I didn’t see any cheap-looking, nearly blank storefronts with no signage—the way Spellworks stores looked to me—so I doubted that was what brought Idris to the area. No, he must have been going to one of the hundreds of restaurants and delis, which didn’t mean he frequented the neighborhood. “We’re probably wasting our time,” I said after we’d been walking for an hour.
