No Quest For The Wicked

Thor opened his mouth to continue his story, but before he could begin speaking again, Rod asked, “What does this have to do with the brooch?”

“According to the newspaper, Mimi is putting on a gala tonight, and the article mentions that she’s engaged to billionaire Jonathan Martin. We’ve got our missing fiancée. Does nobody read the newspaper anymore? MSI research should have found this in five minutes.” Of all mornings, this had to be the one when I’d gone to work before at least skimming the headlines. I’d have seen Mimi’s photo and drawn devil horns on it, so I surely would have made this connection long before now.

“I thought she was engaged to someone named Werner,” Owen said.

“Yeah, a year ago,” I said. “She’s obviously upgraded to someone older and richer.”

“This looks promising,” Rod agreed. “But what makes you so sure she’s the one who has the brooch?”

“Because … because …” I trailed off. I knew what I feared, but was that the same thing as having good reason to suspect? “Because it’s the best lead we’ve got,” I finally said. “And, believe me, if it is Mimi, we’re in huge trouble.” They looked skeptical, so I added, “I know it sounds like I’m exaggerating, but the way you describe what the Eye does to people? That’s her normally. She likes power and she’s kind of passive-aggressive about it. She likes people being afraid of her while she pretends to be nice. She’ll act like your best friend, but you never know when she’ll snap and get ugly on you. Now, give her extra sway over people, more power lust, and invulnerability, and we’ve got problems.”

Under the table, Owen gave my knee a gentle squeeze. I wasn’t sure if he meant it to be reassuring or to tell me to chill. He said, “It is the best lead we’ve got, and from my one meeting with the woman, I have to say that we should at least rule her out.” He turned to me and asked, “Where would we find her?”

“We know where she’ll be tonight,” Rod said, pointing at the newspaper.

I shook my head. “That’ll be too late. She’ll have started World War Three by then.”

“She had the brooch in the box when she left the restaurant, so its effects are shielded,” Owen reminded me. “Maybe she won’t put it on until she gets dressed for the event—and if we’re lucky, she doesn’t know what she has.”

“The sooner we get to it, the better,” I said. I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to think clearly. Working for Mimi was the reason I’d been willing to respond to a very suspicious-sounding job offer in my e-mail, which led me to a magical company. I had to be desperate to even consider talking to someone about an unspecified job at an unnamed company, but they’d contacted me on a day when Mimi was at her worst, and I couldn’t resist any opportunity to escape.

But she had no power over me anymore. She wasn’t my boss, and her magic doodad wouldn’t affect someone immune to magic. Not to mention, we were on a more equal footing now. My current job was on the same level as the job she’d held when I worked for her. She may have been engaged to a billionaire, but I was dating a millionaire who was much younger and way hotter.

And if I was right about her having the brooch, then it was my mission to defeat her. This had just become the best day ever.

Owen asked, “Where do you think we’d find her before the gala?”

“It doesn’t sound like she has a day job anymore,” I said. “I bet everyone back at my old company is thrilled about that.” I frowned. “And I wonder why they didn’t let me know. I’d have thought they’d invite me to the ‘Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead’ party.”

“You were out of town for the first part of the year,” Owen reminded me.

“Oh yeah. It’s funny how long ago that seems. Well, if she’s not at work, maybe she’s at home. Do you think the office could get her home address? I doubt any info I have would be current.”

“I’ll call,” Rod said, getting up from the table as he reached for his phone.

Owen asked, “Any other ideas?”

“I think I was too successful at repressing that part of my life. I’m sure on the day she has a gala event she’d get her hair and nails done. I can’t remember where she went, even though I used to make those appointments. Chances are, she’s pissed those people off by now, anyway. She never could stick with one stylist for long. And I’m sure she’s upgraded from wherever she went when she was paying for it herself.”