“I’ll talk to Zara, see if she can dig up the names.”

On a hunch, I pulled the names of the jinn who’d attacked me in Underground. There wasn’t much in their file, but the employment listing confirmed my suspicion. At one time or another, two of the three jinn had worked as bodyguards to members of the CPP. I printed out the records and handed them to Hank over the monitor. “Take a look at this.”

Hank scanned the records. “None of them were working for the CPP when they attacked you, though,” he said, echoing my own thoughts.

If we took this to the chief now, he’d say the same thing. It didn’t prove anything. But to me it was like a big neon sign. The CPP wasn’t as law-abiding as it pretended to be.

Hank’s gaze met mine. “Says two of them were members of the local tribe.”

I nodded, knowing my look was as somber as his, but then I offered him a small smile and a shrug. Nothing I could do about that now.

We both knew it was only a matter of time before Grigori Tennin, the jinn boss, leader of the Atlanta tribe, issued a summons. A debt would have to be paid. And if I couldn’t afford the monetary value attributed to those two jinn, to reimburse the tribe for their loss, I’d be required to pay a blood debt.

I stood, stretching my arms over my head and yawning, too tired to think of jinn retribution. “Let’s go home. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

And, before my head hit the pillow tonight, I had decided to pay a little visit to the doctor who’d saved my life.

After Hank dropped me off at the house, I paused briefly on the porch steps, waiting until the taillights of his Mercedes disappeared around the corner before getting into my old Chevy Tahoe. Mott Technologies owned a massive research facility just off I-85 outside of Atlanta. It was way late, but common knowledge said Titus Mott kept late hours working in his lab.

The guy was Albert Einstein smart, and he was something of a celebrity here in Atlanta and beyond. Many thought he’d hightail it to DC once he and his team discovered the other dimensions, but he’d elected to stay and, with massive government funding, he’d built a research empire. I was also privy to some juicy family gossip, courtesy of Marti when she’d sit at my kitchen table and chat on days when she dropped Amanda off to babysit Emma.

After thirty-five minutes behind the wheel, my headlights illuminated the large gatehouse and landscaped grounds of Mott Technologies’ headquarters. Two guards stepped out of the gatehouse as I came to a stop in front of the yellow-and-black barrier. One of the guards walked around the back of the SUV and shined his flashlight into the backseat and then into the passenger side window as the other one approached my side and shined his light rudely in my face. Jerk.

“The facility is closed, ma’am,” he said. Lucky I didn’t snag said flashlight and clock him over the head with it.

“Yeah, unfortunately crime doesn’t take the night off, fellas.” I propped my elbow on the window ledge and showed him my badge. “I need to speak with Doctor Mott.”

The guy’s expression didn’t waver, my badge having little effect on him. He was probably Atlanta PD or ex-military moonlighting for a few extra bucks. “Sorry, no visitors.”

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I leaned closer, too tired to deal with this crap right now. “Number one, I’m not a visitor, and number two, just tell him I’m here. He’ll want to see me.”

Lines wrinkled his forehead, but he took my ID and told me to wait—like I was going anywhere with the other guard at my passenger window holding a semi-automatic and a gate in front of me.

Fingers tapping the steering wheel, I waited as the guard went into the small gatehouse and picked up the phone. Finally, the gate began to lift, and he waved me through as I snagged my ID from his outstretched hand. “Just drive on to the visitor entrance. Someone will meet you there.”

Honestly, I hadn’t really expected to get in, and I wasn’t even sure Mott remembered me. The last time I’d seen him was a chance encounter at the station when he’d unveiled the new and improved Nitro-gun to the chief. Mott had remembered me then. He’d even asked how I was getting along after my ordeal.

By chance, he’d been at the hospital the night they brought me in. And when the emergency room doctor pronounced me dead, Mott had stepped in, claiming a person could be brought back to life much longer after having been dead than traditionally thought. He’d worked on me until he proved himself right, after all the others had left him alone in that dim, sterile room, thinking it was a lost cause.

The dead cop and the wacky doctor. Imagine their surprise when my heart started beating again.

Thinking of Titus Mott made my blood pressure rise as I drove down the long, winding blacktop road framed by mature live oaks. The guy had saved my life. And we’d never spoken about what had happened in that room.

Mist had settled on the park-like grounds, and to my left, the moonlight reflected off the surface of a small lake. I’d left the window down to allow the crisp night air inside. The tangy smell of grass and leaves came with it. Bullfrogs echoed over the soft hum of the engine and the press of the tires on asphalt. It was beautiful out here; the kind of night that made me want to run, to leave all my troubles behind, race through the mist, and become part of the beauty all around me.

The road forked, drawing my attention back to the drive. I followed the visitor sign to the large, glass front entrance and parked in the reserved space closest to the main entrance. I hit the lights and turned off the ignition, the empty, dimly lit lot giving me the willies. Deep breath, Charlie.

The night air was cooler here in the woods surrounding the facility, refreshing and clean. I drew it inside of me in long inhalations, letting it calm me before moving to the door.

A circular reception desk and small lamp, still turned on, were visible through the glass front. There was no one waiting, and the door was locked. I stepped back, feeling like a moron. The security cameras caught my eye, and I turned in their direction, motioning toward the door. The bastards knew I was there. I resisted the urge to flip them the bird.

Keys finally jingled in the door. A short young man in a white lab coat slipped every key on the ring into the lock before finally getting the right one. Successful, he gave me a quick victory smile and shoved his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry about that, Detective,” he mumbled as I entered the sterile lobby. He fell in step beside me, directing me across the polished wood floor to the executive elevator. “Doctor Mott is in his lab, but” —he slid a card key into the elevator slot—“he’s looking forward to speaking with you.”

Relief surged through me as I stepped into the elevator. “I wasn’t sure he’d remember me,” I confessed.

“Oh, no worries there. He never forgets a face or a name. Genius and all …” He pressed the sixth button.

Instinctively, I braced for the lift, but gasped as the elevator went down instead.

“Should’ve warned you about that. All the labs are underground.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Andy Myers, Doctor Mott’s assistant. Well, one of them. He has a herd of us.”

I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

We faced the doors, waiting in that polite yet awkward silence. I caught Andy staring intermittently at me and each time our eyes met, he smiled quickly and then looked away. It didn’t make an ounce of sense, but I had the feeling he was particularly excited to see me, like a kid with a juicy secret just itching to tell all his friends. His reaction made me more self-conscious than I already was.

Get over it, Charlie. Nothing to be nervous about.

I squared my shoulders and focused on the steel door in front of me, using the moment to tuck my hair behind my ears, scolding myself for not remembering to grab a clip before I’d left for The Bath House earlier. I rarely wore it down for work and was so used to having it up and out of my line of sight that when it was down, it became one of those incredibly irritating distractions. I should cut it all off; I just never could bring myself to actually do it.