are about zero, but I can always hope.
Chapter 8
The joys of a pregnant woman
The apartment complex I pull into looks pretty high-end. Of course, after meeting Mr. and Mrs. Willard, I only expect the best for their little girl. I pull around to building four and find a nice place close to the entrance. The change in speed from highway to city awoke Lemonhead in the back seat, but thankfully, he hasn't opened his mouth, yet.
“So, we all going in or what?” he finally asks.
“Can't you guys just let me go check it out by myself? I don't feel any paranorms in the area and I think I can handle questioning one human.”
“You know the rules,” Jonas says as a reprimand. “I will go with. Jake can stand guard down here and make sure no undesirables get in behind us.”
“You do notice all the fancy cars parked around us. I am pretty sure we are the only undesirables that have ever visited this place.” There might be a crazy uncle somewhere out there that stopped by, but I highly doubt it.
“You know you aren't getting around this, so don't try. We will go up and I promise to stay in the background. Two sets of eyes are better than one, even if the main set of eyes is yours, Princess.”
“Fine. Let's get this over with,” I say hopping out of the car.
As we walk in the front door, which I have to say I am surprised there isn't a level of security there, I start picking up faint traces of something that smells like strawberries. We climb the stairs to the third level and the closer we come to our destination the stronger the smell gets.
“I have a feeling your case is about to get exponentially more complicated,” Jonas tells me as we stop in front of the door that says 324.
“Why would you say that?” I ask raising my hand to knock. All I pick up is the dang strawberries and I doubt there is a giant strawberry army behind the door.
After I tap twice, I turn to him. “Because there has been a demon spending an awful lot of time behind that door, if the stench is any indication.”
“All I smell is strawberries. What do you smell?”
“Sulfur. It's clinging to the air pretty good. For as strong as it is, I would say within the last month a demon has been in residence here.”
Hmm. Interesting. Something to put away for later. I go to knock on the door again, but it swings open to reveal a very pregnant woman. At least I hope she is pregnant because while her belly is huge, the rest of her looks frail and petite.
“I didn't order anything,” she says glaring between me and Jonas. Oh joy, a pregnant chick with attitude.
“Would you happen to be Jillian Murphy?” I ask.
“Who wants to know?” Maybe I shouldn't have shown up in my combat gear. I did leave most of the artillery in the car, so she should be thankful. Now that I think about it, my weapons are all hidden, so I don’t know what her problem is.
“I am Nyx Slaughter and this is my associate Jonas. I have been hired to look into the disappearance of Felicity Willard. This is her apartment, correct?”
After giving us both another once over, she steps back and opens the door. “You might as well come in. It wouldn't be prudent to have this conversation in the hallway.”
I imagine in a place like this, being seen with the likes of me and Jonas wouldn’t put anybody on the tenant of the month ballot.
We walk in and she leads us towards a sofa. The apartment has a wide open feel similar to mine, but I can see a couple doors that probably have the bedrooms behind them. The furniture and décor is straight from the 70s. There are bean bag chairs, shag carpet and lava lamps. Not at all what I expected and the smell of strawberries is overwhelming. I can just imagine how Jonas must be enjoying it.
“You have a very nice home here, Ms. Murphy,” I say working on my politeness.
“Yeah, well, Fliss did the decorating. She was in a hippie phase and wanted to do something that would appall her mom at the same
Chapter 8
The joys of a pregnant woman
The apartment complex I pull into looks pretty high-end. Of course, after meeting Mr. and Mrs. Willard, I only expect the best for their little girl. I pull around to building four and find a nice place close to the entrance. The change in speed from highway to city awoke Lemonhead in the back seat, but thankfully, he hasn't opened his mouth, yet.
“So, we all going in or what?” he finally asks.
“Can't you guys just let me go check it out by myself? I don't feel any paranorms in the area and I think I can handle questioning one human.”
“You know the rules,” Jonas says as a reprimand. “I will go with. Jake can stand guard down here and make sure no undesirables get in behind us.”
“You do notice all the fancy cars parked around us. I am pretty sure we are the only undesirables that have ever visited this place.” There might be a crazy uncle somewhere out there that stopped by, but I highly doubt it.
“You know you aren't getting around this, so don't try. We will go up and I promise to stay in the background. Two sets of eyes are better than one, even if the main set of eyes is yours, Princess.”
“Fine. Let's get this over with,” I say hopping out of the car.
As we walk in the front door, which I have to say I am surprised there isn't a level of security there, I start picking up faint traces of something that smells like strawberries. We climb the stairs to the third level and the closer we come to our destination the stronger the smell gets.
“I have a feeling your case is about to get exponentially more complicated,” Jonas tells me as we stop in front of the door that says 324.
“Why would you say that?” I ask raising my hand to knock. All I pick up is the dang strawberries and I doubt there is a giant strawberry army behind the door.
After I tap twice, I turn to him. “Because there has been a demon spending an awful lot of time behind that door, if the stench is any indication.”
“All I smell is strawberries. What do you smell?”
“Sulfur. It's clinging to the air pretty good. For as strong as it is, I would say within the last month a demon has been in residence here.”
Hmm. Interesting. Something to put away for later. I go to knock on the door again, but it swings open to reveal a very pregnant woman. At least I hope she is pregnant because while her belly is huge, the rest of her looks frail and petite.
“I didn't order anything,” she says glaring between me and Jonas. Oh joy, a pregnant chick with attitude.
“Would you happen to be Jillian Murphy?” I ask.
“Who wants to know?” Maybe I shouldn't have shown up in my combat gear. I did leave most of the artillery in the car, so she should be thankful. Now that I think about it, my weapons are all hidden, so I don’t know what her problem is.
“I am Nyx Slaughter and this is my associate Jonas. I have been hired to look into the disappearance of Felicity Willard. This is her apartment, correct?”
After giving us both another once over, she steps back and opens the door. “You might as well come in. It wouldn't be prudent to have this conversation in the hallway.”
I imagine in a place like this, being seen with the likes of me and Jonas wouldn’t put anybody on the tenant of the month ballot.
We walk in and she leads us towards a sofa. The apartment has a wide open feel similar to mine, but I can see a couple doors that probably have the bedrooms behind them. The furniture and décor is straight from the 70s. There are bean bag chairs, shag carpet and lava lamps. Not at all what I expected and the smell of strawberries is overwhelming. I can just imagine how Jonas must be enjoying it.
“You have a very nice home here, Ms. Murphy,” I say working on my politeness.
“Yeah, well, Fliss did the decorating. She was in a hippie phase and wanted to do something that would appall her mom at the same
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