the initiative, surely.
Sera’s laptop rested on the breakfast bar. Hesitantly, I opened it and began searching James’s and Pamela’s names with no real idea what I was looking for. Vivian might be a computer genius, but she was hardly typical of our race. Most elementals weren’t renowned for their technical proficiency. We lived too long to hop on every new fad that appeared, and many of us had assumed that computers were just a passing trend.
I hadn’t shared that belief, but I’d disappeared during a decade when technology moved from something that was pretty cool to something that used to only exist in science fiction movies. I still had almost no idea what I was doing.
By the time Simon and Vivian appeared, I’d learned nothing of note about James, Pamela, or her mother but had somehow lost an hour on a website I’d never seen before. I looked up absently as they entered the room. “Where have you been? You have to see this site I found. It’s amazing.”
Vivian stood behind me to get a better view. “Wikipedia?” Her voice was strangled, the sound of someone trying desperately not to laugh.
I sighed. Apparently, my discovery was only thrilling to me. “Whatever. While you were out, I learned about every country music award from the last ten years, and none of you can take that away from me.”
“Find anything about the case?” This was from Sera, wandering into the room with a large yawn and heading directly for the coffee pot.
Somehow, the magical combination of blue links and honky tonk had pushed any sense of urgency from my brain. “Um, only if James is now living in Nashville.” She sent me a dry look that I cheerfully ignored. She couldn’t be too superior, considering she’d been in bed while I’d been hard at work. Well, intending to be hard at work.
Vivian grabbed the laptop and quickly typed an address, causing the wondrous Wikipedia to disappear. It was replaced quickly by a map of the Lake Tahoe basin. “Fortunately, some of us have been working this morning. Those of us the FBI isn’t paying, I might point out.”
“Free rent isn’t enough for you, Viv?” Sera filled a mug and hopped up on the breakfast bar, craning her neck to get a view of the screen.
“You know how much a hacker on the FBI payroll would make?” Vivian replied evenly, bringing up a small blinking dot on the screen.
Sera’s eyes narrowed, the expression of a woman formulating a plan. Machiavellian tendencies seemed to run in my family. “If I paid you, I’d have to pay Simon, too.” She turned to Simon. “But you’re still packed, aren’t you?”
Simon stepped away from the toaster, where he appeared to have been admiring his own reflection. “Yes, I still plan to return north. While I enjoy your company a surprising amount, I miss performing.”
“We could clap every time you shift.” I thought it was a helpful suggestion, but I only received a baleful stare in reply.
“Okay, got her.” Vivian tilted the laptop slightly, making it easier for everyone to see. “It looks like Carmen is currently at the gym. I’m guessing James isn’t with her.”
“Carmen?” I asked.
“Carmen Avila. Pamela’s mom, potential wearer of incriminating clothing and owner of an easily hacked cellphone GPS system. She’s all yours, ladies.”
Sera grabbed Vivian’s shoulders in a one-armed hug and squeezed lightly. “Never leave us, Vivian.”
Before Vivian left for class, she programmed my phone’s map application to show the blinking blue dot. Simon refused to accompany us, insisting we needed to learn to function without his brains and charm, and there was no answer when I knocked on Mac’s trailer. His Bronco wasn’t in the driveway, and I wasn’t certain he’d returned the night before.
When my phone rang two hours later, Sera and I were sitting in her Mustang half a block from a nail salon, attempting stealth in a car that steadfastly refused to blend. I answered on the first
Sera’s laptop rested on the breakfast bar. Hesitantly, I opened it and began searching James’s and Pamela’s names with no real idea what I was looking for. Vivian might be a computer genius, but she was hardly typical of our race. Most elementals weren’t renowned for their technical proficiency. We lived too long to hop on every new fad that appeared, and many of us had assumed that computers were just a passing trend.
I hadn’t shared that belief, but I’d disappeared during a decade when technology moved from something that was pretty cool to something that used to only exist in science fiction movies. I still had almost no idea what I was doing.
By the time Simon and Vivian appeared, I’d learned nothing of note about James, Pamela, or her mother but had somehow lost an hour on a website I’d never seen before. I looked up absently as they entered the room. “Where have you been? You have to see this site I found. It’s amazing.”
Vivian stood behind me to get a better view. “Wikipedia?” Her voice was strangled, the sound of someone trying desperately not to laugh.
I sighed. Apparently, my discovery was only thrilling to me. “Whatever. While you were out, I learned about every country music award from the last ten years, and none of you can take that away from me.”
“Find anything about the case?” This was from Sera, wandering into the room with a large yawn and heading directly for the coffee pot.
Somehow, the magical combination of blue links and honky tonk had pushed any sense of urgency from my brain. “Um, only if James is now living in Nashville.” She sent me a dry look that I cheerfully ignored. She couldn’t be too superior, considering she’d been in bed while I’d been hard at work. Well, intending to be hard at work.
Vivian grabbed the laptop and quickly typed an address, causing the wondrous Wikipedia to disappear. It was replaced quickly by a map of the Lake Tahoe basin. “Fortunately, some of us have been working this morning. Those of us the FBI isn’t paying, I might point out.”
“Free rent isn’t enough for you, Viv?” Sera filled a mug and hopped up on the breakfast bar, craning her neck to get a view of the screen.
“You know how much a hacker on the FBI payroll would make?” Vivian replied evenly, bringing up a small blinking dot on the screen.
Sera’s eyes narrowed, the expression of a woman formulating a plan. Machiavellian tendencies seemed to run in my family. “If I paid you, I’d have to pay Simon, too.” She turned to Simon. “But you’re still packed, aren’t you?”
Simon stepped away from the toaster, where he appeared to have been admiring his own reflection. “Yes, I still plan to return north. While I enjoy your company a surprising amount, I miss performing.”
“We could clap every time you shift.” I thought it was a helpful suggestion, but I only received a baleful stare in reply.
“Okay, got her.” Vivian tilted the laptop slightly, making it easier for everyone to see. “It looks like Carmen is currently at the gym. I’m guessing James isn’t with her.”
“Carmen?” I asked.
“Carmen Avila. Pamela’s mom, potential wearer of incriminating clothing and owner of an easily hacked cellphone GPS system. She’s all yours, ladies.”
Sera grabbed Vivian’s shoulders in a one-armed hug and squeezed lightly. “Never leave us, Vivian.”
Before Vivian left for class, she programmed my phone’s map application to show the blinking blue dot. Simon refused to accompany us, insisting we needed to learn to function without his brains and charm, and there was no answer when I knocked on Mac’s trailer. His Bronco wasn’t in the driveway, and I wasn’t certain he’d returned the night before.
When my phone rang two hours later, Sera and I were sitting in her Mustang half a block from a nail salon, attempting stealth in a car that steadfastly refused to blend. I answered on the first
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