Chapter 24

"You sure that was a smart idea?" Monroe asked after I told him about Sandra. "Nussesser are Chatty Cathys, man. Especially the women. You get a few of them together, and it's like one of those sewing circles, you know? They aren't the type to keep secrets."

"Well, she was a bit concerned about you, and she's harmless. I like Sandra, and keeping this from her has been really difficult. I trust she can keep this kind of secret."

"What about Natalie? You gonna tell her, too?"

"She still hasn't had a woge, so I don't know what to do about that, yet." I sighed. "When she came up to us at the bar did you pick up on anything?"

"Nah, she smelled like a few different ones. Once this cold clears up, I'll be able to tell for sure."

"Well, if she is, then I'll probably let her know, too."

"That low profile isn't going to be very low if you keep this up," Monroe warned.

"I know, but I'm not flaunting it to just anyone. It'll be all right."

"Okay," Monroe unconvincingly said. "Just be careful about it."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Once we arrived back to my house, Monroe walked me to my door.

"So, umm, the meeting might be a few hours long. I'll call you when I'm done, and I'll come over here tonight… I mean, if that's okay?"

Sure that's fine." I smiled at him. "I'm working from home tomorrow, so I can stay up late."

"Good, 'cause it might be past midnight when I return."

"Will that give you enough time to do your routine in the morning?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine." He kissed my forehead. "I'll pack the reformer in the car."

"I could just meet you at your place. I'd hate for you to go to all that trouble."

"It's no trouble. I'll bring it over and maybe you can wake up and do a little Pilates with me?" His puppy dog eyes emerged. How could I say no to that?

I grinned up at him as I lingered in the doorway. "Okay, deal."

After Monroe left, I showered and changed into something less fancy. As I settled on the couch my cell rang. It was Nick.

"Hello?" I asked with uncertainty.

"Renée. Hey. What are you and Monroe doing tonight? He's not answering his phone."

"Monroe is meeting a few friends tonight, and I'm about to catch up on Jeopardy."

"Huh," he replied. "Well, would you mind helping me tonight? How's your German?"

"Uh, I took one semester, but I'm better at French," I said. "Is your Google Translate not working?"

"Google Translate?"

"Yeah. You just go to Google. There's an English-to-German translator."

"Oh… Well, I really don't…" he trailed off.

I suppressed a sigh. "I have a few hours to kill before Monroe returns. I'll bring my laptop and what I can't decipher, Google will."

"Okay, then. I'll see you here soon. And make sure you're not being followed. Monroe knows that, but since you…"

"I can handle it, Nick," I assured him.

"Good. Make sure that you do."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

I cautiously drove the streets to the seedy parking lot on Northwest 17th Avenue, watching for any suspicious cars behind me. Sure enough, there wasn't anyone trying to follow me to the secret clubhouse.

Monroe had been right. This place was even creepier in the dark. I parked as close as I could to the trailer and cautiously exited the car. Fortunately I only had to knock once, and Nick opened the door quickly. I went inside and set down my computer bag on the trailer bed. Not only had I brought my laptop, but I'd also brought my portable scanner. I wanted a better copy of my family tree.

"So, I'm trying to get a few of these pages figured out on Mordstiers. Some of it is in English, but the rest…" He held his hands up. "I don't know."

Nick pointed to his chair behind the desk. I edged toward the chair, hovering slightly.

"It's fine, Renée. Have at it."

"Okay." I sat down and surveyed the page in front of me. "There isn't much German on here. Most of this is already in English. Massive horns and skin that's thicker than body armor. That's pretty accurate."

Nick came over and pointed to a German section. "But what is this?"

"Hmm… It's relating Mordstiers to Taureus-Armenta and the ancient Minotaurs," I said, "but let's use Google to translate this next part, because it's beyond me."

I loaded my laptop and typed in the text as Nick watched.

I angled the laptop where Nick could read. "Here we go: 'The Mordstier dates back to an ancient race of Minotaur. Minotaurs spread out from their home island to explore the world. In the neighboring lands of Midgard, Hibernia, and Albion they came in contact with the fledgling kingdoms of man. They left only vague impressions on the men they encountered, sparking tales of bull gods and horned men, but making no solid ties. Like Minotaurs, Mordstiers prefer to live underground and limit contact with their surrounding areas.'"

"Wow." Nick's blue-green eyes widened with surprise. "That was fast."

"The power of Google," I replied with a grin. "The only thing I can't get a translation on is the reference to Taureus-Armenta. The words themselves are Latin for 'Bull Herd,' but I can't tell if they mean it's a relation to the Mordstier, or if it's another term for the Mordstier. I've never heard of a Taureus-Armenta, but it doesn't mean there couldn't be one out there. But I also never realized Mordstiers were the burrowing types." I shook my head. "Although, I've only seen two or three, so perhaps that's why."

"You've seen a Mordstier?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and many other Wesen. So, this one you saw yesterday… What happened?"

"We had a guy in on a B and E that turned into one, but he wouldn't talk to me once he sensed I could see him. Although, I wasn't sure exactly what he was at the time to say much of anything. When I couldn't reach you guys, I came here on lunch and located the Wesen name. Monroe was able to fill in some of the gaps once he finally answered his phone."

"Did being Wesen make a difference as to why he was arrested?"

"Well, not exactly."

I tilted my head slightly. "So, it wasn't really all that important that you knew what he was?"

"Well, it might have been important."

"But you just said it wasn't."

Nick scowled at me. He didn't seem to like where my questions were leading. "I may need to know for future reference."

"No, that I get, but you didn't need to call when most of your answers were here in this book."

"It took a while to find that book."

"There isn't an index?"

"Renée, they're journals. It's all random."

I glanced at my laptop. My organizational mind was spinning like a top. It definitely didn't have to be random.

"May I look at the rest of this book?" I asked.

Nick shrugged. "Sure."

I thumbed through the pages. Random didn't begin to describe it. There was no rhyme or reason why a Mordstier would come before a Siegbarste. I shook my head.

"So how many books are in here?" I asked, continuing to turn pages.

"A few dozen or so. Maybe more."

I stopped as my eyes shot up. "You don't know?"

"I keep finding things as I go along. Some books were hidden behind shelves," he said and opened a cabinet, "while others were stored in here with the film. They're all over this trailer." It reminded me of my notebooks at the old apartment.

Nick's cell rang as I was about to ask more.

"Burkhardt," he said. "Great. Yeah I can be there in twenty." He hung up quickly. "I need to go follow up on lead with this Japanese exhibit case we've been working on."

I stood abruptly. "Well, I hope I was some help."

Nick paused like he was thinking. "I'm coming back here afterwards. If you want to stay and translate some more, that would be a big help."

I held back my giddiness. "Yeah. I could do that. Do you think it's safe here with what might be out there?" I could already envision Monroe emphatically shaking his head, 'no.'

"Yeah, I've never been followed here. And you did watch to make sure you weren't followed, correct?"

"Yes. I took the long way here and kept an eye out."

"I shouldn't be gone more than an hour or so."

I sat back down in the chair. "Okay, then I'll get to work."

Nick gave me a toothy grin. "Good. I'll be back soon. I'm locking the trailer door, so don't try to leave."

"Okay." I smiled and gave a small wave of my hand.

After Nick had left, a big grin spread across my face. I had permission to research, organize, and translate. This was my version of Christmas!

A/N: Ooh, Renée is getting to hit the books.