A guy in nothing but a Speedo, openly carrying a beer bottle, distracted me through the window and made a lewd gesture with his hips. I gritted my teeth, imagining what would happen if I set his Speedo on fire.

Clenching a fist against the door handle, I watched the lights of downtown fade in the rearview mirror and wished the cabbie would step on it. I hoped Ember was okay. I didn’t like leaving her alone, especially with St. George close by, but I had no choice. This meeting was important and, like it or not, I had to follow through. Griffin had sent me the information an hour ago, saying the contact wanted to meet face-to-face, away from prying eyes, and had refused to come to the hotel. Which meant I had to go to him, and, annoying as that was, I couldn’t say no. Nor did I want the other three trailing along while St. George was in town. Better for me to go alone; I was used to this type of thing, and if the Order jumped me, at least it was just my neck at risk. I’d told Wes to keep an eye on both the girl and the soldier; he was instructed to contact me immediately if he suspected there might be trouble.

I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The taxi pulled up outside a skeevy-looking diner several blocks from the glittering brilliance of the Strip. The sidewalk wasn’t well lit, and a couple thuggish-looking humans argued with each other near the entrance. Keeping an eye on them, I wrenched open the glass door and stepped inside.

The interior of the diner was dim and smelled like grease, smoke and too many humans packed into a small space. A couple Hell’s Angels eyed me as I made my way across the floor, and I hoped my boots and leather jacket wouldn’t offend them enough to pick a fight. I wasn’t here to toss bikers through windows, amusing as that sounded. I needed to find that contact.

A dark figure in a corner booth caught my eye, and a thin hand twitched in a beckoning motion. Easing around a waitress, I walked over and slid into the seat across from him, trying not to curl a lip. The human was pale and unnaturally thin, with sallow cheeks and lank, greasy hair hanging to his shoulders. The huge sunken eyes, glazed over and unfocused, told me everything I needed to know.

“Griffin said you’d be able to hook me up.” The human’s voice was a raspy whisper, greedy and hopeful. He feverishly scratched at his arm, like he had spiders crawling on it. “Fifty bucks to tell you what I know, that was the deal.” He scratched his other arm, leaving thin red welts down his skin. “You got the cash?”

“If the information is good,” I replied, thinking I was going to kill Griffin when I got back. How in the hell was this a “reliable contact”? “Let’s hear what you know, and I’ll decide if it’s valid.”

“No way, man.” The human shook his head, making his hair whip back and forth. “That wasn’t the deal. Cash first, then info. Take it or leave it.”

“Fine.” I stood, dusting off my hands. “I don’t need info this badly. Enjoy your nothing. I’m gone.”

“Wait!” The human half rose from his seat, flinging out a hand. I paused, glancing back with cool disinterest. “All right, all right,” he hissed. “I’ll tell you what I know. But I’m not crazy, okay? I know what I saw.” He squirmed, casting wary looks around the diner as if someone was listening to us. No one was; the whispered rambles of a junkie in a dark corner didn’t merit a second glance here. I sat down, waiting silently, while he assured himself no one was lurking in the shadows in the next booth. Finally he hunched forward across the table, his eyes even wilder than before.

“My buddies and I, we have this squat several miles past the Strip, right? One of those big, half-finished hotels that was abandoned when the recession hit. It’s been empty for years, and we don’t bother no one, okay?” He sounded defensive, as if he thought I would care what he and his friends did on other people’s property. I didn’t say anything, and he dropped his head, his voice becoming a harsh whisper.

“So, a couple nights ago, we come back to find these two chicks in our squat, right? Pretty ones, not from around here. We thought they were runaways.”

That piqued my interest. “How old were they?” I asked, making the guy flinch.

“Um.” He scratched at his arms. “Fifteen? Sixteen? It was hard to tell, man. It was dark. Plus, they bolted when they saw us. We, um…followed them to the upper floors.” He must’ve seen the fury in my eyes, because he jerked back, holding up his hands. “Just to talk. Hey, they were in our room, man. Two chicks show up unannounced in your squat, you wanna know why. If they in trouble with the cops, you need some sort of insurance to keep them hidden, you know?”

I took a furtive breath to keep from incinerating this lowlife on the spot. “So what happened?”

The human blinked glazed brown eyes. “Uh, right. So, anyway, we followed them to the top floors. To talk to them.” He emphasized talk. “You know, because it was dangerous up there, all unfinished and shit. We didn’t want them stepping on a nail or falling off the edge, right? We were worried they’d get hurt.”

Right, I thought furiously. And I’m a were-newt. “You’re wasting my time,” I warned, glancing at the window as if I was bored. “And not telling me anything worthwhile. You have about five seconds to make this interesting. Four. Three.”

“Chill, man, chill. I’m getting to that part.” The guy’s face turned the color of old glue, and he leaned forward, his voice a reedy whisper. “So, we went up there, looking for those girls,” he rasped, while I contemplated how satisfying it would be to break his nose. “And we were poking around these half-finished floors. It’s like a maze, right, but we knew they couldn’t have gone far. But then, we looked up into the rafters and…” The human trembled. Shook violently, like he was in desperate need of a fix. The water glass on the table rattled, and the utensils clinked together until the guy took his arms from the table, putting them into his lap.