Today I had to help Gary.

I parked, strode into the hospital, and took the elevator up to his floor. The demons on the door had been replaced and I nodded at them when they greeted me.

Gary’s status was still the same, and the healer gave me another one of her sympathetic smiles when I stepped into the room.

Where was the mother of his kids? I’d never asked him, figuring that if he wasn’t with her, he probably didn’t want to talk about it, but maybe she should know what had happened.

Although Gary hadn’t told me to get the boys to her. He’d specifically told me to keep them safe myself.

“Did Gary have anything in his pockets when he came in?”

The healer hesitated. “We’re not supposed to give that information out. Patient privacy.”

I forced myself to blow out a long, slow breath. Then I held up my arm. The light glinted off the gold and her eyes narrowed on the demon mark before they moved back to my face. “Very well.”

She turned and unlocked a drawer in the small table next to Gary’s bed. Then she left me to it.

I studied the items. A set of keys, Gary’s wallet, and a small planner. Searching through his stuff felt like a violation, but if it led me to his attacker, I’d do it a thousand times.

I rifled through his wallet, swallowing around the lump in my throat at the picture of him with his boys, all of their faces lit up with laughter as they posed in front of a human amusement park. There were a few parking stubs from last week, and I noted down the addresses, but that was about it.

His planner on the other hand… who knew Gary was so organized? It made sense, given that he was a single dad running a business and raising two kids, but I hadn’t expected his neat handwriting to detail every moment of every day. From his work schedule to his plans to take the boys to the park, all of it was in here.

The only meeting he’d noted down was with someone he called “The Bladesmith.” I jotted down the date and time. They’d met at Meredith’s. Hmmm.

I whispered goodbye to Gary and left the hospital, heading back toward Main Street and Meredith’s Bar.

Mere was polishing glasses when I arrived, her long hair curling around her face. I scanned the place, but there were only a few patrons dotted here and there, most of them drinking alone. I sat down at her scarred bar, shaking my head when she reached for a glass. “I can’t stay. You probably heard about the attack on Gary, right?”

“Of course. Are you looking into it?”

“Yeah. He met someone here last week. A guy called The Bladesmith. Do you know who that is?”