The Reluctant Dom (44 page)
“Thanks, man,” Gery said. Geryon Arnold was huge, well over six feet tall and broad as a bull. His close-cropped black hair and brown eyes endowed him with a military look. Not many people talked back to Gery when he stared them down but he was under normal circumstances a friendly, if not quiet man. Will had known him for centuries and counted on his strength more times than he cared to remember. Will still counted on Gery, even though Gery still officially worked for the Firm.
Aidan handed Will a cup of coffee, took one for himself, and sat the carrier on Gery's desk. “Where's Purs?” Aidan asked.
Gery shook his head. “He'll be here. He had a hot date last night.”
“I wish he could keep it in his pants for once,” Will growled.
Aidan laughed. “Dude, you could have all the girls you want.” He pointed to a plastic crate on the floor next to Gery's desk. It overflowed with fan mail. “You probably have twenty marriage proposals and fifteen requests to father children in there. Pick one.”
Will glared at him. Aidan dropped it. When his cousin's slate grey eyes turned midnight blue it was time to change the subject, and Aidan damn well knew it.
* * * *
Will grabbed his clipboard and started checking equipment. Their three assistants and four volunteer investigators working on the shoot tonight had day jobs. They'd arrive at the
Otherworlds
office that also housed his production company just north of downtown Tampa around four. That left plenty of time to caravan everyone over to the University of Tampa and set up the equipment for the shoot.
Aidan had sweet-talked someone in authority into letting them investigate Plant Hall and the Henry B. Plant Museum. Will didn't want to know how Aidan finagled that one. Some mysteries were best left unsolved.
The door to the back room opened. Purson Gibraltar stuck his head in. “Hey, boss. Need help?”
“Nice of you to finally join us.”
Smiling, Purson slipped inside and closed the door behind him. “You know what it's like, Will.”
“No, I don't.”
“Come on, one of these days you'll meet someone and she'll change your mind.” At least, he hoped Will would. The other three men didn't want to contemplate losing Will Hellenboek, not when he'd been their friend and leader for countless years.
Will's knuckles turned white as he struggled not to throw the FLIR camera case in his hands at his friend. “I don't want to talk about this, Purs.”
Purson shrugged his broad shoulders and fixed his friend with his piercing blue eyes. “Whatever. Aidan said we've got a new producer joining us?”
“Unfortunately.” Will handed Purson the clipboard and started sorting through a carton of power cords. “Freaking network wonk, probably some kid wet behind the ears and right out of college who wants to change the world.”
“We should be so lucky.”
“I'm not in the mood for your shit today, Purs.”
Purson started to playfully bust Will's balls, then remembered it was Wednesday. Will was always in a foul mood on Wednesdays. “Sorry.”
* * * *
The others gave Will a wide berth for the rest of the day. The
Otherworlds
show was in its third season and going gangbusters. The network film crew would show up around three to start filming B-roll and set-up shots. Cal Martin's flight was scheduled to arrive at Tampa International late that afternoon. He would join them at the University of Tampa campus after arriving.
This wasn't Will's idea. He was happy running a small, local production company making commercials, small Florida-based documentaries, shooting stock footage and syndicated pieces, and other low-budget jobs. He still wasn't sure how Aidan had managed to take his hobby and get them involved in ... this.
Three-ring circus didn't begin to describe what it'd turned into.
Sci-Fi Channel
had their own popular show. Otherworlds was the low-budget version on the
gO!
Television Network. “
With little gee and a really big OH!
” declared the network's slightly stupefying slogan. They built their rep ripping off reality shows from the big cable networks like the
Discovery Channel
and
History Channel
. Their show investigated and debunked not just reports of ghosts, but other myths, including the Swamp Ape and Bermuda Triangle, among others.
While Aidan's idea, Will had been roped into being the co-host because of his quiet, brooding, serious temperament. Aidan was the playful, funny one, and most likely to claim ghost even when he damn well knew there wasn't. Will played the Professor to Aidan's Gilligan, and the public loved it.
No, Will understood exactly why he got involved—because he tried to keep the Firm off Aidan's ass. If Will kept Aidan in line, at least until he could leave this freaking earthly plane for good, they'd be less likely to come down on Aidan for using his insider knowledge to spice up their show.
Not hard to do when you're an archdemon.
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