Page 10 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

Stan and I had gone out on one-and-a-half dates already. They had been okay but had lacked the spark I craved. I’d finally had to tell him that I thought of him more like a brother. Stan was a great guy, but – he wasn’t Connor.

‘Hi, Stan,’ I greeted the shifter leader, keeping my tone professional. ‘Thanks for the help with the protestors.’

‘Bunny.’ He tempered the smile a little then it brightened when he remembered something. His eyes twinkled with mischief. ‘Why did the rabbit pursue a career in stand-up comedy?’

When I’d shot Stan down on the dating front, he’d promised that he would stop pursuing me but that he’d also subject me to a raft of bunny-related jokes. I sighed. I knew this one. ‘Because she’s very bunny.’

Stan grinned. ‘Next time I’ll get you with one you don’t already know.’

I doubted it; I’d heard them all. ‘I can’t wait,’ I said drily. ‘What brings you in tonight?’

His face grew serious, which was rare. ‘Connor rang about the fire gem theft. He was annoyingly close-mouthed about the circumstances, but the land shifters guard the wind gemstone. Is there anything I need to know about the break-in?’

‘Well for one thing, it doesn’t appear to be a break-in. No signs of forced entry.’

Some tension left his shoulders. ‘So it was probably a one-off insider job.’

‘Maybe. It feels too coincidental that there was a huge barrier protest around the time the gem was stolen. Anti-barrier sentiment is rising. At this stage we can only surmise the intentions of the thief, but my gut says to put more shifters on patrol and tell the other groups to do the same as well.’

He nodded and leaned on the counter. ‘Good advice, Bunny.’ Ugh: Portlock politics. Connor had already rung Stan to say exactly the same thing, yet here he was wanting to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth.

I sat at my desk and pulled out a notepad. ‘Since I’ve got you here, talk to me about the stone. What is the wind gem, and is it kept in a metal box about a foot square?’

Stan laughed. ‘You’re always working, aren’t you, Bunny? All work and no play make for a dull day.’

‘I’m on shift,’ I said drily, ‘and I play plenty.’ Just not with you. ‘The gem?’

‘It’s a diamond about the size of your fist.’ Measuring things by fist size wasn’t totally accurate because Stan’s fist and mine were very different. He had huge paws.

‘Has the gem been cut?’

‘I’m not an expert on precious stones, but yeah, I’d say so. I saw it once. It was very sparkly.’

‘Any idea what it’s worth?’

He shook his head. ‘No idea, but it’s priceless to us.’

Good point. Any Portlockian would value the jewel highly, but I suspected an outsider would think it had significant monetary worth. The British crown had some large, spectacular diamonds and they were worth several billion. If this diamond was the size of a fist, had been cut and had few inclusions, it could be worth billions, too.

I wondered how much the ruby was worth. I’d never heard of one as big as the fire gem, but I had no doubt it was millions.

I looked at my file of protestors. ‘I have a couple of people that I haven’t managed to ID. Gunnar knew most – the repeat offenders – but not all of them. Do you know these guys?’ I pointed to the few unknowns.

‘That’s Flynn, he’s in the siren group.’ He tapped the next guy. ‘That’s Howard. He’s a vamp. The last guy is Snow. He’s one of mine.’

‘Your impressions of him?’

‘He works for me. He’s a hard worker and I trust him, even if he hates paying his taxes.’

‘Shifter type?’ I pushed.

Stan’s lips pressed into a line. It wasn’t the done thing to share things like that with non-shifters but it was relevant. If Snow could become a mouse, maybe he could wriggle undetected into the witch’s house.

‘He’s a moose,’ Stan looked uncomfortable at divulging the information and he swiftly changed the topic. ‘How about a trip to Homer for a movie? Just as friends,’ he tacked on when he saw me stiffen. He held up his hands. ‘We could ask Sidnee to come, too.’

‘I do love the movies,’ I admitted, ‘but I can’t leave Portlock right now. The gem has to be my priority.’

‘No problem. We can go another time when there isn’t an emergency.’ He snickered even as he said it; we both know emergencies happened on a frustratingly regular basis here.

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