Page 30 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

I checked the main door was still locked – it was –then I closed and locked the windows. To make me feel better I tried to roll down the metal shutters again, but they didn’t work: the mechanism had been broken. I kept hold of the knife and called Gunnar.

‘Bunny?’ He sounded exasperated. ‘What did I say about you having time off?’

‘Someone broke into my house while I was sleeping. They got the metal shutters up and they painted a threat on my walls.’

Gunnar let loose a barrage of swear words that had me raising my eyebrows; it was rare to hear him curse. ‘I’m on my way,’ he promised and hung up. While I waited for him to join me I took photographs, careful not to touch anything so we could preserve any evidence.

I was determined not to be a damsel in distress, even if my hands hadn’t quite stopped shaking. This was the worst possible violation. Someone had broken into my home while I was sleeping. Fluffy and I had been so bone tired we hadn’t heard a thing. What good was supernatural hearing if it didn’t work when I was out cold?

Gunnar arrived and brushed for prints but, predictably, we found nothing on any doorknobs or handles. The intruders had worn gloves. He confirmed that the metal shutter mechanism looked like it had been deliberately broken and took photographs of it. ‘I’ll call Ernie and see if I can get him over to change your locks and sort the shutters,’ he said.

I shivered. ‘You think someone has a key to my house?’

He shrugged. ‘It’s possible. This is borough housing and they might not have changed the locks after the last resident left.’ He watched the questions churn in my eyes. ‘Yes, that’s the first thing I’ll check when I get back. I’ll see if the previous resident still lives in town or if they’ve moved on.’

I bit my lip. ‘It could be Nora Sullivan,’ I ventured. ‘She hates the barrier and she could have teleported in. I told her that her only daughter was dead. She may have some misplaced anger focused on me.’

‘I’ll check her out,’ Gunnar promised. ‘Now put this behind you and enjoy your day off. I’ll contact the borough insurance and arrange a budget for some paint.’

‘Thanks.’ It would suck to see the reminder of how my inner peace had been violated while I waited for the borough grant, but I needed to look at it as an opportunity to paint my walls a new colour.

Gunnar left; sure enough, less than an hour later Ernie showed up. ‘Hey, Ernie,’ I greeted him with a smile.

‘Hey, little lady. Heard you had some trouble.’ He thrust a takeaway cup of chai latte at me. My favourite.

‘Thanks,’ I said, suddenly feeling teary at the small act of kindness. There was good in the world.

Ernie looked panicked. ‘If you cry, I’ll leave.’

That was enough to make me grin. ‘I’ll keep it locked down.’

‘Good,’ he said gruffly. ‘We can’t have a vampire crying about town. Mackenzie wouldn’t hear the end of it from Ahmaogak.’

‘We wouldn’t want that,’ I agreed.

Ernie was hard to age; I’d put him in his early sixties but he could have been a decade either side of that. He was chewing tobacco but he hacked and spat it out before he came inside.

He hummed and hawed as he examined the locks, then shook his head over the state of the mechanism for the shutters. ‘Some people got no respect,’ he muttered. ‘It ain’t right.’ He patted me on the shoulder. ‘We'll get you fixed up, but you need to get yourself some wards. They’re pricey but they’re worth paying for.’ It had been on my to-do list for a while, but it looked like it was now rocketing up to the top.

A truck rumbled into sight: Connor. He parked up and hopped out carrying a bouquet of flowers. He frowned a little as he spotted Ernie tinkering with my locks. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

‘I had a little break in,’ I said as cheerfully as I could manage. ‘We’re all fine. They did some redecorating.’

His jaw clenched. ‘May I come in?’

‘Sure.’

He passed me the flowers but the gesture was abrupt rather than romantic. Then he pushed past me into the living room and stared at the words on the wall with his fists clenched. ‘I will find out who did this,’ he promised darkly.

I raised my chin. ‘I will find out who did this.’

Connor’s dark rage faded from his eyes to be replaced by amusement. ‘You probably will, at that. But can I get a witch here to get this place warded for you?’

‘I’d been planning to do the same thing,’ I admitted.

‘There’s a wait list. I’ll need to pull some strings to get you to the top of it.’

I bit my thumb. I did want the wards but not at the expense of someone else’s place in the queue. ‘No, I can’t do that.’

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