Page 53 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

‘Thanks. Bye.’ I hung up before I could be tempted to make kissy noises. There was something about the man that made me forget any objections I had to a relationship with him. Fated mates be damned; he was so kind, so caring, so unlike I’d imagined a vampire leader – a fricking prince no less! – could be.

Sidnee looked at me curiously as I walked back into the main office. ‘Just calling Connor,’ I mumbled, blushing again.

She smiled. ‘Glad to hear it.’

‘Any new developments on the case?’ I wanted to turn the conversation to topics I was more comfortable with, like police work, politics, religion or my masturbation habits.

She grinned triumphantly. ‘Oh yeah! I found some info on Aoife’s dad. His name is Jayden Donaldson and he’s just finished seven years in prison for … get this…’ she paused dramatically ‘…jewel theft.’

‘Jewel theft? Are you freaking kidding me?’

‘Nope,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I’m as serious as a siren in a sea.’

‘Is he here? In town, I mean?’

‘I think there’s a strong possibility he is. I traced him to Homer, then he either caught a small plane or a boat because I lost track of him. But there’s every chance he’s come here. I checked our records and he’s been to Portlock before, just before he got sentenced.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means that he’ll know the phrase to get through the barrier.’

‘So he can come in and out at any time.’ A chill ran down my spine.

‘You got it. Most people fly or sail in because it is the safest way to avoid the beast, but if you’re brave – or foolhardy enough – you could come in by land.’

My excitement was growing. ‘This is great, Sidnee. You’ve blown this whole case wide open. If he’s a jewel thief, he can hawk the cursed gemstones. And maybe Aoife didn’t teleport away from her killer because it was her father! He killed her, took the gem then got greedy and snatched the wind stone, too. If he’s been in prison we’ll have fingerprints and DNA on file. Let’s hope some of the physical evidence points back to him.’

I thought of the acrylic fingernail at the scene of the crime; unless Donaldson liked flashy manicures, that hadn’t been his. ‘Hmm.’

Sidnee quirked an eyebrow, ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I pinned a lot of hope on the fingernail we found with the body. I’m guessing that it doesn’t belong to Donaldson – though it’s not outside the realms of possibility.’

‘Could it have been planted?’ she suggested.

‘That’s possible.’ A lot of things were possible but that didn’t mean they were probable. Maybe Donaldson had an accomplice. It was something to think about.

‘I’m heading home.’ Sidnee yawned. ‘Ring me if you need me.’

‘You got it.’

I watched her leave; she seemed a little more relaxed than she’d been recently. I hoped she was on an upswing because she really deserved to be.

Chapter 31

With Sidnee’s information about Aoife Sullivan’s father, I could make some more enquiries to track down this Jayden Donaldson. He was obviously being careful, but surely he’d need some cash in hand before he managed to sell the jewels? He was straight out of prison; unless he had money stashed somewhere, he’d need a job, even if it was only casual work.

I contacted numerous business managers in Portlock and told them that Jayden Donaldson was a person of interest and the Nomo’s office wanted to speak to him. I sent them his prison mugshot so they’d recognise him even if he was working under an assumed name.

With the word out, I checked my email for lab notifications; we’d sent them our initial evidence, and I expected some results to start trickling in. We’d already confirmed that the long hair from the site of the theft was Aoife’s, but what I really wanted was some info on that fingernail. Frustratingly, nothing had come in yet.

I called Connor, got his voicemail and left him a message. ‘It might not be anything, but that tip you had about your jewels? It might be right. Aoife’s father is a convicted jewel thief, and everything points to him being in Portlock. Keep Cody in his corridor.’

I hung up abruptly. Just because things between us were whatever they were, I still didn’t want a thief targeting him. At the end of the day, Connor was a great guy. Ugh: what was I doing running away from him? I thunked my head on the desk and hoped it would knock some sense into me.

Gunnar leaned out of his office. ‘Something wrong?’

‘Men,’ I complained.

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