Page 56 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

‘When was the last French manicure you did?’ I asked lightly.

‘Last week. Nora’s usually the only one I do like that.’

‘Well, it was super pretty.’

Gotcha, Nora, I thought triumphantly. She’d absolutely lost a nail under her daughter’s body! I was willing to let her spray-painted threats go, but there was no slack for something like this. This was enough suspicion for an arrest warrant and I wanted to set the wheels in motion.

I walked back to work with my beautiful pale-blue nails and rushed into Gunnar’s office. ‘Let’s get that arrest warrant. I totally have probable cause!’ I grinned at him.

He set back in his chair, eyebrows raised. ‘You wanna fill me in?’ he asked.

‘Remember the fingernail we picked up under the body? I suspected it came from Nora Sullivan. I went to the nail salon and the banshee nail technician confirmed that she’d done Nora’s nails like that a week ago. Also, Nora doesn’t currently have those nails. She popped one off under her daughter’s body and then she must have got rid of them all!’

‘Sounds like you’ve got something. I’ll call the council.’

While he phoned, I went back to my desk and started filling out the paperwork before he asked me to. Halfway through, his bellow made me happy. ‘As soon as you’ve done that report they’ll sign. They’re preparing the warrant! Get a-typin’!’

I typed. When I was finished, Gunnar and I went to the council chambers to get the warrant. After that we were going to pick up Nora Sullivan.

I was surprised that the mayor and Connor had signed off this warrant because it was usually Liv or Stan with Connor or Calliope; the mayor rarely got involved. When we arrived at the council chambers I was disappointed to see that Connor had already left. Still, there was no time to make doe eyes – we had an arrest to make and dangerous jewels to recover.

Chapter 33

Gunnar, Fluffy and I loaded into the Nomo’s SUV and headed for the Sullivan home. I still wasn’t sure that Nora had killed her daughter – something about the whole thing struck me as wrong – but maybe my morals were getting in the way of me perceiving the truth. Either way, I was positive that Nora knew something she wasn’t telling us. Was she protecting her ex-husband, Jayden? Had they been working together? Why had she lied and said he was dead?

We turned the last corner to the Sullivan’s residence and Gunnar slammed on the brakes as a figure ran out in front of the car. ‘Fuck!’ he shouted a rare expletive as we juddered to a halt. The person had disappeared but there had been no impact with the car. What the hell?

Oh shit. ‘What if that was Nora teleporting away?’ I asked. Gunnar muttered under his breath and we both climbed out to look for the running figure. Fluffy climbed out of the open door and I gave him a reproachful glance. ‘Heel.’ I patted my hip and he trotted over obediently. He stuck to my side as we searched the area.

Suddenly the spirit of Aoife Sullivan wavered in front of us, solidifying before our eyes. ‘Shit a brick!’ I yelled as she scared the life out of me.

Her yellow eyes shone like molten gold and her wax-white hair floated around her. She was dressed in white, like a deathly bride. Fear trickled down my spine. I’d seen Aoife dead, her insides pouring onto the ground, yet here she was: a banshee in the truest sense of the word. And the last time she’d screamed until Sidnee’s ears had bled.

Aoife raised an arm and gestured to the woods. Her wail was a sound of endless sorrow and suffering that made me double over, clutching my hands to my ears. Obviously frustrated, she moved closer to me. ‘Go!’ she shrieked, cutting off her wail with an effort.

When the noise ended, I cautiously pulled my hands away from my ears. ‘Go where?’ I asked.

She lifted her arm again impatiently and pointed into the distance. Gunnar and I peered in that direction but all I could see were the woods. She repeated her instruction, her screech increasing tenfold in volume. ‘GO!’

Fluffy lifted his muzzle and howled in pain. I clutched my hands to my ears and this time when I removed them there was a trickle of blood on my fingers. That gave a whole new meaning to a girl being a screamer.

I wiped my hand on my trousers and obediently plunged into the woods with Gunnar next to me and Fluffy at my heels. We slowed as the forest canopy blotted out the moon; I could still see but I doubted that Gunnar could, and I wasn’t leaving him behind while I stumbled in the woods at the behest of a dead banshee.

Fluffy took the lead confidently and Aoife’s spirit followed behind before impatiently deciding we were being too slow. She shoved forward to lead the way to wherever the heck we were going; hopefully it wasn’t to our doom.

‘I hope she isn’t leading us off a cliff,’ Gunnar huffed, echoing my dark thoughts.

‘Are there any cliffs around here?’ I sassed, knowing full well we weren’t anywhere near one.

‘Smart-ass,’ he muttered.

Following Aoife was no easy task. Trees were no obstacle to her and she ploughed through them, but we had to manoeuvre around them. Suddenly Fluffy stopped and gave a low growl. I skidded to a stop behind him.

We were in a clearing and the scent of coppery blood was hanging in the air. I could feel the hum of the barrier nearby. Aoife was standing in front of us, her feet about six inches off the ground, staring ahead. She seemed more solid here and I walked around her to see what had captured her and Fluffy’s attention.

In the moonlit clearing lay a beaten and bloodied Nora Sullivan. Fuck.

I raced over and hastily felt for a pulse in her neck; it was weak but it was there. Blood was pooling around her – she’d been beaten, stabbed and left for dead. Now she was clinging to her life with a thread.

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