Page 57 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

Gunnar pulled out a roll of bandage from one of his many pockets, applied a dressing and pressed hard on it while I called the medics. There was no way they’d get an ambulance into the woods so I directed them to where our vehicle was still standing near Nora’s house.

I hung up. Gunnar had done what he could, but he was no paramedic. ‘We need to get her to the street,’ I said. ‘I’ll carry her.’

‘I’ve got her,’ he said softly. He lifted Nora gently into his arms and she looked small and frail against his Viking stature. As he went back through the trees, I quickly searched the area where Nora had been lying. There were no cursed gemstones to be seen.

I looked at Aoife. Soundless tears were tracking down her face as she watched Gunnar carry her mum away. ‘I’m sorry, Aoife,’ I said. She looked at me. ‘I need to know. Did your mum kill you?’ I asked.

Her spirit rushed at me. Her mouth was open wide and she screamed, ‘NO!’ so loudly I thought my eardrums would burst again. Aoife’s spirit-self flew through me with an icy chill and I shuddered and doubled over, feeling sick. When I stood up, she was gone. Dammit, I should have asked who had killed her – maybe she could have screeched a name before she bolted off.

I was trembling with cold. I took a few deep, shuddering breaths and tried to shake the chill from my limbs. Fluffy barked with concern. ‘I’m okay,’ I lied. ‘Let’s go.’

We followed Gunnar – but I still couldn’t shake the all-encompassing cold that Aoife had left me with.

As we neared the edge of the woods we heard the distant call of the ambulance’s sirens. We picked up the pace and made it out of the woods as it turned the corner. We flagged it down and it screeched to a halt. Gunnar rattled off Nora’s name, age and details then handed her over to the paramedics. We watched them drive away with our only suspect barely clinging to life.

Nothing about this case was going to plan. We didn’t have Nora and we didn’t have the gems. Dammit.

Chapter 34

Gunnar and I retraced our steps to the SUV and slunk inside; even the air inside the vehicle was dejected. ‘So,’ I said, ‘Aoife told me her mum wasn’t her murderer.’

Gunnar rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Of course she did. That doesn’t leave us with a whole lot of suspects.’

‘Yeah.’ I shivered. ‘Can you turn the heat up? I’m a little cold.’

Gunnar fiddled with a dial. ‘Better?’

‘Thanks.’ I was still chilly but I’d soon warm up.

‘Time to find the dad,’ Gunnar said firmly.

‘Yeah,’ I agreed again, biting my thumb as I thought. ‘My gut is telling me we’ve missed something.’

‘Is it?’ He looked over at me. ‘I trust your gut, so what else is it saying?’

‘It’s saying to focus on the gems.’

‘Why?’

‘This has been brewing in the back of my head for a while. The gems are cursed. True, we use them for the barrier, but what if someone wants them for another reason? They are worth millions in their own right, and that’s a pretty good motive for murder. Stealing the gems and killing Aoife to bring down the barrier doesn’t quite add up. I understand people can be fanatical but Aoife’s dad is a jewel thief, so that’s a big target on his back. Maybe the motive for the theft isn’t complicated – maybe he just wants the big bucks.’

Gunnar was quiet for a moment. ‘Maybe,’ he finally conceded. ‘Either way, we need to find the prick.’ We turned into the car park behind the station. ‘We have to follow the leads we have, but there’s nothing to say we can’t follow some other ones too. Let’s look at the dad, and at the same time find out what we can about the cursed gems. Maybe they’ll lead us to a new suspect. Sound good?’

It was a relief that he didn’t dismiss my thoughts out of hand – but he’d never done that so far. ‘Yes, sounds good.’ I smiled.

Inside the Nomo’s office I let Shadow out of his carrier and he sat on my lap as I stared at my blank computer screen. I knew what I needed to do but I was putting it off: I had to talk to Liv, no matter how much she freaked me out. She knew the origins of the gems and she might know why someone would want them besides for their obvious monetary worth.

If anyone would have some more suspects for me, it would be Liv.

Chapter 35

Liv promised to meet me the next day before my shift. She was busy with her magic users, plugging holes and putting magical plasters on the barrier. I reminded her – carefully – that my job was nearly as important as hers; if we didn’t find the gems, we might as well kiss the barrier goodbye no matter how many of her ‘band-aids’ she put on it.

Her response had been frosty but at least she’d agreed to meet me. Before that, I had to find and question Aoife’s father. I checked in with all of my contacts at the local businesses and got a hit on the fifth one. Ironically, it was Kamluck Logging. I was starting to feel like the universe was pushing Connor and I together. Oh, right … fated mates. The universe was really being pushy.

Connor’s second-in-command answered the phone. ‘Kamluck Logging, Margrave speaking.’

‘Hi, Lee, it’s Bunny.’

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