Page 59 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

Chapter 36

I turned the handle slowly; thankfully, the door was unlocked. The movement made me think of Gunnar because no door remained locked to him. I grimaced; I should probably call him for backup. Ploughing in alone was foolish, though I wasn’t totally alone – I had Fluffy. Besides, I wasn’t sure how much time Connor and Lee had. If Jayden had set Connor’s truck on fire, both men must be incapacitated. If I delayed, that might become permanent.

I turned the handle a little further. The light from the fire would silhouette me but I had no choice. I stood to the side, flung open the door and led in with my gun. To the right was the showroom. I’d been in the warehouse once for a vampire meeting and I knew that other than the showroom and break rooms, the rest of the building was used for storing lumber.

There were plenty of places to hide in the stacks of timber so I ran to the showroom, which would be easier to check. I glanced inside. Everything looked okay so I slid inside. Other than the emergency exit sign, the space was dark; there were no windows. It was a true vampire den. I hoped that would give me an advantage if the fire was Jayden Donaldson’s doing because I had vampire sight on my side.

I crouched low and searched the room carefully. It was full of polished timber samples and had wooden flooring; there were no soft furnishings to absorb my footfalls, which sounded obscenely loud. Luckily it didn’t take us long to check it out. There was nowhere to hide and it was evident that there was no one here.

As I returned to the door, Fluffy grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of sight alongside the wall. I heard the scuff of a shoe on the cement warehouse floor: someone was outside the showroom, and from Fluffy’s reaction I didn’t think it was Connor.

My heart gave a hard thump and Fluffy’s body tensed against my leg. Whoever it was, was coming straight at us.

‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’ a strange male voice said in a taunting singsong.

Part of me wanted to yell ‘Or what?’, but in a supernatural town like Portlock, you really were only limited by your imagination. I debated my options: I could answer and engage with him or I could keep quiet. For now, the latter was more appealing because I didn’t want to play by his rules. Surely he couldn’t know I was there? He had to be guessing.

After a moment or two, he continued. ‘Fine. Stay there cowering, officer, but your friends will die if you don’t come out. I’ll give you to the count of three. One…’ For fuck’s sake. He could be bluffing, but I couldn’t live with myself if he wasn’t.

I stepped around the door. If someone died because of my action or inaction, I’d never forgive myself. Besides, I was a vampire; I had regenerative properties and as long as he didn’t shoot me right in the heart, I had a good chance of walking away in one piece. Though I’d have felt better if I’d been wearing Connor’s bulletproof vest.

A snicker greeted me as I stepped out. ‘It’s so easy with you law types. You’re so damn selfless.’ His tone made it clear that was an insult.

‘Who are you and what do you want?’ I asked, as if I didn’t know full well.

Jayden Donaldson was looking rough. His beard was straggly and he was close enough for me to tell that he hadn’t showered after a full day’s logging. ‘You’ve been looking for me, little bunny rabbit so I think you already know who I am, don’t you?’ he spat.

I didn’t want to make him any angrier so I said obligingly, ‘Jayden Donaldson.’

‘In the flesh.’ Never taking his eyes off of me, he sketched a mocking bow.

‘What have you done with Connor and Lee?’

He smirked. ‘Let’s say they’re … a little tied up.’

Ugh. Cliché, much? The fire in my gut curled and woke up, but it was sluggish and slow as if the pervasive cold in my limbs was somehow dampening it. Then I thought of Connor being held against his will and the flames leapt into a raging inferno; now I was struggling to contain the anger and the heat.

Focus, Bunny. ‘I wanted to speak to you about your daughter.’

Jayden’s face twisted into a grimace. ‘That bitch? She’s no daughter of mine, the little snake!’

I frowned. ‘Are we talking about the same person? Aoife Sullivan?’

He spat on the ground. ‘She’s a snitch, that’s what she is!’

Did he mean she really wasn’t his daughter, or he didn’t consider her his daughter after she’d double-crossed him in some way? ‘So why did you come to town if not to see her?’

He sneered. ‘For a job. What else? No harm in telling you since you’ll be dead soon.’

‘You’re here to steal the barrier gems,’ I said, my tone resigned.

‘What? Are you mad? I wouldn’t touch that cursed shit with a ten-foot pole.’

I frowned. ‘Then what?’

‘Mackenzie’s got some jewels, big ones. I was hired to steal them but it’s all gone to pot now, thanks to you. He figured out that I’m not who my ID said and the whole thing is blown. It was already tough but it was doable until Aoife gave him an anonymous warning. I was willing to wait until things cooled down but now Mackenzie’s seen my mugshot, he knows what I’m here for. Security was tight before but now it’ll be impossible. You and Aoife have fucked everything up. Just like she did before.’ His face twisted into a dark sneer. ‘And now I’ll do the same to you as I did to her.’

‘It was you?’ I said, surprised. ‘You killed your own daughter because she warned Connor about a thief in the area?’ I let my disgust show in my voice.

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