Page 2 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas

The message was from Liv. Uh oh!

Chapter 2

I closed my eyes and prayed that Liv was just screwing with me. She’d barely spoken to me since I’d arrested her for almost killing Sigrid and Stan. Admittedly, she’d been under the influence of some cursed gemstones at the time, but I stood by the arrest. Really, she should have thanked me for it; at least that way there could be no suggestions of corruption. She’d been arrested but the charges had been officially dropped by the council. I had given her the gift of innocence but did she thank me? She did not.

Part of me wanted to ignore the text but the other part that sorely cared about my duty as a detective knew I couldn’t do that. Liv was dangerous, powerful and terrifying; if she needed help, the situation was bound to be truly dire.

I texted back,Where are you and what is the problem?

Just meet me at the Nomo’s office,was the immediate response.

Fine,I replied.

Since I didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s holiday, I jogged to the kitchen and told Sigrid, ‘I have to run to the office. I have a call.’

She grimaced. ‘What a pain! I’m sorry, dear. Hurry back!’

My stomach grumbled. ‘I will. I’ve been looking forward to eating your food all day. Can you put me up a plate? A big one with a bit of everything on it?’

She smiled. ‘You bet.’

I slipped away discreetly. Gunnar had been run ragged while Sidnee and I were at the academy and he still didn’t look as if he’d recovered. This was one of the first occasions in a long time that he could kick back and think about nothing. I wanted to give him that gift, too.

I’d brought the Nomo SUV to Connor’s in case this happened, so I climbed inside and turned the key. A knock on my window startled me: Connor was standing there. I rolled down the window.

‘I’m coming with you,’ he said.

‘You can’t!’ I objected immediately. ‘One of the hosts has to stay here. I’m sure it’s no big deal, just Liv being Liv. We can’t both leave!’ I looked at him entreatingly. ‘You stay. I’ll be back in a half an hour, tops.’ Probably. Possibly.

He grimaced. ‘Are you sure? Because if you want the company, I’ll come.’

‘I’m sure. Go, enjoy the food for me! Sig’s going to do me a plate. Tell everyone I’ll be back soon.’

He leaned through the window and kissed me. ‘Hurry back. If you’re not here in an hour, I’m coming to get you – Liv be damned.’

I flashed him a smile. ‘Deal.’

He watched me back out and turn around before I headed for the gate. I swore as I approached it: I’d forgotten the damnedremote control. Evidently Connor was still watching me because the gate swung open as I approached. ‘Thank you!’ I hollered at the intercom, then zoomed off down the hill towards town.

We’d had a rare snowfall last night and Portlock gleamed like an untouched star. It truly was magical, but I wasn’t used to driving in snow so I went slowly down Connor’s private road to the main one, which thankfully had already been ploughed. Once my tyres had a good grip, I raced to town to get the ordeal over and done with so I could return to my own damned party.

I pulled into the back behind the office. Liv was already waiting there in her car and I gestured for her to follow me. After I’d unlocked the door, I went through the office, dropped my coat on the back of my chair and plopped onto it. I waved Liv to Sidnee’s chair.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked her brusquely. There’d better be an imminent crime we needed to stop or I was going to be furious with her.

As usual, her dark hair was piled on her head in a riot of wild braids with the white streak standing out. She was wearing a gold-coloured dress that made her look a million bucks. Even so, I detected a hint of nerves as her tongue darted out to wet her lips.

She cleared her throat. ‘I want to make amends.’

I stared at her for a moment. ‘That’s why you called me away from my Christmas party? To make amends? Isn’t making amends more of a New Year’s Eve thing? New year, new you?’

She sighed and looked down at her hands, which were folded neatly in her lap. ‘Listen, this is important. I need to do something so Gunnar will forgive me.’ I opened my mouth to interrupt but she forestalled me. ‘I promise I’ll never hit on him again. It isn’t about that. Just listen to me. Please?’

It was the please that got me. I closed my mouth and nodded.

‘It turns out I liked Gunnar’s … ummm … tolerance of me more than I fancied the man. He wasn’t afraid of me – not ever – and I can’t say that about anyone else in town. I realise now that my … feelings were more because of that than from any desire to be with him. I enjoyed flirting, pressing his buttons and making him uncomfortable with my advances, but after what I’ve put him through all that is behind me. From now on I will treat him like I do any other council member.’

‘So you’re going to look down your nose at him?’ I quipped lightly.

---