Page 11 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

He looked me in the eye, a rare occurrence. ‘At the Robertson’s I could smell the family, the girls and I think the maid. There were some older scents but the most recent one, before the maid overlaid everything, wasn’t one of the usual ones in the house. I smelled it at the other girl's place too, but only near the back kitchen window.’ He licked his lips. ‘I think someone had been watching both houses and was in Kate’s room.’ His eyes were serious. ‘I–I’m pretty sure they were kidnapped.’

My heart thudded. That the scent was also around Essie’s home suggested it was a premeditated crime rather than an opportunistic or impulsive one. ‘Have you smelled that scent before?’

He shook his head. Well, at least that ruled out Chris Jubatus being here and kidnapping kids again. ‘Was there anything else you noticed that we missed?’

He shook his head again. ‘No.’

‘Thanks, Reggie.’ I hesitated a moment. ‘Do you want to talk about counselling?’

In answer he shifted back to Fluffy and I cursed myself for pushing him. I scruffed his ears. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you. I’m just worried about you.’

He gave a short bark and laid down on his bed. I hated seeing my friend so depressed. Whatever had come up at counselling had really set him back but I hoped he’d continue to go.

I wrote up my report, listing everything I’d collected and noted at both girls’ homes: it was a depressingly short list. I sighed as I put the items I’d brought back with me in a box to go to the lab.

I hesitated as I picked up the laptop. By the time it was sent off and unlocked by our tech experts, Connor’s dad’s deadline would have passed. Was there someone in town who could open it for me? I needed some out-of-the-box thinking on this one.

The door dinged and Lisa fromThe Supernat Sentinelcame in, all five-foot-nothing of her. Her hair was currently black and purple and there was a shaved patch on one side of her head. Her nose was studded. ‘Fanged Flopsy,’ she greeted me with a grin.

I sighed. ‘I could kill you for that one, you know. It’s stuck.’

Her grin widened. ‘Yeah, isn’t it great?’

‘It’s really not.’

She sobered. ‘I’m here about Kate Robertson and Essie Kaleak.’

‘I can’t tell you anything,’ I said firmly. ‘The investigation is ongoing.’

‘But do you think other girls are at risk?’

Unsure how to answer, I hesitated. There was nothing to suggest this was a serial kidnapper but I didn’t want to reassure the townspeople and have someone else snatched because I’d lulled them into complacency.

‘I really can’t comment, Lisa,’ I said firmly. ‘The investigation is in its infancy.’

‘Well, with or without your comments, the story is prepped to be today’s headline.’ She paused. ‘So expect calls.’

I’d be happy to take calls on this one. So far we had precisely fuck all, so if someone had a tip I’d be happy to listen.

‘Give them this number to call if they’ve seen anything,’ I said, giving her the office tip-line number.

Lisa winced. ‘Oh boy, you really don’t have anything, huh?’

‘Nice to see you, Lisa.’ I ushered her out of the office and she went off grumbling.

I hoped that someone would call. Without information, we were dead in the water. And I feared Essie and Kate might meet the same fate.

Chapter 7

I had nothing. I was stuck with a forty-eight-hour deadline, two lost girls and no clues. Time was a huge factor in a kidnapping case; the longer it took me to find them, the more likely the girls would be moved or killed. And if the kidnappers took them out of Portlock, my chances of finding them dwindled from slim to none.

I needed to look at this from another angle. Why had they been taken? Could it be another MIB plot? Those fuckershadbeen looking for vampires to experiment on with the fisheye drug and they’d gone through a lot of victims since fisheye was fatal to us. I swallowed hard at the thought because if thiswasthe MIB, Kate could already be dead. But why would they want Essie? Shifters responded well to fisheye; in fact, the MIB pricks had even commented that they didn’t need more shifters. Surely Essie being taken made it less likely to be them?

Was it an opportunistic crime? But if Faye was to be believed, someone had lowered the wards on the house, which told me that a degree of planning had been involved. Ugh. I was going round in circles.

I rang Liv. ‘What?’ she answered grumpily.

‘Hey, Liv, how are you?’

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