Page 31 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

The rest of the group consisted of Gunnar, two young girls and Sidnee, who was looking down at something in horror. I took a few quick snaps on my phone before anyone focused on me; maybe I could get some intel on the vampire men, run their images through our database. At least then I’d know who I was dealing with.

I pocketed the phone and stepped around Gunnar so I could see what they were all looking at. A pulverised dead body. Fuuuuuck.

‘Who have we got?’ I asked Gunnar.

‘Svestri Donovan, the mayor’s son-in-law.’

Sidnee was shaking and staring at her blood-covered hands, which were encased in magic-cancelling cuffs. This was so bad. Fluffy ran up to her and leaned against her legs to offer silent support.

‘Why is Sidnee cuffed?’ I asked, but then I took in the scene. Donovan was crumpled on the ground with his head bashed in, his features unrecognizable. Close by was a large metal object, a piece of logging equipment that must have weighed between 200 and 250 kilos. I shuddered.

Gunnar handed me a wallet – sure enough, it was Donovan’s – then gestured to a phone that lay in the grass a few meters away. Same poop case: it was Donovan’s phone. Dammit all to hell.

‘You can’t think Sidnee did this?’ I asked incredulously. I didn’t try to keep my voice down, and even if I had the vamp coterie would still have heard me.

Gunnar looked sick. He didn’t believe it but the presence of the three deadly vampires in combat gear told us that we had outside witnesses. If we didn’t take her in, they would.

And shelookedguilty as hell.

I focused on the two girls that the vampires were questioning. My shoulders slumped when I realised they weren’t Kate and Essie but two other young women of a similar age. They were wearing green and purple jumpers, not blue and pink, and they looked like identical twins. Both were petite with long dark hair and a warm skin tone; I was betting they were native.

‘Who are the girls?’ I whispered to Gunnar.

‘Cadence and Casiah Lopez from the Tlingit tribe. They spoke to me for a moment, gave me their names and said Donovan snatched them. After that they fell silent – they’re in shock. We need to get them treated at the hospital before we question them any more.’

Shadow approached the two girls, but rather than getting close he stopped about two metres away and hissed at them. Warmth flooded my cheeks at his embarrassing behaviour and I prayed the vampires wouldn’t notice.

‘Shadow!’ I scolded. ‘Get back over here.’ I didn’t expect him to obey but to my surprise he strolled back and stood at my side.

Gunnar frowned at him before turning back to the dead body. ‘Apparently this bastard took them right off the sidewalk by the school. They’re only sixteen.’

‘What a prick!’ My heart gave another pound.

It looked like we’d found one of Kate and Essie’s kidnappers. Donovan was tall and bulky and I’d bet any money it was his footprint I’d found in the earth at the Robertson’s house. I could take a print from his shoes and prove it. Now we needed to find his skinnier companion – and the girls. Did Donovan have a bunker on his property?

Excitement thrummed through me. I couldn’t pretend to be upset at Donovan’s death; he had kidnapped Cadence and Casiah and who knew how many other young girls?

Gunnar growled, ‘Donovan was stupid, too. One of the girls called the Nomo’s office – he must have missed her phone when he snatched them. Sidnee tracked the call to this area. I’ve no idea where those three goons came from but I’m considering arresting them for interfering with a crime scene.’ He knew full well that the vampires could hear him and he wasn’t modulating his voice for anyone. Let the pissing contest begin.

I shook my head. ‘I wouldn’t do that,’ I advised in a low voice. ‘They’re here courtesy of King MacKenzie.’

‘Shit.’ He yanked on his beard.

‘Remember my message?’ I hinted subtly, not wanting to say anything more that the vamps might hear. ‘I’ll take Sidnee back tothe office and process her as sensitively as I can. Can you deal with the body, and the girls?’

‘I’ve got it. The ambulance is already on its way. I’ll take the photos and start processing the scene.’

‘And I’ll take the Nomo vehicle. We can collect Sidnee’s car when we come back to search the area.’

‘All right. Get out of here, both of you.’ His voice was gruff but his eyes were concerned.

With Sidnee in tow, I left the goons, Gunnar, the body and the girls. Luckily, apart from a quick glance my way, the vampires were too occupied to take much notice.

‘I don’t remember,’ Sidnee said softly as I put her in the back of the vehicle and fastened her seatbelt. ‘I don’t know what happened.’ Fluffy jumped in and laid his head in her lap. Crying softly, she rested her cuffed hands on him.

‘It’s going to be okay,’ I promised, although at that moment I couldn’t see how. That hunk of metal had been heavy, but Sidnee was incredibly strong in mer form. She’d been teetering on the edge for two weeks and Donovan had said he was going to kill her – maybe we could argue self-defence, or defence of a third party. Hopefully the girls would shed some light on what had happened – and with any luck Gunnar would find a weapon on Donovan to support our case.

Sidnee was quiet. Shadow climbed onto the front seat and put his huge furry paws on the dash to look out. He gave a single barking mrrow and a kitty huff at the scene, then looked back at me as though he were telling me something. Finally he settled inthe front seat like he owned it. I buckled up and turned the SUV around.

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