Page 35 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

‘But – they called me!’

‘Donovan’s phonewas used to call you.’

Shestilled, making the same connection we had. ‘His killer called me.’

‘We think so,’ Gunnar agreed. ‘We’re going to get you out of this mess, but for now, you need to hold tight until we find whoeverdidkill Donovan.’

We ran through what had happened again from start to finish but Sidnee couldn’t add anything new. Finally we took her back to her cell where Sigrid was waiting with something that smelled divine. We left them to talk and returned to Gunnar’s office.

For a long moment we sat in heavy silence, both of us crushed under the weight of things that neither of us wanted to admit aloud. ‘Maybe Aoife could help us?’ I said suddenly. ‘Maybe she could track down the spirits of the girls?’

‘Worth a shot. Summon her,’ Gunnar replied.

I nodded. I reached out and called, ‘Aoife Sullivan!’

When I’d called Aoife for help with the resident poltergeist on Sitka, it had taken a while before she responded. This time her response was swift: the air turned icy, a wind blew through our hair – and she appeared next to the desk. ‘Hey, Aoife, it’s good to see you,’ I said.

She had a sour look on her face and her hands were on her hips, as if I’d torn her away from something super important. What could I have possibly pulled her away from? She was dead! As a banshee, I knew she had a duty to scream for the dead of her line, but it couldn’t bethatbig of a job.

She opened her mouth and Gunnar and I cringed, expecting the banshee scream. She saw us and carefully modulated her tone. ‘Iwas watching a show with my mom.’ Despite it being quieter, her voice still pierced through to the bone. It was impossible to escape a banshee’s voice, even when she was trying to be gentle.

‘Sorry for interrupting but we need your help.’ I explained about Cadence and Casiah and showed her their photos from seven years ago. ‘Is there any way you can contact their spirits?’

She shrugged. ‘I’ll look.’

‘Thank you.’

Her tone wasn’t overly optimistic but I was grateful she’d at least try to find the girls.

Aoife – and the chill in the air – faded away.

Chapter 21

Gunnar and I returned to the scene of the crime. Donovan had been transported to the morgue and my boss had taped off a wide area for us to search. If only Thomas had been with us, he could have tracked the direction Donovan had arrived from in a heartbeat – and surely that would lead to the bunker I’d been told about. Cadence and Casiah had mentioned a bunker to Gunnar, too.

April had promised to work overtime and was logging in remotely to check our systems for Donovan’s known associates. He had a rap sheet as long as my arm but a lot of the charges had been made by the mayor and then dropped; very few had actually stuck. Still, he had dings for assault and arson and that painted a picture of a man with violent urges.

We called Liv and she grudgingly agreed to meet us at the co-ordinates we gave her. To be safe, we dropped off Fluffy and Shadow at my house; Liv had a covetous nature and her eyes gleamed too much when she looked at my lynx. She was trying her best to reform the harsher edges of her character, but placing Shadow in front of her would be like waving a bag of cocaine at a crack addict: it would neither be fair nor a good idea.

We still had a couple of daylight hours so Gunnar and I spread out, combing the scene methodically for anything he’d missed on his first hasty pass. I couldn’t stop thinking about the body. Obviously Donovan had been a piece of work – but he’d been killed just like Andrew Kamluck at the edge of the barrier. I’d even have gone so far as to wager that the rusting logging equipment used to pulverise Donovan was the very same equipment used to kill Kamluck. Was it a coincidence or a warning?

‘Gunnar, the murder, the weapon—’

He interrupted me. ‘The MO is exactly like Andrew Kamluck? Yeah, I saw the similarities too.’

‘Do you think this is related?’

‘I don’t know, but we can’t afford to ignore it. I’m hoping Liv will tell us the barrier is as sound as ever then we can rule it out as a coincidence.’

He was right. I definitely preferred the coincidence option over the ‘oh-shit-the-beast-is-here-after-a-breach’ one.

We heard the roar of a powerful engine first and the woman who emerged from the car was no less fierce. Liv strolled over like she was walking a catwalk rather than a muddy trail. Dressed in a suit and heels, she gave no sign that her poor outfit choice was a problem.

‘I have been run ragged searching boat after boat and Mafu hasn’t even bothered to turn up. That mayor of ours is a disgrace! I am tired. I am worked to the bone, my energy reserves and patience are low, and more boats await me when we are done here. So whatever you need, you best make it quick.’

Hello to you, too, Liv.

‘What do you need?’ she asked, looking at Gunnar. She’d come for him; despite all that had gone on between them, I suspected she always would, though she was finally learning to live with the fact that he had no time for anyone but his wife.

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