Page 6 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

‘Girls?’ I asked. ‘Plural?’

‘Yes. Kate had her best friend sleeping over, a shifter girl from school.’

‘Can I talk to this other girl?’ I asked.

She looked confused. ‘No, both girls are missing.’

I looked at Connor, who appeared as surprised as I was. He glared at Cobalt, whose eyes had hardened even further.

Ah: the other girl was disposable, whereas his daughter was not.

Chapter 4

I struggled to keep my composure as my irritation with the two pristine vampires threatened to bubble over. They hadn’t even reported the other girl asmissing. Unbelievable. ‘What’s her name and who are her parents?’ I snapped.

Cobalt Robertson stood up. ‘We don’t have time for this. Come with me. I’ll take you to Kate’s room.’

I stayed in my seat, pen poised, then looked at Faye and raised an eyebrow. ‘Her name,’ I repeated, my voice harsh. ‘Her parents.’

Faye flushed and looked at Cobalt before she answered me. ‘Her name is Celestine but she goes by Essie. Essie Kaleak. She’s sixteen, like Kate. They’re best friends.’

‘And Essie’s parents?’

‘Frederick and Lilith – Lily – Kaleak. Essie lives with her mom – her dad is out of the picture and doesn’t live in town. I don’t know anything about that.’

‘Contact details?’ I asked.

Faye gave me Lily’s mobile number and her address, which I made a show of noting down even though they were already burned into my memory. ‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘We’llshowyou,’ Robertson snarled.

‘I want your impressions before we go into the scene,’ I explained with a patience I didn’t feel. ‘Have you noticed anything out of place, stolen, broken, anything like that?’

They looked at each other, then shook their heads. The beat of hesitation told me they were almost certainly lying but I didn’t know why. If nothing was broken, stolen or out of place, what made them think the girls had been kidnapped? And why weren’t they more forthcoming with the details?

‘Follow me,’ Mr Robertson demanded once more. I knew he was upset but he was a real asshole. I wanted to refuse out of sheer cussedness but this wasn’t about me and my stubborn streak a mile wide. It was about Kate. I stood and followed him.

The couple led me through their tastefully decorated home. Everything was neat, tidy and in place; it felt like a show home where no one actually lived that we were touring with an estate agent.

We headed upstairs into the second room on the right. I pulled on gloves and passed a pair to Connor as Cobalt opened the door and ushered us inside. He glared at Fluffy but kept any objections to the dog’s presence to himself. He and his wife stayed in the doorway, but I assumed they’d already thoroughly disturbed the scene. ‘Did you enter the room earlier?’ I asked, just to be sure.

‘Of course,’ Faye said. ‘I searched for them in case they were playing hide and seek or something.’ The girls were sixteen, not six, so hide and seek wasn’t a likely scenario. I didn’t say anything though; she had to be overwrought even if she wasn’t showing it.

I carefully scanned the room. Like the rest of the house it appeared untouched, barely lived in. It was spacious, with built-in shelving, a desk for Kate to work at, a walk-in closet and an en-suite so big it was nearly the size of my entire house.

I’d been a teenage girl not that long ago and this room felt all wrong. There were no makeup or hair products cluttering the bathroom; the bed linen was unwrinkled, the desk free of school books, and not a single item of clothing was out of place. Either Kate was a neat freak or the room had been tidied. The scent of lemon was dancing on the air so my money was on the latter.

Incredulity filled me and I whirled around to face her parents. ‘You had the room cleaned?’ I asked, anger seeping into my voice.

Cobalt continued to look pugnacious and ground his teeth audibly, but at least Faye had the decency to look abashed. ‘The maid came in and cleaned before we knew the girls were missing.’ She was fidgeting, unable to keep her hands still.

I shook my head in despair; they’d wiped away any clues I could have found. I hoped the maid was a terrible cleaner because otherwise this search was going to be pointless.

I eyeballed Faye. ‘Did you notice anything missing – Kate’s clothes, her phone, or anything else she would take out with her? What about the things Essie brought for the sleepover?’

She looked nonplussed. ‘No, I–I haven’t looked. With the window ajar, we justknewshe’d – they’d – been taken. Kate knew to keep the windows closed because our ward system is anchored around them. She wouldneverleave it open like we found it.’

‘Which wards do you have?’ I asked.

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