Chapter 22 22
Connor knocked on the door while Tristan was steam cleaning the floors in his room. A wave of my hand and little magic opened the front door. My partner paused for a moment to stare at the pup with a stunned look before he joined me on the couch. “So, this is what your house looks like when it’s been cleaned. Did he clean the glass on your pictures?’
I nodded. My living room didn’t feel right. There was no dust, dog hair, or smudges. He had even neatly organized the remotes on the coffee table. There was a good chance I was never going to find anything again. Connor and I were reviewing the case when the energizer puppy came in.
“Why do you have a bunch of these things in my closet?” I forgot how to breath as Tristan help up a box. Connor made chocking noises as he jumped up and took the box from him. Oh dear god. Why didn’t I think of that? I’m faster than he is. I could have grabbed the box and ran away before Connor had time to move. But, no, I sat here frozen instead. Connor smiled with such glee when his eyes met mine.
“Cole, why do you have a bunch of Enchanted Fairy figurines in a closet?” Franticly I tried to come up with something.
“I got them at an estate sale for cheap. I hear they are worth a lot to collectors. Just trying to make a buck.” That sounded plausible. Yeah. That should work.
“Why did you have them buried in the back of the closet wrapped up in that hideous pink flower bedding?” That’s it. Tristan the cleaning werewolf was going to be murdered on the floor he had just steam cleaned.
“So, these are just investments? They mean nothing to you?” I so didn’t like the look on my partners face. Feeling a little panicky, I shook my head and made a dismissive hand gesture. “So, if I were to drop it like this” The bastard dropped it! I threw my hand out and sent a wave of magic to bring me the figurine before it could hit the floor. “you wouldn’t care?”
Carefully cradling the figurine to my chest I shot lasers at Frick and Frack from my eyes. Too bad the lasers were only figurative. Just as I took a breath to start the yelling, Connor spoke up. “I saw that figurine at the store when I was shopping for my mom’s birthday last week. It was just released. In limited quantities and retails at fifteen hundred dollars.” Uh oh. This could be a problem. “You still want to stick with your investment story?”
“It’s not a story. They are excellent investments.” I looked the box over to make sure it hadn’t been damaged. The little baby fairy crawling with a ladybug on its nose seemed unharmed. Relief swept through me. I silently promised the baby I’d get her displayed with the rest of my collection where she would be safe. After the figurine was carefully placed on the coffee table I turned to the dead boys walking. I smiled at them with my fangs showing and my head cantered to the side. The three of us jumped when my phone went off. My glare promised retribution while I reached for my phone. Why was Thomas calling?
“This is Cole.” My eyes didn’t leave Connor’s. If he thought Spam and sardines were the worse I could do to him, he had another thing coming.
“Hey Cole. This is Thomas Lobo. We’ve had a murder that might tie into your case. Remember the witch family that moved to town?” He paused to wait for me to confirm before he continued. “They were killed last night.”
“Wait they? How many bodies are we talking?”
“Two. Forest Dancer age thirty two and River Dancer age thirty. Any chance you or Echolls could get here ASAP? I need a magic user and I figure you will want the scene kept as intact as possible.” I was so focused on not laughing at their names, I almost missed his request.
“If you need someone to explain all the Wiccan paraphernalia, you might want to have a Wiccan come too.”
“I’ll worry about that later. Right now I have two kids trapped in what looks like a protection bubble and we can’t figure out how to take it down to get to them.” I silently gestured for the boys to get ready to go. Connor put his phone up and Tristan grabbed his shoes.
“Why can’t they take it down?” I was afraid I knew the answer. But, I really, really, hoped I was wrong.
“They are ages two and four Plus, they are scared out of their minds. “ Sometimes it really sucks to be right all the time. I assured him we would be there in a few. He gave me the coordinates for the scene and asked us to open a portal there instead of in town. I hung up after promising to be there in a few minutes and relayed the situation to the guys before ripping a portal.
We stepped out of the portal in what I assumed was the Dancer’s front yard. It was neatly trimmed with kids toys scattered around. The house was a one story cottage with brown siding and blue trim. A wind chime hung by the blue front door. It was a picture perfect home. If you ignored the stench of blood and death in the air.