Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel (21 page)

“
You are at your store?”
his voice in her head now was flat and grim. She felt her panic growing.

“
Yes
.”

“
Go back in the building and lock the door. I am on my way
.”

“
No, don’t come all the way out here. It’s not a big deal,”
she said irrationally, feeling afraid despite her brave words.

“
I am already on my way
,” he said. She knew there was no point arguing then and feeling oddly defeated she went back into the store and called detective Riordan.

The panic attack this time was not as bad as many of the other ones had been but it left her slumped on the floor in the back hallway, shaking and exhausted. When someone knocked on the rear door she fell over, face down on the floor, her heart racing again. Only when she recognized Riordan’s voice calling her name did she manage to scramble to her feet and get the door unlocked.

Riordan and Smythe were standing side by side. She stepped out to talk to them, wrapping her arms around herself. Riordan took in her shell shocked expression and glazed eyes with concern, “Are you alright Ms. McCarthy?”

“Yes, just upset. I don’t understand why someone is doing this,” Allie said, her voice hoarse from crying.

Smythe looked sympathetic. “I wish we could tell you something more reassuring-“

He was interrupted by the arrival of the distinctive green vehicle of the Elven Guard. Allie wasn’t sure if Jess had broken speed records getting there or if she had lost more time than she realized to her panic attack. The car parked near the detectives’ unmarked police car and as Allie watched Jess and Brynneth got out. She felt disproportionately relieved to see them both.

Jess crossed quickly to where Allie was standing, pulling her against his chest; she went willingly opening herself to his feelings. His worry and love filled her, soothing all the rough edges and sharp places left by her emotional collapse. Brynneth also came to stand close by her side, reaching out to touch her shoulder gently and extending a tendril of healing energy. That surprised her until she decided that he would count it as part of their bargain.

Jess turned to the two detectives, his expression aloof. “Detective Riordan, it is not displeasing to see you again. Allie tells me that you are handling the investigation into the disturbances going on here?”

Riordan blinked, “Yes, my partner detective Smythe and I are handling it together.”

Allie stepped back slightly from Jess, shifting so that his arms stayed wrapped around her but she was turned to face the human police. She tried her best to make the proper introductions, “Brynneth, Jessilaen you remember detective Riordan, this is detective Mark Smythe. Detective Smythe this is Commander Jessilaen of the Elven Guard and Brynneth, medic with the Guard.”

Smythe regarded both elves evenly without any discernable expression, “Nice to meet you both. I wasn’t aware that the Elven Guard were also investigating this.”

“We aren’t,” Jess said, his voice deceptively neutral. “Yet, although that may change. I am here to offer support to Allie, and Brynneth is here with me.”

“I see,” Smythe said. Allie doubted he had any idea what was going on. She was too tired to try to explain it to him.

Riordan cleared his throat, “Well, we were just about to tell Ms. McCarthy that this case looks like it’s more complicated than we thought it was going to be.”

“Why?” Allie asked, leaning back against Jess for support.

“We caught the person who broke your windows,” Smythe said, “or to be honest, he confessed. Guy named Corey Webster. You know him?”

“Yeah,” Allie said softly, “I know him. He’s a regular customer.”

“He said he got into a fight with you the other day,” Riordan said.

“Not with me,” Allie said, shaking her head, “With someone else in the store. Corey was speaking in a very, uh, inappropriate way to me and another guy who was here, a friend of mine, took offense and they got into an argument.”

“
Allie?
” she felt Jess’s voice like a whisper in her mind “
What happened?”

“
It was nothing. Corey was being rude and Jason called him out on it. Corey left mad. I didn’t think he was that mad though,”
she replied. Out loud she said “I didn’t think he was angry enough to come back and vandalize my store over it.”

“He said he was drunk when he did it,” Riordan said. “Said it wasn’t planned, just a spur of the moment thing.”

Allie nodded. She could see that, given Corey’s personality. Confessing though didn’t seem at all like him. “And he just came forward and admitted he did it?”

“Mr. Webster was in a serious accident last night. He thought he wasn’t going to make it and wanted to clear his conscience. Although why he felt that admitting to breaking some windows was such a big deal I don’t know,” Smythe said. “But he was insistent about it.”

Allie looked down, tensing, remembering her spell. She wanted to ask about his accident, about whether he was going to be alright, but she was afraid. She really didn’t want to know the full extent of what she had done. Jess tightened his arms around her, but it was a cold comfort.

“The thing is,” Riordan said, continuing where his partner had left off, “he swears that’s all he did. Says he doesn’t know anything about any dead animals.”

“And,” Smythe added, “he obviously couldn’t have done this today, since he’s laid up in Memorial’s ICU.”

“So there is another person yet to be found,” Brynneth murmured thoughtfully.

“Looks that way,” Riordan agreed. “I have to be honest with you Ms. McCarthy after we talked to Mr. Webster last night I wasn’t sure if the thing with the animals was still a big concern. The animals weren’t marked up from what you said, and there weren’t any messages left with them. Makes it kind of hard to figure out. But with this happening it looks like an escalation of violence, and like a personal threat to you.”

“You don’t find dead animals left on her doorstep a concern detective?” Jess asked.

“Like I said Commander, it’s hard to figure.” Riordan said. “Usually when you hear about that sort of thing the animals are mutilated or left in a way that’s obviously a message – I heard of a case a couple town’s over where a guy’s ex was nailing kittens up to his door, for example. When it’s personal it
feels
personal. This feels weird. Different kinds of animals, no obvious signs of violence, left just lying out as if they died naturally. That’s weird if it’s supposed to be a threat to Ms. McCarthy. But now this – this jumps up the level of violence by orders of magnitude. From apparently non-violent deaths to slashing all her tires. It’s hard to follow. Unless there have been other things going on you haven’t mentioned?”

Allie shook her head numbly. “No, nothing. I mean nothing I can think of.”

“No strange letters or phone messages?” Smythe asked. “No cars following you, or people who seem to be around you when they shouldn’t be? Things like that?”

Allie was already shaking her head. “No. Nothing like that. My life is really pretty boring. I mean I get people in here, tourists mostly, wanting to hear about what happened. With the murders. I don’t talk about that so sometimes they get annoyed. But there’s never been any one that was really persistent about it.”

Riordan was making notes in the small notebook he kept in his pocket. Finally he looked up, “Well let’s take a look at the damage.”

The two detectives and Brynneth walked over to Allie’s car to examine the tires. Allie and Jess held back, watching from the doorway. “
You can go look too,
” Allie thought to him “
If you want
”

“
No my love
,” he thought back, his concern like a blanket wrapping around her. “
Brynneth will tell me whatever he finds, and it’s more important for me to be here with you.
”

She had to admit that it made her happy to hear him say that, and she did feel safer with him there. It was hard not to feel safer next to someone carrying a longsword who had the skill to use it to deadly effect. She rested her head against his chest and let his emotions fill her, like water flowing into dry earth; she felt the exhaustion and headache that were the typical after effects of the panic attack ebbing away. By the time the others returned she felt as good as she had when she got up that morning, and more importantly she felt strong enough to handle the details of what she needed to do now. Her conscience twinged at using him this way but she was so drained that it was almost reflexive.

Brynneth tilted his head to the side, looking at her intently as he walked back over. Allie realized that the change in her must be glaringly obvious to the healer. Brynneth as usual kept his own counsel though and said nothing about it.

“Ms. McCarthy,” detective Riordan said, and Allie frowned sensing that whatever was coming wasn’t going to be something she would like. “We’ve taken pictures and done some preliminary study of the damage, but I’d like to take the car to the state evidence lab to examine the tires further.”

“Why?” Allie asked, genuinely confused.

“Because I’d like them to take a better look at the actual damage, the pattern of the cuts, that sort of thing. I’m…concerned about the effort that someone went to here, not just to puncture the tire but to slash it several times,” Riordan said trying to walk a line between nonchalance and concern.

Allie was baffled, and turned slightly to look at Jess, who seemed just as confused. Brynneth finally broke his silence, “Whoever did this, seems to have either been very angry or been striving to be excessively thorough. Each tire was slashed a half dozen times, at least.”

“Why?” Allie repeated. “I don’t understand this. The animals look unharmed, except for obviously being dead, but he kills my tires with extreme prejudice?”

“Ms. McCarthy, it’s very difficult to know what might be motivating someone who would do these types of things,” Smythe said, “Whoever it is probably thinks it sends a very clear message of some sort and that you understand it.”

Allie shook her head slowly, “I don’t. I really don’t.”

“I’m going to be blunt with you,” Riordan said, rubbing his forehead, “I’m worried about you being alone here and all of this focusing on your store. At your house you have enough roommates you probably aren’t alone very often, and it makes me wonder if you aren’t being targeted here precisely because it’s a place where you are more vulnerable.”

“But targeted why?” Allie said, trying not to sound like she was whining. “I don’t get it.”

Riordan sighed, and then repeated patiently, “It’s hard to say. If someone isn’t stable it doesn’t take much to set them off. It could be someone with a grudge, or someone who feels they have a score to settle with you. It could even be someone you’ve never met who just fixated on you because you look like someone else.”

“That is madness,” Jess said, his voice tight and unhappy.

“Elves don’t have stalkers?” Smythe asked. Next to him Riordan tensed slightly, not sure if the two elves would find the question rude or offensive. As it was they didn’t understand the term and Allie had to try to explain.

“A stalker is a person who becomes obsessed with another person and follows them, spies on them, and sometimes hurts them or tries to hurt them.”

“Madness,” Jess repeated, shaking his head. Allie looked down thinking that the Dark court elf who had hurt her certainly fit the description of a stalker…but that had been last month, almost two months ago now. He had to be long gone, and somehow Allie couldn’t imagine the elf who had taken such sadistic joy in hurting her offering a clean death to the animals on her doorstep. That didn’t seem nearly bloody enough for him.

“Alright, well, if you just need the tires and you’ve finished up with the pictures I’ll call the garage to come get the car – I guess they’ll need a flatbed for it – and I’ll make sure the old tires get sent to you-“ Allie said, suddenly wanting to be done with the whole situation.

“If it’s alright with you Ms. McCarthy, I’d rather we handle the evidence ourselves. I can have the car moved to the police lot and we’ll remove the tires there and then we can arrange for it to be transported to your garage. Who do you use?” Riordan managed to make it all sound perfectly reasonably and Allie was agreeing before it even occurred to her to insist on keeping control of her own car.

“Ummm, usually Duke’s over on West River Street.”

Riordan added that to his notes and nodded at Smythe who pulled out a cell phone and turned away to make a call. Riordan looked back up at Allie, his eyes drifting to Jess’s arms around her shoulders. “Is it safe to ask a personal question?”

She smiled slightly at his caution, even though she knew it was smart on his part. Elves had a well-deserved reputation for how easily and quickly they took insult over things and personal questions were usually off limits. “Jess and I are still together, if that’s what you were wondering.”

Jess pulled her closer, and she reached up to pat his hand reassuringly, knowing that he still did not entirely trust her commitment to him, despite her efforts to be more open with him.
And isn’t this a strange situation
? Allie thought as Riordan nodded slowly, seeming to gather his thoughts,
Talk about role reversal! He’s the one worried about me not being invested enough when it’s usually the human girl chasing after the elf looking for a more serious relationship
…