Page 61 of The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist
‘He told me he’d been murdered.’
Her huge eyes widened even more. ‘Who murdered him?’
‘Fischer,’ I hissed back.
‘What an asshole. And to think I looked up to him this whole time – well, until the end, obviously,’ she amended.
‘We all did,’ I said sadly. ‘Lieutenant Fischer murdered Petrovich thirty years ago. I guess he’s hated supernats for a long time.’
‘I wonder how many more he’s killed? And then he joined forces with the MIB?’ Sidnee shuddered. ‘There’s nothing worse than a monster with power.’
‘Yeah, he…’ My phone was ringing in my footlocker. ‘Hold on.’ I dug it out but it stopped. I was expecting Connor call since he was on his way to Homer where he would transfer to Edgy’s plane to ride home. But it wasn’t Connor, it was Gunnar.
A prescient chill ran down my spine and I hurriedly swiped to answer. ‘What’s wrong?’ I demanded.
‘Well, I missed you too, Bunny Rabbit.’ Gunnar’s voice was fake jovial but I knew the difference.
‘Sorry. I know you’re working flat out so you’re not ringing for chit-chat.’
He sighed. ‘No, I’m not ringing for chit-chat. Everything is mostly fine. Connor told me some about your troubles at the academy but that’s not why I called. I spoke to Sergeant Marksand he’s agreed to facilitate an early graduation. You know that VSPs only need to do the nine-week training which, as soon as you take the PT test, you’ve completed.’
‘We took it a few minutes ago.’ I gestured to Sidnee and she sat next to me on my bed. I put the phone on speaker. ‘He’s getting us to graduate early,’ I told her, then asked, ‘Gunnar, what’s happening? You wouldn’t pull us early if something wasn’t wrong.’
Sidnee cocked her head and leaned down to the phone. ‘What is it, Gunnar?’ she pressed.
I pictured him scratching his beard. He did that when something unpleasant was coming. ‘Couple of things,’ he said. ‘First, I’m not happy that you’re in danger. Connor said both of you had been directly targeted.’
I frowned. ‘That danger has been dealt with. We brought down a kidnapping ring.’
A familiar metal squeak in the background helped me visualise Gunnar leaning forward and putting his elbows on his desk. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve no doubt you figured it all out. Truthfully, that’s why I need you both home. This one is going to need some out-of-the-box thinking.’
Sidnee and I were nearly vibrating with the tension he’d been building. ‘This one?’ I asked. There was a beat of silence.
Sidnee couldn’t take it any longer. ‘Gunnar, you’re hedging. Spill it, boss.’
He gave a flat laugh. ‘You know me too well. There’s been a death.’
A frisson of fear hit me. ‘Who died?’ I was trying to picture whom I could bear to lose and no one came to mind; I didn’t even want Liv to die and she’d made me want to throttle her on more than one occasion.
‘There’s been an incident at Chrome.’
I didn’t know the name and looked at Sidnee. ‘The chromite mine,’ she explained.
I scanned my memory. The three main industries in Portlock were fishing, lumber and mining for chromite, a crystalline mineral used in steel production among other things. ‘Was there a cave-in?’ That seemed the logical conclusion.
‘I’ll explain when you get back. The answer is – complicated.’
‘Complicated how?’ I demanded. Suddenly it felt good to have another mystery to look forward to, and if Gunnar’s perplexed tone was to be believed it was a doozy.
‘I’ll tell you when you get here. I’ve already arranged your travel and emailed the details. See ya when you get home.’ He hung up.
Something really had him worried. He’d never call us back home unless the shit was really hitting the fan. ‘What do you think?’ I asked Sidnee, who looked as taken aback as I felt.
‘I think Gunnar is scared or feeling he’s in over his head.’ She licked her lips. ‘Whatever happened must have beenbig.’
She’d hit the nail on the head and a shiver of apprehension ran down my spine. We were heading home for Christmas, but I couldn’t help feeling that something wicked was coming our way.