CHAPTER 17
I woke up hurting. My back and ribs had stiffened up, and I had to pee, but not so bad that I wanted to try getting up. The sick feeling in my stomach wasn’t from reliving the terror of last night’s attack, it was the total lack of emotion behind Hector’s promises to hurt Mina which ignited a cold fury within me. I couldn’t blame Hector; clearly, the man was a sociopath. No, the true villain here was Lance. If anything happened to Mina, I’d never be able to live with myself. How could my own brother put his daughter through this? How could he?
I sighed and looked at my alarm clock with my good eye. Almost time to get Mina ready for school. I braced myself and rolled over to the edge of the bed, trying to stifle my groans. Blix and Larry lay curled up next to me on the bed, while the rest of the herd gave me a glassy-eyed stare from across the room.
“Is it time to get up?”
“Yes, sweetie. And after school, today we’re going to go see your dad.” I got up and headed for the bathroom, swerving toward the living room when my cell phone rang. It was Lance.
“Well it’s about time. What the hell is going on,” I demanded. “And why haven’t you called me? Last night your buddy Hector showed up and beat the crap out of me.”
Dead silence answered from the other end of the phone.
“Don’t you dare hang up on me, Lance. Hector said that if you don’t pay up by today, they’re coming back for Mina. Now I want some answers, and I want them now.”
“Is she okay?” His voice was just a whisper.
“No, she’s not okay, she’s traumatized. She was all alone watching me get my ass kicked last night. I’m not okay either, thanks for asking.” I caught sight of myself reflected in the toaster. I had a shiner as big as Ralph Wilson Stadium. A scab crusted over my split lip, and my cheek was swollen red and purple. “And why the hell do you owe money to The House of Cards?”
“It’s not what you think.” He sounded bad, but I didn’t care. I was too pissed off.
“Well maybe you better tell me what’s going on, because I’ve about had it. Bunny Tacker told me she saw you shooting pool the other night. You lied to me. You’re not out of town. Where the hell are you?”
“I need to stay lost for a few days. I’m out at the faire.”
Of course. Lance worked weekends at the Renaissance Festival out in Sterling. He’d been out there every summer since high school and was one of the few actors that got paid to perform. I didn’t remember what role he was playing this year, but he was often the sword master or the Queen’s Champion or some such thing. The fair ran every weekend through the end of August. A few rustic cabins housed the paid actors.
“Mattie, are you still there?”
“Yeah.”
“You sound different.”
“Yeah, well I’m not the same person I was yesterday.” Mina stood in the doorway and I attempted to regain some measure of composure, for her sake. “We can’t stay at your place. For now, we’re at my apartment. I’ve got to take her to school in a few minutes, but I want some answers, Lance. After last night, I’m not sure she should even go to school today.”
“Is that daddy? Let me talk to him.” Mina’s scrubbed face looked so clean and eager, I wanted to cry.
“Just a minute. There’s Lucky Charms in the cupboard. Pour some for me too, okay?” Her face scrunched up, but I held up a finger. “You can talk to him in just as soon as I’m done.”
I hobbled towards the bathroom, and shut the door. Lance said, “Let me talk to her.”
“In a minute. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m just helping out a friend, that’s all.”
“What kind of friend, Lance, a loan shark? Hector told me that if you don’t pay them, they’re coming back for Mina.” My voiced cracked. “They’re coming tonight, Lance. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Look, they’re not going to bother you again, I promise. Now let me talk to her,” he said.
I wanted to scream. “You’re not answering me. You’re gambling again. I know you are, so you can stop lying right now. You have no right to put your family through this. I’m not sure Mina should even be living with you. You are not safe.” I didn’t like threatening him, but I didn’t need to justify anything where Mina’s safety was concerned. “I’d rather see her with Violet.”
“I am not going to do this over the phone, Matt. Bring Mina out here after school and we’ll talk. Don’t tell anybody where I am. Please.”
“They probably already know.”
“Not these guys. They’re not local.”
My heart ached to hear him talk like this again, and scared me even more. “What are you doing with these people Lance?” If he owed money to the mob, I didn’t know what I would do. I couldn’t imagine my world without him, but I had to keep Mina safe.
“Look, I’ll tell you tonight, I promise. Don’t worry. Let me talk to Mina.”
As the warm water of the shower rinsed the dried blood away, I scrubbed at the black sickle mark on my hand. In spite of my best efforts, it wouldn’t come off. My whole body was black and blue. Fist-shaped purple and red bruises seeped across my ribs and back and upper arms. I got out of the shower and inspected the damage to my swollen face with my good eye. On one hand, the huge shiner overshadowed the split lip. On the other hand, the huge shiner overshadowed just about everything.
I remembered my promise to Rhys to accompany him to the bat cave after I dropped Mina off at school. That is, if a kiss and a promise were the same thing. I recalled the buttery feeling he’d left in my legs, and I was pretty sure that it was. Well, one look at my face would put an end to those ideas.
Gingerly, I dressed in jeans and boots and a tee shirt, and immediately started to sweat. Although we’d had a few sprinkles yesterday, the impending storm was holding off and the humid air wasn’t going anywhere until it broke.
I looked around for my gang of followers and frowned. I now had more than a dozen djinn. Their presence weighed on me. I wanted to get rid of them in the worst way, but somehow they’d dropped lower on the priority list. Thankfully, the oil Rhys had given me made a big difference. I hardly even noticed the smell. I sighed and headed into the kitchen.
Mina and I were halfway through our bowls of soggy cereal when someone pounded on the door downstairs. We both jumped, and she started to shake. “Don’t answer! Maybe they’ll go away.”
I forced myself to remain calm in order to reassure Mina. Poor thing hadn’t asked for any of this.
“No worries.” I kissed her and eased her back into her chair. “It’s probably just my landlady,” I lied. I went downstairs and checked the peephole before answering. Sheriff Reynolds in uniform and two suits squeezed together on my porch.
Oh great. The Winslows must have called the cops after all. I opened the door.
“Can I help you,” I asked.
Sheriff Reynolds stared at my shiner like I was some kind of monster. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Nothing. Just an accident.”
“The mayor said you weren’t hurt.”
Oh lord, give me strength. He was referring to the scooter crash. I blushed to my toes. “No, this happened yesterday. I um, did this myself. Walked into a door.”
Three cop faces stared back at me and obviously not one of them believed me.
“Is this a social call?” I asked, as innocently as I could. “I wasn’t expecting visitors. I need to get my niece to school this morning.”
One of the suits took his identification out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me.
“Matilda Blackman? I’m Agent Thomas, and this is Agent Duran. May we come in?” Their identification said FBI.
“What? I already talked to the other agent. He told me there’s nothing more I need to do.”
The three men looked at each other.
“What are you talking about?” Reynolds asked. He had dark circles under his eyes and
his clothes looked like they’d been slept in. I was surprised to see him on duty so soon after losing his wife, but I supposed no one would have dared to keep him out of the investigation. “Who did you talk to?”
“Agent Porter,” I said. “He already debriefed me. Don’t you guys talk to each other?”
The two FBI guys smirked and I gathered that they didn’t think much of Paranormal Control Officer Porter.
“We’re here on official business, Miss Blackman,” said Duran. “May we come in?”
“What’s this about, Sheriff? I really need to get going.”
“We’re trying to locate Lance McNair. I understand he’s your brother?”
My heart skittered and I eased to the porch, closing the door behind me. I didn’t want Mina to hear anything before I knew what was going on.
“What’s happened?”
“Do you know where he is,” Duran said.
“Is he here?” asked Thomas.
“Um. I don’t know where he is. What’s happened?”
“Nothing too serious, we have a few questions for him that’s all.”
“We’re following up on a tip,” said Thomas.
"What’s this about?”
“We’re investigating several murders in the area. Your brother’s name has come up.”
The realization of why they were here finally hit me. I grabbed the porch railing, my heart beating about a million miles an hour.
“You guys are with the Night Shark taskforce.”
“He hasn’t been at work for several days.”
Two days, and they send out the FBI? “There’s some kind of mistake. He’s been out of town for a couple of days. I’m babysitting his daughter. You’re wrong about Lance.”
“He was seen loitering near one of the dump sites. We’d like to talk to him.”
“You mean at the Spanky Kleen? You’ve been talking to Heckle and Jeckle.” How could they even think of Lance as the killer? “This is ridiculous. My car had a flat, and Lance helped me change the tire. End of story.”
The men exchanged glances. Had I said the wrong thing?
“Have you seen or spoken to him since?”
“Hey, you’re making a big mistake. I need to go now. Mina’s going to be late.”
Duran handed me his card. “Please tell him to get in touch with us as soon as possible. We’d like to talk to him.”
“Of course.” I nodded and took the card. “I’ll have him call you.” I went back inside and locked the door, trying to catch my breath. I’d told more lies in the last three days than in my entire life.