“Harbinger,” he said gruffly, coming out of the donut shop with a bright green box under his arm, “I need to speak with you.”
“Of course,” I said, putting on a smile and a cheery voice. “How can I help you today, Sheriff?”
“Don’t give me that shit-eating grin, Harbinger. You don’t think I’ve had enough of your bullshit after what happened last night?” He pointed at the door that bore the words HARBINGER P.I. and said, “Your office. Now.”
I opened the door for him and followed his considerable bulk up the narrow stairs to my office. As I passed Felicity’s door, I gave her a little wave. She was working on her computer, her hair piled up on her head and an expression of concentration on her face. She looked damned good for someone who had only caught a few hours of sleep last night. When she saw me, she waved back and went to the coffee maker.
Cantrell settled into one of the chairs at the desk and I went around to my own, larger chair. “Felicity will be bringing coffee in a minute,” I told him. “Are you going to break out the donuts or are they for your colleagues at the station?”
He glared at me. “You think you’re a real wise guy, don’t you, Harbinger? You’re lucky I don’t throw your ass in jail for what happened last night.”
“And what exactly happened last night, Sheriff?” I sat back in my chair, waiting for his answer.
His face fell a little. “Well, we don’t know yet exactly. But people were busting out of their graves in South Cemetery and walking up Main Street.” He recovered his composure and pointed a meaty finger at me. “Don’t try and tell me that was nothing to do with you. I know what your job entails; meddling with things that shouldn’t concern normal people. You’re playing with fire and it’s the good people of this town who are getting burned.”
“Was anyone hurt last night?” I asked him. I knew that what happened was DuMont’s fault but if anyone had been injured, I was going to feel guilty about it.
“Only minor injuries,” Cantrell said. “Luckily, those walking skeletons were easily killed.” He frowned at his own words. “I can’t believe I just said that. Zombies belong in books and movies, Harbinger, not on the streets of Dearmont. I’m the sheriff of a small town; I shouldn’t have to deal with the undead.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” I agreed. “That’s my job.”
The door opened and Felicity came in, carrying a tray of coffee and donuts. I recognized the donuts as coming from Dearmont Donuts, the same as the ones Cantrell had. So Felicity hadn’t had time to bake something from scratch this morning; she was human after all.
She placed the tray on my desk without a word and went back to the door.
Cantrell turned slightly in his seat to address her. “You may want to stay, Miss Lake. I didn’t just come here to ball out your boss.” He sighed resignedly. “I came to offer him a job.”
Felicity turned to face us and I expected her to look as surprised as I felt at hearing Cantrell’s words, but her British composure kept her features unreadable. “I’ll get my notebook,” she said.
Cantrell sat quietly until she returned. I was in a state of stunned silence. The sheriff hated me, so why the hell would he hire me to do a job for him? There was the matter of his dead wife’s involvement with a church where she and twelve other people had been murdered, of course, but as far as Cantrell and the other authorities were concerned, the perpetrator of that crime had been my predecessor, Sherry Westlake.
When Felicity took a seat at the end of the desk and opened her notebook to a fresh page, I asked Cantrell, “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
“There’s an old case,” he said. “In fact, it’s three years old and as far as my department is concerned, it’s a cold case but I keep thinking there might be something we missed at the time. I suspect the case might involve…things in your area of expertise. I didn’t think so at the time but my thinking about such matters has changed over the intervening years.”
“You mean the case of the lady in the lake,” I said, remembering the news report I’d read online when I’d first seen a picture of Sheriff Cantrell and his daughter, Amy.
He looked surprised. “Yes, I am talking about that. But Deirdre Summers’ body isn’t in Dearmont Lake. We sent search parties out there in boats and we sent divers down into the depths looking for her. There was no body.”
“You don’t think she might have simply left town and left her clothes by the lake to make it look like suicide?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. Deirdre was as straight-laced as they come. For her to disappear like that, there had to be foul play involved.” He paused, as if considering what to say next. When he spoke again, he said, “I’ll have someone bring over the case file. When you read it, you’ll see why I think the case might be best investigated by someone in your line of work.”
I wondered if the sheriff had shown the file to Sherry Westlake. With the case being so old, it was possible. I took a shot in the dark. “Have you shown the case file to any other preternatural investigators?”
A dark look crossed his face. “No, I have not.”
“I’ll be happy to take a look,” I said, changing the subject. It was obvious that Cantrell was thinking of Sherry Westlake, the woman he thought had murdered his wife. Hell, for all I knew, she had murdered his wife but I didn’t want the sheriff dwelling on it in my office. He had a gun, after all, and he seemed to have tarred all P.I.s with the same brush as Sherry Westlake. I was still shocked that he was hiring me to look into the Deirdre Summers case.
“I have to ask,” I said, “why are you hiring me, Sheriff? You don’t like me, that much is obvious. So why come to me with this?”
“You’re right, I don’t like you. And after the events of last night, I like you even less.” He leaned across the desk slightly, his weight pushing it across the floor toward me. “But I can rise above my personal feelings to do my job. Deirdre Summers was a respected member of this community and she left behind a daughter who has no idea what happened to her mother. I owe it to that young lady to solve the case of her mother’s death, even if it means working with people like you.”
“Fair enough,” I said. We were obviously never going to be friends but if he was willing to put our differences aside and work with me on a professional level, then I would do the same. “I have another case I’m working on, so I’ll add the Deirdre Summers case to my workload just as soon as I can take a look at that case file.” I didn’t mention that the other case I was working on was an investigation into the church his wife had attended. Nor did I tell him that his daughter had hired me to look into the church and his wife’s death.
“I assume I’m being paid by the Sheriff’s Department for this investigation?” I said.
Cantrell nodded. “You’ll be paid as a consultant. That means I want to see detailed breakdowns of your time and expenses.”
“Of course. Felicity will handle that. Am I to report any developments in the case to you?”
He grinned at me like a wolf looking at a trapped rabbit. “You won’t be reporting to me, Harbinger, I’ll be working the case with you.”
The shock I felt must have registered on my face because Cantrell’s grin widened.
“No,” I said. “I work with Felicity.”
“Not on this case.” He pointed at me with a huge finger. “You think I’m going to let you handle police business on your own? I’m going to be keeping a close eye on you every step of the way.”
This was going to be a nightmare. I would be working with Cantrell on the Deirdre Summers case while also investigating the death of his wife without his knowledge. I wanted to say no and send him on his way but what choice did I have? If I declined the case, he was going to start getting pissy about last night’s zombie attack and I’d probably end up in jail.
I sighed. “Okay, I’ll work the case with you,” I said, my voice sounding even more resigned than I’d intended. I’d wanted to suggest that I wasn’t happy about the
arrangement but my tone made it sound like I was a condemned man about to leave his cell for the final time.
“Don’t think I’m looking forward to this any more than you are,” he said. “But Deirdre died on my watch and I will not allow the case to remain unsolved, even if it means working with the likes of you.”
I wasn’t in the mood to take a barrage of insults. I wanted Cantrell out of my office so I would have time to think without him looming over me. I stood up. “I’ll need to read the case file before we get started.”
He stood too and gave me a curt nod. “I’ll send someone over with it this morning.” He offered his hand reluctantly, as if he were about to place it in something nasty. I shook it, making sure to grip his hand tightly and look into his eyes. The fact that he’d offered his hand despite his dislike of me told me that he’d been brought up with traditional values and that meant he would respect a strong handshake with eye contact.
He released my hand and nodded to Felicity. “Miss Lake, thank you for the coffee.” He turned and left. I heard the stairs groan beneath his weight as he went downstairs. Then the main door opened and closed and I watched him through the window as he went to his patrol car and put his box of donuts into the passenger side before climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. He drove south along Main Street toward the police station.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” I told Felicity.
“No, neither was I. At least we have more work. There’s always room for another case.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Except I have to work it with Sheriff Cantrell.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing. This could be an opportunity for you to earn his trust. He might give you more consultancy jobs if you bond with him.”
“Bond with him? We’re not going on a boys’ night out, we’re investigating a woman’s death. Besides, he hates me and that isn’t going to change any time soon.”
She shrugged. “Maybe he’ll learn to trust you.”
“Trust me? While I’m working with him on the Deirdre Summers case, I’ll be investigating his wife’s death behind his back. That isn’t the foundation of a trusting relationship.”
“Well I think it’s good that he already trusts you enough to bring you this case.”
“It isn’t that he trusts me,” I told her. “He wants to keep an eye on me. He said so himself. I wonder what he’s up to.”
Felicity stood up and smoothed her skirt before picking up her notebook. “I’m sure you boys will stop fighting one day and play nice. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
“I need you now,” I said, then realized how that sounded and added, “We should drive over to Clara and take a look at that church.”
“We have to wait for the sheriff to send the Deirdre Summers case file over,” she reminded me.
“Nah, we can collect it on the way. No point sitting around in the office waiting for it to arrive. Let’s go.” I picked up my keys and headed for the door. I was eager to get started on a case and give my mind something to occupy itself with that didn’t involve cursed friends or mysterious powers. I wanted to lose myself in the investigations of the church and Deirdre Summers’ disappearance.
“I’ll need to change first,” she said. “I’m not rummaging around an old abandoned church in heels.”
“Okay, should we drop by your place so you can grab something?”
“No need. I’ll be back in a minute.” She left the room and a couple of seconds later I heard her office door close. When she reappeared a few minutes later, she was wearing sneakers, jeans, and a light green, tight T-shirt.
I got up and grabbed my car keys again before it became too obvious that I was staring at her. But damn, she looked hot.
“Shouldn’t we take my car?” Felicity asked. “Your Land Rover is smashed up, remember?”
“It isn’t that bad. I drove it here.”
“Still, you really should get it repaired.”
I sighed. She was right. “Okay, I’ll find a mechanic.”
“There’s a place on the highway called Earl’s Autos. It’s in the direction we’re going.”
“Okay, we’ll drop the Land Rover there on the way to Clara.” I went downstairs and out onto Main Street, Felicity close behind me. I locked up and we walked around the building to the parking spaces at the rear.
Felicity held up her key fob and pressed it. The lights on the blue Mini flashed once and the locks clicked open. “We should put the weapons in my car before we take yours to the garage,” she said. “We wouldn’t want a mechanic finding your enchanted sword.”
I pointed at her little blue car. “Is everything going to fit inside there?”
Felicity shot me an exasperated look. “It’s not that small, Alec. The earlier models were much smaller than this.”
I shrugged and opened up the back of the Land Rover. There was no way the weapons and tools of the trade that I carried around were all going to fit in Felicity’s Mini. I took out the daggers and sword and transferred them to her trunk, along with a couple of bags of salt, my Victorian vampire hunter’s kit, my shotgun, and a shovel. I had no idea how long the Land Rover would be in the shop, so I had to make sure I was covered for every eventuality. For all I knew, the church at Clara could house a nest of vampires and the innocent-looking Dearmont Lake might be the lair of a lake monster. I added my fishing tackle box to the stuff in the Mini. The box held chalk, candles, and a few herbal potions that were mostly just glass jars of mold now. I also threw my portable GPS in with everything else.
When the Mini’s trunk was full, Felicity said, “See? I told you it would all fit.”
“Yeah, that’s great,” I said, climbing into the Land Rover. I just hoped I wouldn’t need to find something fast in that chaotic jumble. I didn’t want to be searching through a mess of stuff, trying to find a dagger, while a troll was gnawing on my leg. “I’ll meet you at the police station,” I said.
Felicity followed me south along Main Street to the low building that served as the police station. There were four police cruisers in the parking lot, which I guessed was the sum total of Dearmont’s Sheriff’s Department. A small town like this didn’t require much policing, as long as you didn’t count the time zombies burst out of their graves and came shambling down Main Street.
Felicity waited in her car while I went inside the station. I pushed through a set of large glass doors that led into a reception area manned by a young deputy. He was tapping away on a computer keyboard. Behind him, three other deputies, including Amy Cantrell, were sitting at desks in the bullpen.
Amy saw me and came over. “Hey,” she said. “What are you doing here?” She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept last night. With all the chaos in town, she probably hadn’t. In fact, all the deputies had the same tired look. They’d probably spent all night cleaning up Main Street, taking skeletons back to South Cemetery, where they would have found even more skeletons and open graves.
“I came by to collect a case file. The Deirdre Summers case. The sheriff wanted me to take a look at it.”
Her face brightened. “Yeah, he said he was going to get you to work with him and look into it. That’s real good progress for him, to hire you after what happened to my mom.”
“You don’t find it strange?”
She frowned. “No, what do you mean?”
“Your dad hates me. And last night, the town was attacked by zombies, which he blames me for. You don’t think it’s weird that the next morning, he’s in my office offering me a job?”
Amy shrugged. “Maybe it means he’s finally dealing with the death of my mom. It’s a step forward. When the massacre at the church happened and all clues pointed to Sherry Westlake, my dad went a little crazy trying to find her. He pulled in favors from every law enforcement department in the area.
“When it was obvious that the trail was cold, he fell into a deep depression. I wasn’t sure he was ever going to shake it off. But gradually, he did. And now
he’s willing to work with you on the Deirdre Summers case. Maybe he’ll put aside his hatred for preternatural investigators and learn to trust you.”
“Yeah, everyone keeps saying that,” I said.
“Oh? Who else said it?”
“Felicity.”
“Well, we’re right.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I’m not so sure.”
Amy shook her head at me. “You don’t need to be so suspicious.”
“Being suspicious has kept me alive this long.”
“Wait here.” She went over to her desk and picked up a slim manila folder. She came back and handed it to me over the counter. “That’s the Summers file. There isn’t much in there.”
I held it up “The sheriff said there was something in here that might suggest a preternatural angle.”
“Yeah, there is. You’ll know it when you see it.” She shrugged again. “It might mean nothing but I’m glad you’re taking a look anyway. Natalie deserves to know what happened to her mother. And if there’s a bad guy involved, he needs to be brought to justice.”
“Natalie,” I said. “Where can I find her if I need to speak with her?”
“She works at the library, same as her mom did. They used to work there together before Deirdre disappeared.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll let you know if I find anything useful.” I lowered my voice and said, “I’m heading over to Clara to take a look at that church.”
“Just make sure my dad doesn’t find out about that.”
“I’ll keep it from him as if my life depended on it.” I went back out to the parking lot and held up the case file to show Felicity. She gave me a thumbs-up from inside her car and rolled down the window.
“Follow me to Earl’s. I know the way.”
I nodded and passed her the case file through the open window. “I guess we should put this in your car.” She placed it on her back seat. Her little car was much tidier than the Land Rover, that was for sure.
I got into the Land Rover and followed Felicity south along Main Street. A few minutes later, we were on the highway and I could see Dearmont Lake through the trees. It looked peaceful enough, its surface shimmering brightly in the late morning sunlight. There were boats out on the water, mainly fishermen trolling for black bass, and a couple of pleasure craft.
The Harbinger PI Box Set Page 32
