Chapter 24

Two weeks later…

"Can we please focus?"I clapped my hands to silence Josie and Matty, who were bickering over whether cucumbers and zucchini were, in fact, the same vegetable. "Matty, tilt your side up a quarter of an inch."

"Ouch."Josie kicked out, shooing away Badb, who had used the cease-fire to pluck another of her leg hairs. "Damn bird."

"Badb, please." I groaned, wishing I hadn't invited my siblings over to help decorate. "Leave her alone."

Vi, at least, was thrilled with my larcenous new friend. The rest of us? We were adjusting.

Unimpressed with my reprimand, the crow flew to the cat bed she slept on at the foot of my mattress.

Why buy a crow a cat bed, you might ask? I didn't. She stole it from someone's delivery order. It still had the tags on and everything. Without Kierce around to interpret, I had no way of learning who I owed the ten dollars to for her latest theft.

A pang hit me at the reminder I hadn't heard from him, that I didn't know if he had recovered, but I had bigger worries. Like how much jail time I would get if the people living in the surrounding neighborhoods figured out it was my kleptomaniacal crow helping herself to their purchases.

"I see now why four and twenty blackbirds got baked in a pie," Josie grumbled, rubbing her thigh.

"You wouldn't have these problems if you shaved more often than on date nights." I smothered a laugh at her glare. "Badb was born to be an esthetician."

"That," Matty mused, "or she thinks your leg hairs look like delicious worms."

"I didn't need that mental picture." I made a gagging noise. "Worms are gross."

"Worms aren't gross," Josie protested. "They're one of God's hardest working creatures."

I waved her and Matty away from the framed print of Bird Girl I'd had my eye on forever and did what I should have done in the first place. I used the level app on my phone, which had no opinion on produce, to straighten it.

So far, I had assembled a small desk, screwed together two barstools, and twisted four metal legs onto a coffee table. I had directed two movers to carry in a black leather sectional sofa from the same designer Matty used, though mine was smaller. I also had them bring up a pair of custom dressers I had been stashing in the office after they were dropped off last week.

While the dressers were identical, one had locking drawers. I planned to use it as a small apothecary cabinet for various supplies I preferred to keep in reach instead of leaving everything in the showroom.

Matty had bought me a fancy TV like his, but again, I went smaller. He promised to mount it for me once I decided whether I liked the couch in its current configuration or if I wanted to change walls to open the flow of the room. Whatever that meant. I was just as grateful for the set of handmade dishes Josie bought me to replace the disposable bag of Styrofoam plates I usually kept on top of the fridge. Badb loved to pick those apart, so the stoneware was a blessing.

"You never said what prompted the shopping spree." Matty brought the next piece, a photo of the shop, for me to determine where to place it. Us Marys dominated the center, grins stretching from ear to ear. Our first honest dollar earned on opening day was matted to go in the frame. "Tell me it's not for him."

"You'll have to be more specific." Josie goosed me, and I danced back, laughing. "She's got boys lined up for miles these days."

There were no boys. There was no line. And that suited me fine.

"How about this?" I indulged him. "My brush with death has made me more determined to live my life."

"Nah." Josie stuck out her tongue. "I like my idea better."

"Whatever lit a spark under you, I'm glad." Matty slung his arm around my shoulders. "You're always so busy doing for us, you never get anything done for yourself. This is a good first step. Now you can entertain guests." He shared a snicker with Josie. "Like your birdfriend."

"Josie."

"What?" She pressed her fingertips to her lips. "It was too good not to share."

"That is not going to be y'all's new thing." I elbowed Matty. "I expect better from you."

"There's your mistake," Josie chortled under her breath. "He looks all innocent, but he's as bad as me."

"No one is as bad as you," he and I said together.

"I'm hurt," she said, helping herself to the bag of open chips on my counter.

"The truth has that effect on people." Matty dodged when she flung a chip at him. "Your aim is lousy."

"Hey." I pictured Carter, another casualty of this case, and the orange spots on everything she touched. "Don't you dare get grease on my new couch."

"You're not going to be one of those people who buys plastic covers for their furniture, are you?"

"Those people are psycho kill—" Josie snapped her mouth shut. "Just don't take it that far, okay?"

A fat tear dripped off her lashes, splatting onto her cheek and rolling down her chin.

"I thought about calling him three or four times today." Armie. We didn't have to say his name to know who we meant. "He was handy with a screwdriver and could have saved me the bill from the movers."

"Yeah," she said softly.

"It's okay to miss him." Matty slung his other arm around her. "It's okay to be sad he's dead."

"No." She sniffled. "It's really not." She pounded a fist against her chest. "He used me. That was bad enough, but he only wanted me so he could get close to Frankie. I invited a killer into our lives. I don't know how to…" A frustrated noise escaped. "He never existed. I can't be this broken up over a person who wasn't real. It makes no sense."

Emotions didn't have to make sense. That was why we felt them instead of thought them.

"Why don't you go rest?" I passed her the rest of the chip bag. "We've been at it for hours."

"I'll walk you up." Matty stifled a yawn. "I could use a nap before dinner."

Only once they had left and I was alone with Badb, who I had mistaken for an outside pet when I agreed to take her in, did I admire our handiwork. My place wasn't as cozy as Matty's or a tropical paradise like Josie's, but it didn't look like I kept one foot out the door anymore.

"Crap." I let my head fall back on my shoulders. "I forgot your mirror."

Hopping to her feet, Badb scratched around in her nest of blankets. She might not speak in words I understood, but her sharp caw told me she had no problem comprehending me. Now that I had brought her attention to the absence of her favorite toy, I had no choice but to play fetch.

Pretty sure she thought I was the pet in our relationship. At the very least her servant.

"I'll be right back." I snorted when she glided onto the floor. "You don't trust me?"

Launching herself into the air, she settled on my shoulder then clucked at the door.

"Yes, Master." I rolled my eyes and stepped out onto the landing. "Your wish is my command."

Then again, maybe she did speak just fine.

"The last place I saw it was above the file cabinet." Once we reached the bottom, I let myself into the office. Sure enough, there it was. "Bingo."

The mirror was the size of my palm and hung from a thin chain. The silver bells might be her favorite bit. She loved to hear them tinkle. The whole thing hung from a large hook on the curtain rod farthest from my chair. Otherwise, she used my head as a launch pad to check her reflection every five minutes, and I never got anything done.

No sooner had I taken it down than a whirl of silvery white motes teased the corner of my eye.

For a second, I thought it might be Kierce about to materialize, and my palms flooded with sweat.

But a short man with tattoos covering every inch of available skin appeared wearing leather and denim.

A client then.

"Hello there." I shifted gears into work mode. "How can I help you?"

"It's my granddaughter." He toyed with the chain on his hip. "She's been kidnapped."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I gestured for him to sit and positioned myself behind my desk while pretending Badb wasn't hanging upside down from my wrist to admire herself in the mirror. "Are you familiar with the services we offer?"

Dropping his hand to his side, he cleared his throat. "Yes."

"Do you want me to pass along a message? Would you like to sign a lease? What do you have in mind?"

"No, no." He waved a dismissive hand weighted with silver skull rings. "Nothing like that."

"Okay." I waited for him to enlighten me. "I'm not sure what I?—"

"You found the creature hunting spirits in the cemeteries, and I was thinking…"

Afraid of what he would say next, I strove to remain professional. "You were thinking…?"

"I want to hire you. I have money. I can pay you."

"Mr.…?"

"Collins." He squared his shoulders. "Leonard Collins."

"Mr. Collins." I drew in a deep breath. "What is it you want me to do?"

"Find her."

"I'm not a cop or a private investigator. I wouldn't know where to start."

One of my clients must have referred him, but I couldn't imagine them pitching me as a private eye.

"I'll do anything. Please. You have to help me."

"Why come to me and not use a medium to report your concerns to the police?"

"You see spirits. You talk to us. You have resources cops can't access." His features shimmered. "Please." He linked his hands in his lap. "She lost her mom, and her dad was never in the picture. She skipped out on her foster parents and has been living on the streets for months. Now this." His voice softened. "The people who took her must think she won't be missed, that she's an ideal victim." His gaze burned when he lifted his eyes to me. "But I miss her. I'm not going to let them get away with this. With or without your help, I'm getting her back."

Had he quit before mentioning the at-risk part, I might have held firm to my stance, but I was a sucker for kids who got swept under the rug by virtue of their address or lack thereof.

"I'll need to make some calls." I felt my resolve crumbling like shortbread cookies fresh from the oven. "I can't promise you anything, but…I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." His outline glowed brighter. "Should I come back tomorrow?"

"That works." I held in my groan until he vanished then moaned to Badb. "This can't be happening."

Soft clicks conveyed her sympathy, and she began sliding my hair through her beak, soothing me.

There was nothing for it. I had to help this guy. I had to help this kid.

As much as I didn't want to, I picked up my phone and dialed a number I never expected to use again.

Then I waited through six rings to see if he felt the same.

"Frankie," Harrow throbbed across the line, his voice an open wound.

Hating to ask for more, after he had already given so much, I scrouged up my courage for the sake of the missing girl. "I need your help."