Chapter 26

I let myself in through the back door. Connor had dropped me off and he said he was going to a library for some light reading, though his tone had suggested the reading would be heavy and boring. As he kissed me goodbye, I cursed myself for falling asleep so early last night.

I heard a noise in the office and I froze. ‘Hello?' I called.

‘It's me,' Gunnar called. ‘I see you rearranged the place. Very Marie Kondo.'

I joined him. ‘I cleaned up. Stan did the rearranging.'

‘I heard. I came to survey the damage. The council has already released funds. I wanted to check on you.'

‘I'm fine, just tired. How're Sigrid and Stan?' I should have added Jeff too but I didn't know him. I cared about what happened to him, but not in the way I cared about Sigrid and Stan.

‘It's going to be a long road but they're finally showing signs of recovery. I'm heading home to shower and change, plus Loki is lonely and sad that we're both gone. I should spend a little time with him.'

‘Yeah.' Gunnar had enough on his plate but he was always urging me to share, so I said, ‘Since we're talking pets, I'm really worried about Fluffy being cursed. I know Anissa said he's not in pain but it's obviously doing something to him.'

His eyes softened. ‘Of course you're worried. Did Anissa mention any way to break the curse?'

‘She said she'd look into it after she'd dealt with the cursed people.'

‘You should have told her Fluffy is family. She needs to prioritise him, too,' Gunnar growled.

‘I'm sure she will, but the humans were far sicker.'

Gunnar grunted. ‘She did all of us a great service. I'm very grateful to her and I'm incredibly impressed with her skills. I'm sure she can help Fluffy.'

‘Yeah, me too. But we still have no idea who's laying the curses. Has Jeff come round yet?'

‘No, he's still out – his curse was the worst by far. They're still not sure he'll make it.'

‘Fuck.'

‘Speaking of the curser, for once I had an out-of-the-box idea,' he said.

I smiled. ‘I'm impressed! Hit me!'

‘Well, wait until you hear it before you applaud me,' Gunnar said drily. I grinned; he had a point. ‘I feel bad about even suggesting this,' he admitted. ‘Liv came to visit Stan and Sig in hospital – maybe she's not all bad. Anyway, she's the closest we have to a lead on the market and we can't let feelings get in the way. This will bite us in the ass if she ever finds out, but I think I can use her phone to pinpoint where the black market is, or at least narrow down an area.'

‘How will we know when she's there?'

‘That was the extent of my idea,' he confessed. ‘And we'd need two council members to sign off on using her phone to triangulate her location.'

I frowned. ‘Two people to sign off on it and not tell her it's happening. Calliope would do it but I think she'd tell Liv.' I leaned forward. ‘The alternative is to follow her,' I said dubiously. Liv would kill me if she knew I was tailing her.

‘But first you'd have to find her,' Gunnar pointed out. That was true; Liv and I weren't phone buddies so I couldn't just ring and ask casually where she was.

‘I could stake out her house.'

‘Out there in the middle of nowhere? She'd see you.'

I grimaced. He was right. ‘Let me think about it,' I murmured. ‘Tailing Liv is workable but we need to sort out the logistics.'

‘Agreed. Thanks for holding down the fort, Bunny Rabbit.'

‘I'd do anything for you and Sigrid,' I said awkwardly. ‘You know that, right?'

‘Kid, you went over the barrier for us. I won't forget that for as long as I live.' Gunnar looked away and cleared his throat, hoping I hadn't noticed the tears in his eyes. I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat.

‘I'm going,' he said abruptly. ‘I need to see Loki and to get back to Sig. You've got everything under control.'

‘Did you doubt it?'

He smiled. ‘Not for a second.'

Gunnar went, leaving me alone with my thoughts and very little to do. I was making a cup of tea when April sneaked in through the back door. ‘Oh my God,' she said, eyes wide. ‘It looks like a whole family of bears had a brawl in here.'

‘Only one polar bear,' I said wryly.

She shrugged. ‘There's a reason Stan's in charge, I guess. That man can open a whole can of whoop ass.'

‘And boy, was he pissed,' I agreed.

‘And you didn't have a garden hose,' she said sagely, making me grin.

‘Yeah, that was a bummer.'

‘No doubt.' She flashed me a smile and rolled up her sleeves. ‘I'll grab the vacuum and we can get this place looking a little more respectable.'

I was pretty sure respectable had left the station but we could aim for not covered in dust and grime. Connor and I had cleared away a lot of the big-ticket items but the place was far from clean.

‘I'll help,' I offered. I went into the break room to snap on some gloves and grab a bottle of cleaning fluids. Time to make this place sparkle.