Chapter 40

I'd thought that since Posie was threatening people and taking protection money she must be hard up, but I was wrong. Apparently her protection racket made a pretty penny because her house was near Connor's on another gated estate.

He frowned when I read the address. ‘Give me her name again,' he said.

‘Posie Payne.'

‘I don't know it. I wonder if she's related to Josephine Payne?'

‘Gunnar said the person he'd arrested was J. Payne, so I bet they're one and the same,' I suggested. ‘Josie Payne, Posie Payne – it's not much of a stretch. You're not friendly with Josephine, are you? This could be awkward if you are.'

‘No. She's been a right pain in my bahoochie.'

I grinned. I'd heard that particular bit of Scottish slang when I was at university. Though Connor may be of Scottish descent, he was as American as they came. ‘What has she done?' I asked.

‘Oh, the usual. Tried to stop me from building, then tried to stop me from putting the fence around my place.' He sighed. ‘I had to put up the fence because she'd sent her two large dogs to crap on my lawn to punish me.'

‘Punish you for what?'

‘Building my house on my property. She said I obstructed her view.'

‘But you're at the top of the hill.'

‘I was obstructing her view of the hill.'

‘That sounds ridiculous,' I scoffed. ‘I didn't even see another house near you.'

‘She's not that close. I'm almost in the centre of my ten acres, and she has five. We're plenty far apart.'

I shook my head. We drove up to Connor's road but where you'd turn right to go to his estate, we turned left. ‘When did you build your house?' When I'd gone there the first time, I'd thought it looked fairly new.

‘Three years ago.'

‘Where did you live before?' I asked nosily.

He smiled. ‘The cabin by Kamluck.' Connor had taken me there to keep me safe after I was shot by the crazy murderess, Virginia Tide. It was a one-room place with a twin bed, a chair, a table and a fireplace. I didn't think it even had running water.

‘How long did you live there?' I figured he'd stayed in the cabin while he built his fancy mansion. How long would that take? Six months? A year? I couldn't imagine living there for a year.

‘I lived there for about thirty-seven years. Give or take.'

My jaw dropped. ‘Thirty-seven years? Where did you go to the loo and shower?'

He laughed. ‘There's an outhouse, and I showered at the bunkhouse.'

‘I can't believe you lived there that long. It's so small!'

He shrugged. ‘I grew up a long time ago, Bunny. People lived in confined spaces like that for millennia. It was perfectly adequate.'

I shuddered. ‘I prefer your new place.'

He laughed. ‘I do, too. I guess I got tired of living like that, and I was always worried that my father would call me back. I finally stopped worrying and decided to start living.'

I'd have to unpack all of that later because we were pulling up to Josephine's gate. I hadn't thought this through. If she didn't let us in, what could I do? Get a warrant, I supposed, then I could break in legally.

There was a speaker box next to the gate. Connor rolled down his window and pressed the button. We waited; it was a few minutes before there was a response. ‘What do you want?' a woman's voice demanded.

‘It's Connor Mackenzie and Bunny Barrington. We wish to speak to you. Will you let us in?'

‘I'm not letting any vampires in,' she sneered. ‘Go away.'

‘Ms Payne, this is Officer Barrington. I need to ask you a few questions. Would you please let me come up to the house?'

‘No.'

‘Then you leave me no choice but to come back with a warrant. If I do that, I'll arrest you and take you to the Nomo's office.'

‘You can try.' She laughed. ‘Now kindly fuck off.'

We had no choice. Connor was with me but I needed another council member to sign off on an arrest warrant, so we'd have to go back to town and come back. I looked at Connor but I didn't need to say anything. He turned the truck around and we headed back to town. As we drove, Connor called someone and ordered a vampire to get to Payne's residence, stat. Relief swept through me that we'd at least have some eyes on the building. She wouldn't be able to do a runner.

I called Gunnar on the way to the office, chafing at the delay. I'd been too eager. If Josephine knew Posie Payne, or was Posie Payne, I'd tipped our hand and put Mum in even greater danger, all because I'd been too impatient. I'd fucked up, and she might suffer for it.

‘Gunnar, she refused us entry. I'm going to need a warrant. Can you get that ready for me? I have Connor with me. I'll call and see if I can find another council member to sign off.'

‘Sure thing. Thomas said he was going to swing by to see our Sidnee – I'll tell him to wait. Sidnee!' he bellowed in my ear. To be fair, he probably pulled the phone away from his mouth, but it was so loud he almost deafened me.

I heard Sidnee's voice. ‘You bellowed, boss?'

‘Yeah, type up a warrant for Posie…'

‘Josephine,' I yelled into the phone.

‘No need to be so loud, I can hear you,' Gunnar said and I rolled my eyes. Then he said to Sidnee, ‘For Josephine Payne aka Posie Payne.'

‘Got it boss.'

‘And if Thomas shows up, tell him I need him to sign off on it. Connor's on his way to sign as well.'

‘Got it.'

‘Done, Bunny. See you soon. Everything is going to be okay.'

‘Yeah,' I grunted. I was grateful that he didn't ream me out for my mistake, but at the same time I wasn't ready for reassurance. ‘En route,' I said briskly and hung up.

‘What's a yee naaldlooshii?' I asked Connor, as we jostled down the road to town, hitting pothole after pothole.

Connor raised an eyebrow. ‘A skinwalker.'

‘And one of those is…?'

A smile turned up his lips. ‘I forget sometimes how little you still know.'

‘Yeah, yeah, rub it in.'

‘Sorry, I don't mean to. I like sharing my world with you. A yee naaldlooshii or skinwalker is a type of shapeshifter, but their change comes from a native form of witchcraft. They can turn into many shapes and forms, not just one.'

‘She said I wouldn't recognise her next time I saw her.'

Connor tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Interesting. I've heard it said that skinwalkers can change their human appearance but I haven't ever seen one to know if it's true. They are … distrusted amongst the paranormal community.'

‘Because they can make themselves look like anyone?'

He looked away. So maybe not just the ability to look like anyone.

‘They deny that ability, but that comment from Laura says otherwise. It may be why she wasn't worried about dealing with you and Gunnar when the vendor was cursed.'

‘She knew we wouldn't find her again?'

He nodded. ‘I'd say so.'

We arrived at the office in a skid of wheels. Thomas's truck was already parked up, thank goodness. Hopefully we could grab the damn warrant and arrest Payne before she did too much damage. If she harmed my mum in the meantime, it didn't bear thinking about.

Mum may have betrayed me in the worst possible way, but she was still my mother. If Payne harmed a hair on her head, she was going to be very, very sorry.

And then she'd be very, very dead.