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“Oh, hi. Uh, my name is Elizabeth Ellis. I live in Southern California and I got your number from Ravinia Rutledge.”
“She called you?” The woman sounded dubious.
“No, I met her.”
“In California?” She sounded surprised.
“Yes.”
“Huh.”
“So, you do know her, then?”
“Yes, I know Ravinia.”
>
So far, so good. “She’s down here because she claims she and I might be related and, well, she had a lot to tell me about Siren Song and the women there. You’ve heard of it?”
“I’ve been there, and I’ve met with Catherine Rutledge a number of times. She’s the matriarch, I guess you would say.”
“And she’s Ravinia’s aunt?”
“Yes. Do you mind me asking you how you’re related?”
“I can only tell you what Ravinia told me.” Elizabeth then relayed the highlights of Ravinia’s story.
Detective Dunbar confirmed that Ravinia’s tale was both fact and lore. “I can’t explain everything. I’ve seen some things that would make me . . . want to know more, if I thought I were related. You understand?”
“You’re talking about the gifts, as Ravinia called them?”
“I don’t know what to call them, but I guarantee you, the women of Siren Song are unique. If you’re one of them, you should make the effort to meet them. They don’t have a phone, but it’s worth—”
“I have a number for a cell phone. Ophelia’s, I believe.”
“Oh, well, good.” The detective hesitated. “Any chance you could meet them in person? If I had any advice for you, that would be it.”
“Yeah, I hope to,” Elizabeth murmured. Swallowing, she screwed up her courage and asked, “Can any of them predict the future, or . . . or sense something dreadful happening before it occurs? I know that sounds ridiculous, but Ravinia alluded to a few things. I didn’t want to just call. I just . . .” Didn’t want to sound like a lunatic or find myself talking to a bunch of lunatics.
After a moment of dead air space, the detective said, “Ravinia would probably know. Well, or maybe Catherine.”
Catherine. My mother . . . “What about wishing a person dead?”
“How do you mean?”
“I mean, like if one of them hated someone, or were enraged by them. Could that woman from Siren Song, say . . . could she get angry enough to literally cause their death?”
“No.”
“What about any of them causing bodily harm to someone?”
“No. Excuse me, how did Ravinia find you, Ms. Ellis?”
“Do they have a brother?” Elizabeth blurted out. “Maybe a half brother, someone who’s . . . dangerous. Really dangerous?”
“Ravinia told you about Declan Jr.”
It was like a second dousing of cold water. It was true . . . oh, dear God, it was true! “Who was he? She hasn’t been specific.”
