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“Keep in contact, please,” she said. “I will see you in court tomorrow.”
“You will,” I said, and hung up.
A few seconds later, Deni’s contact details arrived. I googled the address and saw she lived in Kingston.
“You going to ring her?” Belle asked. “Or go there?”
I hesitated. “Go. She’s not going to take me at my word—not over the phone, anyway.”
And especially not when it had been so long since we’d seen each other. She had no reason to trust me—no reason to believe me, especially after everything my father had said about my involvement in Cat’s death.
Belle nodded. “We can borrow Mom’s car. That way, I can be close enough to help if things go tits up without being close enough for my presence to offend Deni’s sensibilities.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Deni never had a problem with you.”
“That was back when we were all kids. She’s had plenty of time to develop all sorts of prejudices since then.”
I’d like to think she wouldn’t have but knew that was probably a faint hope up here. “Check with your mom that she’s okay with us borrowing a car, and then we’ll head over to Deni’s.”
Belle dug out her phone and made the call. I took several photos of the grim warning, then squatted near the rabbit’s remains and tentatively touched its blood. It was as dead as the rabbit it had come from. I sighed. While I could use reasonably fresh blood as a means of tracking someone, I guessed I was being a little too hopeful that the skill might bleed over to animals.
I rose and brushed my fingers clean on a tissue. As Ashworth and Eli returned, I said, “Anything?”
Ashworth shook his head. “Not a footprint or anything else to suggest anyone has moved through this area. It all but confirms that we’re dealing with a wraith or some other dark and deadly form of ghost.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How many other kinds are there?”
“It’s probably better not to know, lass.”
It probably was.
“Right,” Belle said, “Mom said we can use the Audi. No one needs it for the next few days.”
“You’re going somewhere?” Eli asked.
I nodded. “The woman in the second photo is my cousin, Deni. Mom sent me her address, so we’re heading over to talk to her. You two will need to wait for Samuel.”
“Be wary walking into her house,” Ashworth said. “It’s possible he’s already laid a snare or two there.”
“Not for me, he wouldn’t have. I’m last on his list.”
“Doesn’t mean he won’t grab you first and make you watch him murder everyone else,” Eli said. “These bastards are nasty like that.”
A reminder I didn’t need.
“Don’t forget to ask Samuel to cleanse the site once they’re done,” Belle said. “I suspect Mawu will make life a little more difficult for hikers if we don’t.”
Ashworth nodded and we left. Ava had the car out of the garage and warmed up by the time we got back—she would have been following our progress through the park telepathically—and repeated Ashworth’s warning to be careful.
Belle jumped into the driver side while I set the GPS for the address. She lived in what Google told me was a boutique—read: expensive—residential development, and thanks to the fact that at this hour of the night, the streets were all but empty, it didn’t take us all that long to get there.
Belle stopped just behind a fancy-looking SUV and glanced over at the building. “Art Deco style—nice.”
“No doubt a nice price, too. Deni’s top floor—can’t see any lights on.”
“Which might not mean anything, given we don’t know how they divided the building when they converted it. Hopefully, she is home.”
“Hopefully, the sorcerer hasn’t gotten here before us.”
