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“All right. But if I take him, he’smine. I’m not giving him back.”
“We won’t be asking,” Dell said. “Did you leave her there in the woods?”
I reassured them that she was all right. “No. Casey, your mother showed up to take Sarah in hand and watch over her. Adele had a message for you?—”
“How do we know it was her? How do we know you’re not making this up?” Dell said. I immediately sensed that he was one of those humans who didn’t like Otherkin.
“Dell, she knows my mother’s name—” Casey started to say but he cut her off.
“She could have found that out online,” he grumbled.
“Adele thought you might question me,” I said. “She asked me to tell Casey this: she always knew it was you who took the ruby ring.”
Casey gasped. “Nobody knew about that! I never told anybody, not even Dell.”
“Apparently your mother knew,” I said. I felt like I was walking on eggshells. But apparently, Casey believed me enough to relax a little.
“My mother had this beautiful ruby pinkie ring. I loved it but she’d never let me wear it. When I was fourteen, I stole it. She thought she lost it—or at least, she let me believe that. I guess she knew all along but never wanted to call me out on it. You said she’s watching over Sarah now?”
“She told me that she’s watching out for your whole family, including a daughter named Lila?”
Once again, Dell shifted. He let out a sigh and slumped forward. “Lila? We lost her a year after we were married. She was only two.”
“Well, Adele is standing watch over Lila and Sarah, and she’s watching over your family. I think she’s keeping track of what goes on in the house.” I emphasized the latter. I was a little worried about Dell and whether he might take his anger out on Casey. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know that Sarah’s okay—she’s being cared for. And she misses you.”
“She’snotokay, though,is she? She’s dead. A butcher ripped her apart—” Dell exploded, coming out of his chair. “And no woo-woo crap can bring her back!”
I stumbled back, scrambling out of my chair as he loomed large, looking ready to leap across the table after me. Daisy had stationed Arnie outside the room, who immediately swung in through the open door.
“Is something wrong?” Arnie asked, going from friendly to aloof and ever-so-slightly threatening in seconds.
One look at the grim officer and Dell froze, slowly retreating toward his chair.
Casey surprised me. Her tears had stopped and, with a dark glance at her husband, she said, “Deputy? Can you come with us to the house? We need to give Elphyra a kitten and we’d like to make certain that everything goes all right.”
Arnie looked confused, but I understood Casey’s intent. Something was off with Dell, and she was also afraid he might do something to the animal before I could collect him.
“She’s right,” I said. “Can I talk to you a second?” I tapped Arnie on the shoulder as I walked past him, into the hallway. He followed, shutting the door behind him. The moment we were out there, I lowered my voice.
“Listen, Dell’s about ready to explode and I think he might hurt Sarah’s cat. His wife wants me to take the kitten, and I don’t want to chance leaving the animal there. I’m afraid he might try to kill it…or worse.”
“I hear you. Give me a minute, and don’t go back in there until I return. I can smell the man’s anger a mile away.”
I glanced at him, curious.
“Didn’t you realize? I’m a dog shifter. German shepherd,” he said. “Let me go talk to the sheriff.” He turned and headed down the hall.
I stood there, waiting outside the conference room where Dell was arguing with his wife. Casey was staring at the table, not saying a word. I suddenly felt sorry for her and wondered if Dell had ever hurt her or the kids. He certainly seemed like a prime candidate for an abuser, although grief could do odd things to people. Maybe it was the loss of his daughter speaking.
Arnie returned before I could speculate any further. “I’ll accompany you to their house.”
“You might want to check on them now and then—I have a bad feeling about that man,” I said as I opened the door.
Dell immediately fell silent.
“Deputy Fryer is going to accompany us to your house so I can pick up Sirius and take him home,” I said.
Looking relieved, Casey stood. “Let’s go. Dell, are you coming?”
