Chapter 2
“P aige, have you lost your mind?” Dewey questioned, flying into the air toward her.
Paige bit her lower lip as she considered how the conversation with Drucinda may go. The lithe woman’s eyes narrowed at her. She cocked a hip, sticking a hand on it.
“You simpering fool. How dare you come to me about this? Do you want to know what happened that night? I killed your weakling mother, just like I’m going to kill you right now.”
Paige tugged her lips back into a grimace as the vision faded from her mind. “Maybe. Probably.”
She grabbed her plate, balancing it on her bandaged hand before she grabbed Dewey’s dish and shuffled to the couch. With a sigh, she plopped down on it.
“I can just hear her snarking at me before she snuffs out my life, too.”
“Do you think she’ll tell you the truth?”
“I don’t know. Maybe,” Paige answered. “She continues to maintain her innocence, right?”
“She does. But I still don’t trust her. Maybe she killed your mom, maybe she didn’t. We may never know.”
Paige stared straight ahead, tapping her fingertips against the mitt wrapped around her other hand. “How much of this was reported?”
Dewey landed on the couch and snatched the RP. “There were a lot of reports, but most of them were vague. The Force didn’t release many details about that night.”
He tapped around on the device before he shifted it for her to view. Her heart dropped as a picture of her mother stared back. The headline above the image read SHADOW HARBOR LIbrARIAN MISSING.
“This article goes on to say Reed had been investigating a case for the library when she disappeared. No communication back to the Shadow Harbor director for three days. That’s when The Force became involved.”
“What is The Force?”
“Supernatural police. They handle crimes in the supernatural world or involving supernatural creatures.”
“Huh,” Paige grunted. “Okay, so what did they find when they investigated?”
“Well, like I said, not much. At least not much that was released at the time.” Dewey tapped around, pulling up another article. “See?” A new headline appeared. LIbrARIAN’S DISAPPEARANCE CONTINUES TO BAFFLE FORCE.
“What case was my mom on when she disappeared? Ronnie mentioned it on my first day. She said it was something big.”
“That’s another mystery. We have no idea.”
“Wouldn’t it have been logged with the library? Didn’t the Shadow Harbor director know?”
Dewey shook his head. “No.”
“Was Ronnie the director then?”
“No, assistant director. The director was a guy by the name of Harold Higgins.”
“What a name.”
“Tell me about it. Professor Higgins–” Dewey began when Paige snickered. “What?”
“Don’t you mean Director Higgins?”
“No, I mean ‘Professor.’ He was also a professor at Ghostford U.”
“Ghostford U?” Paige questioned.
Dewey let the RP flop onto his legs with a huff. “Yes, Paige. Ghostford University. It’s only the oldest supernatural university in the world. It’s an Ivy League school.”
Paige held her hands up. “Sorry. How was I supposed to know that? I mean, where are these places that no one knows about them?”
“Countryside, mountains, small towns. You name a remote location, and there’s likely a paranormal academy somewhere there. Your boy, Devon, went to Ghostford. Pretty sure he was a frat boy, too. He was a legacy.”
“He’s not my boy. Don’t even mention his name to me. I can’t stand to think of him. Now, back to the mystery. How did they not know what she was working on?”
“Professor Higgins–” he began again when Paige offered another chuckle. “Paige!”
“I’m sorry,” she said, clamping a hand over her mouth. “It’s just…Professor Higgins. Sorry, I’m just upset, and tired, and hungry, and…” Her lips curled up again as she fought not to chuckle.
“I don’t get what’s so funny.”
“His name is Professor Higgins.” Paige giggled again, staring at Dewey.
He stared back with a blank expression on his teal face. “So?”
Paige’s eyes went wide. “Professor Higgins. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. I could have danced all night. Just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait.”
Dewey’s features pinched, and his nose horns wiggled. “Are you having a stroke?”
Paige pressed her lips together and shook her head at him. “No. My Fair Lady. The musical.”
“Never seen it,” Dewey said, returning his attention to the RP.
“Well, you should. It’s great. Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle. And she wears that white dress to the ball, and she looks so pretty. And his name is Professor Higgins.”
Dewey glanced at her, his face still betraying his annoyance. “Are you finished?”
Paige’s grin faded, and she puckered her lips. “Yes.”
“Great. Now, Higgins said she’d been working on a secret project.
She’d given him very few details, claiming she couldn’t share what she knew until she had nailed down all the specifics.
She confided to then Assistant Director Lauren, that’s Ronnie, that she was working on something big. Something explosive, Reed’s own words.”
“Explosive?” Paige repeated, her brow furrowing.
“That’s what she said. She went to Europe. Didn’t disclose her location. While there she called the library. She told them she’d gone to Moscow, then to Romania, and she was currently in Greece. That’s where she disappeared.”
“Well, what did she say in the final call she made?”
“Hard to tell. Higgins reported lots of static, and only a few words.”
“What were the few words?”
“No idea. Sealed.”
“He didn’t tell Ronnie?”
“Nope. She called him. From the tone of the conversation, he sent The Force to check on her. When they got there, no trace of Reed. They didn’t release any details until Drucinda’s arrest.”
“Where? Where did he send them?”
“She said something about an abandoned warehouse in Athens.”
Paige crinkled her brow as she considered it. “What details came out when they made the arrest?”
Dewey tapped around, flashing the screen her way. A new article popped up on the screen with a mugshot of Drucinda. The headline read ARREST MADE IN MISSING LIbrARIAN CASE.
“This one said Drucinda was arrested because she had been found at the scene covered in blood.”
“My mom’s blood?”
“A mix of both hers and Reed’s.”
“Wait, she was covered in blood, and they didn’t arrest her outright? This article is dated days later.”
“They questioned her when she came to but didn’t arrest her at first, no.”
“Why? This seems like a slam dunk.”
“She claimed they’d been attacked. Claimed she hadn’t done anything to Reed. Said the blood was from the battle that ensued with a creature she couldn’t identify.”
Paige rose from her seat to pace the floor, leaving the pizza behind. “So, she claims she’s a victim?”
“Yes,” Dewey said. “She says the creature took Reed and left her to die.”
“Was she badly hurt?”
Dewey nodded. “Yes. Even for a part-Valkyrie, it was still a life-threatening wound. She was in a coma for a few days before she woke up.”
“And after she woke up, she claimed she’d done nothing.”
“She says it was this unidentified creature.”
“But they didn’t believe her?”
“No. Because no trace of anything other than her and Reed was found at the scene. No blood, no cells, no fingerprints, nothing.”
Paige crinkled her brow and returned to the couch. She plopped down next to Dewey and grabbed the RP. After skimming the article, she flicked to find the next one.
“Okay, so she was arrested in connection with my mom’s disappearance at first. This article is dated a week later and says the charge was upped to murder.”
“Yeah,” Dewey answered, tugging the device back, “after an analysis and no trace of Reed, they decided to change the charge.”
“An analysis?”
Dewey bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah, of the crime scene.”
“What in the crime scene led them to change their minds about the charge?”
Dewey flicked his dark eyes toward her. “Paige, maybe we should–”
“Just tell me. I can find out on my own.”
Dewey returned his gaze to the device in his lap. A puff of smoke escaped his nostrils. “They found enough blood at the scene that it didn’t seem possible for your mom to have survived.”
Paige’s forehead crinkled, and her lower lip trembled at the words. The tears forming in her eyes spilled onto her cheeks as Dewey placed a paw on her arm. “I’m sorry, Paige. This is why I think Devon’s lying. The facts just don’t add up.”
Paige sniffled, nodding as she failed to find any words.
“And this is why I think a conversation with Drucinda is just going to rehash a bunch of old wounds and lead to nothing but heartache.”
“Sounds like it.” She sniffed and wiped at her cheeks as she reached for a tissue.
Dewey climbed to his feet and patted her shoulder. “Sorry to make you ugly cry again.”
“It’s okay. I just–” She licked her lips as she stared straight ahead. “For a second, I had this hope, you know?”
Dewey squashed his lips together and slid his tiny arms around her neck. “I know. Stupid Devon and his lies.”
“Yeah,” Paige said with a hiccup as she fought back more sobs. “And his stupid stupidity.”
“Ye–wait.” Dewey crinkled his brow. “That makes no sense.”
“What?”
“Stupid stupidity? That’s just…stupid. You’re supposed to insult something specific. Like…stupid Devon and his stupid face.” Dewey shook a fist in the air. “Now, you try. Do something about his looks. That’ll make you feel better.”
“Stupid Devon and his stupid…” Paige’s features pinched again. “I don’t know, I can’t think.” Tears streamed down her cheeks again, and she buried her face in her hands.
“It’s okay, Paige,” Dewey said, patting her on the back. “I’ll help. He’s got so many things to pick from. Dimples, chiseled jaw, that almost-impossibly perfect hair, the abs, the biceps. There’s tons of stuff.”
Paige’s shoulders shook as she continued to sob. “I can’t.”
“Okay, try his beast form. The red eyes, for example. Or the odd, noseless face. That’s a great–”