Why couldn't I have just stayed put for once?
The look Uncle Martin was giving me made me want to go back and crawl under my bed. Yes, I messed up. I should have stayed in my room and trusted him to deal with whoever was at the door, but I always felt like I needed to be in the middle of everything.
And now, I'd given myself away to this detective. I'd probably also brought Kai into this questioning session.
Not to mention the fact that my body was bruised and burned. How was I going to explain that?
Oh, no big deal officer, I just skipped school yesterday and fell into a demon's fire spell. But I swear, I have no idea what happened to Peyton.
At least I had the new girl thing going for me. It wasn't like I was here when the other girls were taken.
Which is potentially why the detective gave Kai a strange look. If this guy was worth anything, he already knew Kai had come to town just before the first disappearance. And that Kai worked at Sir Bean, a place all the girls had visited right before they went missing.
"I'm just going to get back to my studying," Kai said, turning the other way.
"No, why don't you go ahead and join us down here," Detective Lancaster said.
Kai groaned and followed me down the stairs.
"You're here pretty early," Detective Lancaster said to Kai, making a point to check his watch.
"So are you," Kai said with a smile. He didn't offer any additional information, and I got the distinct feeling these two had met before.
There was definite tension in the air between them.
"Would you like a cup of freshly brewed coffee, Detective?" Martin asked. "Why don't we all go back to the kitchen to have a cup and sit down together?"
"I think we'll just have a seat out here," Detective Lancaster said, motioning to the parlor.
I rolled my eyes. These couches were going to get more use in a couple of days than they'd seen in the past hundred years.
I sat down on the same square of navy velvet couch I'd chosen when Ms. Greer questioned me and pulled my legs underneath me. I wasn't exactly dressed for company, but the loose sweats and tank top Martin must have changed me into last night would have to do.
Kai hadn't been there when he did that, right? Surely not.
My entire body suddenly went up in fresh flames, and I scooted down, hiding my red face behind my arm.
"What happened to you, Miss Thorne?" Detective Lancaster asked, nodding toward my bandaged arm as he sat down in the straight-backed chair across from me.
I didn't answer, hoping we could stall that conversation for as long as possible.
Martin opted to stand, placing an arm on the mantle of the large fireplace, while Kai took a seat next to me on the sofa. He coughed slightly as a cloud of dust rose from the fabric on that side, and I had to stifle a grin.
"Miss Thorne?" the detective asked again.
"Oh, um. Just a minor accident," I said attempting to laugh it off. "It looks worse than it is. Just a scratch, really, but my uncle tends to go overboard on the bandages."
Detective Lancaster didn't look convinced. He pulled out a small spiral notebook and a pen.
"I looked for you at school yesterday, but the office said you'd been checked out by Julie Peterson. Are you close to the Peterson family? From what I understand you've just moved to the area recently."
"Lenny moved here just before summer," Uncle Martin said, stepping in. "She had my permission to leave school yesterday, but I wasn't able to pick her up myself."
The detective narrowed his eyes.
"I'd like to hear Lenny's answers, if you don't mind," he said. "In fact, I'd love to speak to her in private."
"That's not acceptable to me," Uncle Martin said. "If you wish to continue your questions, you may only do so in my presence."
Detective Lancaster cleared his throat.
"Okay, so then Lenny. Are you good friends with the Peterson family?"
I looked to Martin, and he gave a slight shrug.
"Not really," I said. "I only just met Olive and her mom the other day."
"And what about Peyton?" he asked, leaning forward. "How long have you been friends with her?"
"About the same amount of time," I said. "I only just started school this past week, so I met Peyton on Monday."
He made a few notes and seemed to chew on the inside of his cheek for a moment.
"From what some of the other girls have told me, you had an afternoon swim at Peyton's home Tuesday afternoon. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
He went through all the basic questions with me. Who was there. What we did. Whether I noticed anything unusual about Peyton's behavior.
He spent a good deal of time asking various questions about my ride home, too, and what time Peyton drove off, but it all seemed pretty standard.
"And what about those bandages?" he asked, giving me a once-over. "Did you sustain your injuries before or after Peyton dropped you off at your house the other night?"
I glanced at Martin again, which I realized must look a little suspicious. I couldn't help myself, though. How was I going to explain this?
"After," I said. "After I left school yesterday."
"So, if I ask around, some of your friends from school will verify that you had no injuries when you showed up yesterday?"
"Yes."
"What happened?" he asked. "Did someone hurt you?"
He glanced toward Kai and then back to me.
"Nothing like that," I said. "It's no big deal, really. Besides, it has nothing to do with Peyton."
"Do you feel safe, Miss Thorne?"
His question caught me a bit by surprise.
Safe? How could any girl feel safe in this town?
But I had a feeling he was talking about my present company. Did I feel safe around Kai and Uncle Martin?
"As safe as I can under the circumstances going on in this town," I said. "But if you mean here at home, then yes. I am perfectly safe here."
He sighed, slapped his notebook shut, and stood.
"Okay, thank you very much, Miss Thorne," he said. "You've been very helpful."
He walked toward the door, so I stood and followed him out. Martin and Kai were close behind.
He may have been done with me, but I was definitely not finished with him.
"Detective, is there anything you can tell me about what happened to Peyton?" I asked. "Was there a struggle in her home? Did the kidnapper leave anything behind? Is there anything that points to who took these girls?"
He turned and tilted his head, studying me.
"You sound like you're really interested in this case," he said. "But I can assure you that our department is doing everything we can to find your friend."
In other words, he didn't want to tell me. But Brandy knew something about what happened. Yesterday morning, she'd said the police had told her not to talk about how they knew Peyton had been kidnapped. I wanted to know, too.
"I understand," I said. "But I'm just wondering how you know she was taken and not just visiting a boyfriend or something like that. Besides, the more I know about what happened, the more I can protect myself from having it happen to me."
That last bit must have gotten to him, because he turned around, a look of concern on his face.
"Every girl who's been taken has been alone at home when it happened." He glanced at Martin. "One of the best things you can do for yourself is to make sure you're not alone here at the house or out walking alone in the dark."
This time, he looked at Kai, and he didn't even try to conceal his feelings about him. His expression could have been categorized as a glare.
"I'd just advise you to be careful who you decide to be alone with," he said. "Not everyone who acts like a friend is a friend."
"Thanks," I said. "I'll keep that in mind."
It was obvious we weren't going to get any real answers from this detective, and I sadly had the feeling he didn't have any real answers, either.
"Thank you for stopping by, Detective," Martin said, opening the front door and ushering him outside. "If there's any other way we can be of service, please let us know. We would do anything to help find those poor girls."
Detective Lancaster turned, his brow furrowed. "You know, there is one thing I'd like to ask you," he said. "I know you didn't know Peyton for long, but did she ever mention anything to you about using lavender? Like keeping it in her house or receiving some as a gift from anyone?"
My eyes widened, and my stomach flipped with nerves.
"No, why?" I asked. "Did you find lavender in her room? Maybe under her pillow?"
He stepped closer to me, grabbing his notebook again.
"What do you know about lavender under someone's pillow?" he asked. "Does that mean something to you?"
Now, we were just trading questions, but what I needed was answers.
"I just know sometimes people use lavender to help them fall asleep at night," I said, trying to remain casual so he didn't start to suspect I had something to do with this. But I needed more details. This was the clue I'd been hoping for.
"There was a small bundle of dried lavender under her pillow," he said, lowering his voice as if he was afraid someone in the neighborhood might hear. "But that wasn't the strangest part."
He hesitated and glanced toward Kai and Martin, as if he just didn't trust them.
I couldn't risk him not telling me about the lavender, so I quickly slipped around Martin to join the detective on the front porch. I shut the door behind me, closing us off from the other two.
They could be mad at me about it later.
"What else was strange?" I asked.
He seemed to think it over before finally leaning in.
"The lavender was wrapped in poison ivy," he said. "Does that have any significance to you? Did Peyton ever mention being allergic to poison ivy?"
I sucked in a breath. It definitely had significance to me, but nothing I was going to talk to this guy about.
"I'm sorry," I said. "She never mentioned anything like that to me."
He looked away and shook his head. "You know, this case has really been hard on all of us," he said. "I would hate to see another girl go missing. Did you happen to see Kai the night Peyton dropped you off? Did she mention having a relationship with him? Or having any kind of run-in with him in the past?"
I wondered what this guy's past was with Kai and why he didn't trust him, but I wanted to tell him he was barking up the wrong tree. And none of us had time for following false leads right now.
"No. I don't think she really ever talked to Kai," I said.
"And how did you come to know him?" he asked. "It seems the two of you are close."
I smiled. "We're old friends from a really long time ago," I said. "Our parents used to work together."
This news really threw him for a loop. "I didn't realize Kai had any connections to anyone in town," he said. "Other than his grandmother, who no one seems to have heard from in a while. Have you seen her or had any interaction with her since you arrived in town?"
I had to stifle a giggle at this. I was quite certain Kai was not living in his grandmother's house, even if that was the story he'd been giving people. I would have to ask him more about that later.
"I just saw her yesterday, actually," I said, hoping to steer the detective away from his suspicions about Kai. "I think she's been travelling a lot, though, which is probably why no one's heard from her."
"Hmm," Detective Lancaster said, glancing at the door and jotting something in his notebook before putting it away. "And you're sure you feel safe at home?"
"If you're referring to Martin, everything is fine here," I said. "But thank you for being concerned about me. I'm just worried about Peyton and the others."
"We all are, Miss Thorne."
He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to me.
"If you think of anything else, don't hesitate to call me. Night or day," he said. "That goes for anytime you don't feel safe, too. I hope you're having someone treat you for those injuries. You sure you won't tell me what happened there? That doesn't look like a minor accident to me."
I looked down and realized some blood had soaked through the bandage on my arm.
"It's nothing," I said quickly, pulling my arm behind my back. "Martin was a medic in the military, and he tends to go nuts when he gets the chance to use some of his old supplies. I promise, it's not as bad as it looks."
He didn't look convinced, but he seemed to realize he wasn't going to get anything else out of me today.
"Well, you take care, Miss Thorne. You know how to reach me."
He started toward his car.
"Thank you," I said. "And Detective?"
He turned back again, squinting against the harsh morning sun. "Yes?"
"Did you happen to find those same lavender and poison ivy bundles under all the girls' pillows?" I asked.
"I'm afraid that's classified information right now, but if someone does give you a gift of lavender or tries to sell you something like that as a sleep remedy, you'll give me a call?" he asked.
"Of course," I said.
He nodded and got into his car.
He hadn't verbally confirmed the lavender bundles, but I saw the answer in his eyes. Which meant we had our first real clue from the crime scenes.
Any witch knew lavender was a natural sleep aid, but when it was wrapped in poison ivy, it became a dangerous drug. The moment Peyton's head hit that pillow, she would have instantly gone into a deep sleep.
Deep enough that someone could have easily kidnapped her without a fight.
I went back inside to find Martin and Kai peeking out the window. They quickly moved away, trying to pretend they hadn't been spying on me. I smiled.
It was sweet that they both seemed to care so much. It felt good to be looked after.
"What did he tell you?" Kai asked.
"He gave us our next clue," I said and then looked at Uncle Martin. "I know I can help find Peyton and the others. I understand why you don't want me to be a part of it. I know the death of my parents is still fresh for both of us. But you and me, we're a family now. And family sticks together. Besides, you know I can't just let this go. So, what do you say? Can we work together to find them?"
Uncle Martin studied me for a very long moment before finally allowing his serious expression to break into a partial smile.
"Okay, Lenora," he said. "We'll do this together. But if you're going to be ready to face a demon of this level, you're going to need some real training."
His eyes flickered toward Kai.
"Both of you," he said. "Are you sure you're both up for it?"
Kai and I looked at each other, both of us holding back smiles.
"Yes," we both said at the same time.
"Well, then," Martin said, straightening his shoulders. "Lenny, get dressed and join us in the kitchen for a cup of coffee before we go back to the site of last night's attack. If you're going to be a part of this now, there's a lot more you need to know about this demon."
He turned to walk back toward the kitchen, but I ran after him.
"Wait a second. Are you saying you know a lot about this demon that you haven't been telling us?" I asked. "After just one day of looking into it?"
Martin turned his head just enough so I could see his profile and the gleam in his ancient eyes.
"Dear girl," he said with a snicker, "I've been looking into this particular demon since before you were born."
With that, he calmly made his way to the kitchen, leaving both Kai and me standing in the foyer with matching looks of surprise frozen on our faces.
Uncle Martin, apparently, had been keeping some major secrets of his own.
Thank you so much for reading!!! Updates daily except Sunday!