I hugged my coat closer around me, suddenly chilled. “I felt something off, but couldn’t pin it down. But I’d be willing to bet one of my measly paychecks that there’s a portal somewhere in that area as well.” I eyed her. “What are they for? I thought the one in your library was random, but it’s not, is it?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, which surprised me. I’d somehow assumed she knew exactly what it was for and why it was there. “I only know that protecting it has always been of paramount importance. I inherited the place from my Great Aunt Nikki, even though I’d never met the woman, and she had children of her own. But she’d clearly been an arcane practitioner as well, because with the house came the contents of the library, along with a completely vague and rambling letter that maundered on and on about how vital it was that the portal be guarded and the wards maintained.” Tessa gave a low snort. “She was ninety-eight when she died, and I think her mind had gone bye-bye several years before.”
“Or maybe she didn’t know why it needed to be protected either,” I pointed out.
Tessa gave a quick bark of laughter. “Now that’s a possibility as well! When I get the chance I’ll have to look and see how she came into possession of this place.” Squaring her shoulders, she said, “But for now I need you to stay here and make sure all this is taken care of.” Tessa waved her hand at the goings-on in her front yard. “And if I’m not back by the time they finish up, can you please reactivate the outer wards?”
“Sure thing. But where are you going to be?”
She gave me a hard smile. “I think that Carl and I are going to go on a nature walk.”
After Tessa left, I waited for Sarge to get a free minute to talk to me. Since I had a personal involvement, I didn’t want to go beyond the crime scene tape.
He came over to me as soon as the Coroner’s Office van pulled up. “You all right?”
I briefly considered acting like I didn’t know what he was talking about, but then I realized it would be pointless. The crap with Thomas had only been a couple of years ago and had been the talk of the department.
I gave him a nod. “You got a minute?”
“I got more than a minute if you need it,” he said, looking at me with concern.
I took a deep breath. “There’s a link between Thomas here, the death out at the Nature Center, and the lady who died after running into my car.”
“You?”
I nodded.
He lit a cigarette, and I shifted upwind of him. “I knew about Thomas, of course,” he said. “And Tracy Gordon told me about the Stark woman.” He blew out smoke and didn’t look at me. “What’s the deal with Landrieu?”
“Gave me heroin when I was fourteen,” I said, not looking at him either, but I could still see him twitch in surprise. “I overdosed. Nearly died.”
“Damn,” he muttered. He flicked ash onto the sidewalk. “Y’think someone’s trying to set you up?”
“That, or someone thinks they’re doing me a favor,” I replied.
He made a sour noise in the back of his throat. “Well, it obviously doesn’t look good that people you have plenty of reason to dislike are falling over dead. But I also don’t believe for a second that you’re doing it.”
I inclined my head. “I appreciate your faith in me.”
“Only because I know you’d find a way to hide the bodies.” He snorted, smiled. “Well, if someone’s trying to set you up, we need to beat whoever it is to the punch, and let the chief know what’s going on.”
A knot of tension in my chest began to unwind. “Yeah. Makes sense.”
“Now, let me ask you a question,” he said, peering at me.
I waited.
“These deaths. Are they part of all that magic woowoo crap you do?”
I bit back the urge to snicker at his reaction and kept my face sober. “Probably so,” I replied.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered. He dropped the cigarette to the sidewalk and ground it out under his heel. “I’ll fill the chief in. I’ll also need to reassign the Landrieu case.”
“Understood.”
“You need anything else from me?”
I shook my head. “I’m good. Thanks, Sarge.”
“See you in the morning, then. Now get the fuck off my car.”
I gave him a mock salute and stepped back from his car. After he drove off I looked around to see if Jill was finished up. She was leaning against her van with her hands stuffed into her pockets, which led me to assume she was done and was waiting for me.