Keeper of the Shadows

chapter 8



From the ferry landing in Marina del Rey she took a cab back to the Snake Pit for her car. Once again, it was well after 3:00 a.m. when she finally arrived back at home.

Her cousins’ houses were both dark as she drove through the main gate and up to Gwydion’s Cave.

I’m bringing new meaning to the idea of the night shift, she thought.

Her own kitchen light was the only one burning besides the outside lights of the estate; with her odd hours, she’d learned to leave a light on for herself. She was relieved and grateful that no one was waiting up for her; she couldn’t possibly have explained where she had been or what she had been doing, or especially what she felt, since she didn’t know that herself. But the feeling of Mick’s kiss, of his arms pulling her against him, of the urgent fire of her own response, was making her dazed and light-headed.

She opened the front door and threw her keys in the bowl on the side table. Oddly, Sophie didn’t come padding out to greet her as she almost always did. Barrie moved down toward the bedroom, frowning.

And then she heard a scuffling noise in the kitchen and froze.

Someone’s here.

She took two noiseless steps forward to the panic button the Keepers had installed in every room in the house and hit the silent alarm to wake her cousins. Then she grabbed an umbrella from the coat stand to arm herself.

She crept toward the front door, holding her breath as she approached the archway into the living room. Two shadows loomed up in the darkness...and she came face-to-face with her cousins. All three of them screamed.

Barrie dropped the umbrella, going limp with relief. “You guys! You scared me half to death!”

“You’re the one coming home at three in the morning!” Rhiannon accused.

“We were worried!” Sailor said on top of her. “You send us some text about going off to Catalina in the middle of the night.”

“With some guy.”

“In the middle of a murder investigation.”

“What were we supposed to think?” Rhiannon finished.

Barrie looked at both of them, a little overwhelmed. Then again, maybe she hadn’t been clear enough. “Well, he’s not just some guy, he’s on the Courier.”

Sailor and Rhiannon looked at each other. “All right, you’re starting from the beginning,” Rhiannon said, and herded them all into the kitchen to make tea.

Barrie filled them in over steaming cups of her favorite, black currant. Truthfully, in her own kitchen, with her cat purring in her lap, it was hard to be as spooked as she had been out there on the island, in the dark, with the feeling of the movie all around her. “Mick Townsend is a new hire on the paper,” she started.

“Mick Townsend,” Sailor repeated. “He sounds hot.”

“That is so not the point,” Barrie said murderously, and Rhiannon gave Sailor a warning look. Barrie continued warily. “He’s been following the connection between Tiger and Saul Mayo, too. And tonight we went out to Catalina to talk to this old fisherman from Otherworld—”

“The one in the boat scenes?” Rhiannon interrupted. “He was great.”

“He’s for real,” Barrie said. “As real as it gets.”

She quickly filled her cousins in on their interview with Captain Livingston, and his startling insistence that Johnny Love had died during production.

“Oh, my God!” they exclaimed at once.

“I know,” Barrie agreed.

“So, that’s why I haven’t been able to find out anything about the Elven Keeper who handled Johnny’s death,” Sailor said.

“Exactly. He didn’t die in L.A.,” Barrie said. “And I think the reason no Elven knows the real scoop about his death is the water. It happened out on the island. There are no Elven out there. It must have been excruciating for Johnny to be out there filming.”

“I can’t believe he did it,” Rhiannon said.

“He was an actor,” Sailor argued. “A role like that? Anyone would have done it, excruciating or not.”

“I agree,” Barrie said. “But for sure there wouldn’t have been any other Elven out there with him. So, if he did die out there—on set or off—there was no one of his Kind out there to help him or attest to what happened.”

The cousins fell silent, contemplating this. Finally Barrie spoke.

“The thing is, I think Mick already knew. Not just that Johnny died on Catalina, but that he died during filming.” She looked at her cousins. “Look at the way you two just reacted. It’s huge. It changes everything we think about Johnny’s death. But Mick—when Captain Livingston told us about Johnny, Mick acted a little surprised, but not anywhere near what you would expect.” Talking it out, she realized at least part of what was bothering her so much about the situation. “So, why would he take me all the way out to Catalina in the middle of the night to find this guy and interview him when it was something he already knew?”

“Maybe he was trying to seduce you,” Sailor said, the exact same thing that Barrie had been thinking earlier in the evening.

“Sailor, this is serious,” Rhiannon reprimanded her. “If Barrie thinks there’s something off about it, she has to be very careful about this guy. What do you know about him, anyway?” she asked Barrie.

“Besides that you like him,” Sailor said.

“I don’t like him,” Barrie started, but the words sounded like a lie even to her. “Okay, maybe he’s smart, and perceptive, and an ace journalist....”

“And hot?” Sailor suggested.

“Yes, and hot. And a great dancer,” Barrie said, a little wistfully.

Sailor raised an eyebrow. “He sounds like a dream. So, what’s bothering you about the guy?”

Barrie could never get anything past her cousins; they all knew each other too well.

“Well, for starters he’s a shifter,” she said. “But it’s hard to explain. I think he’s lying to me about something.” In fact she knew he was lying; she just didn’t have any proof.

“The thing is, he’s not just a shifter, he was concealing being a shifter, completely passing as human...and he did it so freaking well. I had no idea. Really, none. It’s kind of scary.”

“I’m going to have Brodie check him out,” Rhiannon declared, and Barrie was about to protest when she realized that Rhiannon was right; it would be useful to have Brodie get some real background on Townsend.

“That would be great,” Barrie thanked her. “And, Sailor, I need a huge favor from you, too.”

“Anything, honey,” her cousin offered instantly.

“I need to talk to Darius Simonides.”

“Why? I mean, of course, I’ll call him first thing in the morning, but why do you need to talk to him?”

“He repped all three of the Pack, and Travis Branson, too.”

“Of course, that makes sense,” Sailor murmured. She sounded troubled.

“But really, I need to talk to DJ,” Barrie said.

“Talk to DJ!” Sailor exclaimed.

Rhiannon looked equally startled, and Barrie knew why. The actor was so famous it was sort of like saying she wanted an audience with Kate and William, and somehow crazily expecting to get one.

“I know,” she told them. “But he’s the one who’s really going to know what happened on set. Well, him, and Travis Branson, the director. Captain Livingston said they were shooting the last scenes on a closed set, and only the principal actors were there. And realistically, DJ and Branson are prime suspects. God knows I’d love to talk to Robbie Anderson, too, but—”

She stopped, with a sudden thrill of realization.

“Maybe I can. If Robbie is dead, then there’s a chance I can talk to him. And Johnny Love, too.”

She stood, then hurried out the back kitchen door toward the main house.

* * *

Inside Sailor’s house, Barrie moved into the back wing where Merlin kept his own room.

Merlin was the most polite ghost imaginable, an impeccable gentleman, and very firm about keeping civilized human boundaries. He would never think of just appearing in a room; he used doors just like anyone else, and when any of the cousins wanted to get in touch with him, she knocked on his door just the same as she would for anyone.

Barrie knocked, and waited, and after a moment the door opened, as if by itself. It took Merlin a moment to fully appear; he must have been out of the house—somewhere else—when she’d knocked. He’d been a man of medium height and weight, with a charmingly lined face, bright blue eyes and a cap of snow-white hair, and that was how he appeared as a ghost, as well. At the moment, though, he looked anxious.

“Barrie, my dear. Is something wrong?”

His concern made her remember the hour. “No, nothing like that,” she reassured him. “I’m sorry to disturb you so late.”

“Oh, the hour doesn’t matter in the slightest, as long as you and your cousins are all right.”

“We’re all fine, truly. But we’re discussing a case, and you may be able to help.”

“How lovely. I’d be delighted.”

The door closed behind him on its own, and he followed her out into the great room where Sailor and Rhiannon were already waiting. There were air kisses all around; not that any of the Gryffalds were into air kisses as opposed to the real thing, but with a ghost, air kisses were what you got.

When all the women were seated, and not a second before, Merlin took a seat on the sofa and put his delicate hands on his knees expectantly.

“Now, what can I do for you girls?”

“I’m looking for a ghost,” Barrie told him. “That is, the case I’m investigating revolves around a dead actor, and possibly two. One of them—I don’t know if he’s really dead, and if he’s not, it would be really useful to know, so that I can start looking for him. The other one is definitely dead....” She stopped, wondering if she could even assume that much. “Probably definitely. But, since we have this most excellent connection to the spirit world, I thought...if there was any way of getting in touch with him—or them...”

“Who are these fine ex-personages?” Merlin asked her.

“Johnny Love and Robbie Anderson.”

“Ah, yes,” Merlin said. “I remember what a stir that caused, those two young men. So much talent, snuffed out so quickly.”

Barrie quickly did the math in her head and realized that Merlin had still been alive when Johnny died.

Merlin nodded as if he knew what she was thinking. “Of course, I was still on this earth plane when Johnny Love made his transition, so I have no idea what kind of stir there may have been in the afterlife. I’ve never run into him over there, but you know, there are so many levels—continents, really—and it’s not as if I’ve been looking. I’ll certainly nose around and see what I can find out.”

“Thanks, Merlin,” Barrie said in real gratitude, and Sailor and Rhiannon echoed her. “And if you could see what you can find out about Robbie Anderson, too... The thing is, I just don’t know. He disappeared at about the same time, and there’s definitely something wrong with the whole situation, and it seems to be the key to a couple of recent deaths as well, a shifter and a mortal.”

“My, my,” Merlin tutted. “Very complicated. I assure you, I shall do my best.”

It was really useful, sometimes, having a house ghost.