Fablehaven: The Complete Series (145 page)
Wealthy Dowager
Seeks Young Male Companion
“This is how she nabs victims?” Kendra exclaimed.
Haden and Cody exchanged an uncomfortable glance.
“We were dumb enough,” Cody said.
“Sounded like easy money,” Haden admitted. “I was curious.”
“She has something of a conscience, you see,” Cody said.
“Especially when she gets on a talk-show binge,” Haden interjected, rolling his eyes.
“She tells herself she’s just sapping years from gold diggers. Taking from takers. ’Course, we never got a chance to take anything. And she didn’t bother to find out what kind of guys we were.”
“No worse than most. No malice. We just stumbled across the wrong ad.”
“As some other poor fool will shortly.”
“And then we’ll have
another
new face.”
Cody raised his eyebrows. “Misery loves company.”
Despite the actual ages the men claimed, the duo sure acted like crotchety old fogies. It made Kendra wonder how much their aged bodies affected their personalities. “Speaking of new faces,” she said, “what were you guys going to tell me? You know, to help me?”
Haden adjusted his glasses. “Don’t trust her. Don’t disobey or you’ll end up in the basement. Don’t make her angry.”
Cody’s face became solemn. “I saw her suck the last years out of a guy who didn’t know when to lay off the insults. She got younger and he got . . . dead. She normally leaves her prey with some final years. She feels enough guilt to leave most of us something. But don’t cross her. She’s capable of ugliness like you can’t imagine.”
“You’re scaring the girl,” Haden complained. “Here’s the best tip—flattery works wonders. Even when she knows you’re laying it on thick, Torina can’t help but respond to generous remarks. Pathetic, really. Way I see it, deep down she so desperately needs to feel admired, she absolutely treasures sugary words, especially about her looks.”
“She’s extra vulnerable right now, while her age is showing,” Cody agreed.
Haden harrumphed. “Old or young, she’s always a sucker for compliments. Not so much that she’d let you go or anything. But she’ll make your life easier if you play to her vanity.”
“Word to the wise,” Cody said, adding a wink for emphasis.
“Now that we’ve made our introductions,” Haden announced, “we had better leave this young lady in peace.”
“Don’t be in such a hurry,” Cody complained. “One last question. Kendra, tell us, what did you do to earn her attention? Why did Torina bring you here?”
“Don’t press her to spill her guts on a first meeting,” Haden growled.
Cody shushed him.
“I think it’s mainly because I have information she wants,” Kendra said.
“You’re part of her world,” Cody confirmed. “Not some girl off the street.”
“I know there are magical creatures hidden among us, along with other dangerous people like her,” Kendra confirmed.
Haden and Cody nodded in silence.
“We don’t know much about the supernatural,” Cody said. “Only what we’ve gleaned since living here.”
“Tread carefully,” Haden advised. “We’ll try to watch out for you, keep our hearing aids to the ground.”
Cody wheeled Haden out the door.
“See you tomorrow, Kendra,” Cody said.
“Good night, guys. Sorry you’re in here.”
Haden twisted in his chair and pointed at her. “Same to you but more of it.”
Chapter 5
Mourning
The crusty snow gleamed beneath the winter sun, refracting the light in dazzling patterns, as if the graveyard were flooded with diamonds. Eventually the rising breeze pushed the vanguard of a fleet of threatening clouds across the sun, reducing the glare, leaving the cemetery cold and bleak. Here and there, flowers and tiny flags added splashes of color to the snow-choked graves.
Dressed in a dark blue suit, hair neatly combed, Seth sat with his back against an eight-foot obelisk, resting his wrists on his knees. The suit coat offered only flimsy protection against the chill, but he hardly noticed. His sister had recently been laid to rest in the family plot near his Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. He had quietly told his parents that he needed a few minutes by himself.
No tears pooled in Seth’s eyes. He figured he had used up his lifetime allotment over the past few days. Now he felt numb and dry, as if all emotion had been wrung out of him.
Footsteps crunched through the icy snow, approaching from the side and behind. A moment later Grandpa Sorenson stood over him, hands in his pockets. “How you holding up, Seth?”
Seth kept his eyes on Grandpa’s shoes. “I’m okay. How about you?” They had not found a chance to really talk yet. Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson had barely arrived in time for the services.
“You can imagine,” Grandpa sighed. “The whole situation is an unbearable nightmare. We’ve been scrambling to piece together what happened.”
Seth’s head snapped up. “Find any leads?” This was what he needed. Everyone kept wallowing in the loss. He needed answers.
“Some. When you feel ready, we can—”
“I’m ready right now,” Seth assured him. “I need to know how and why.”
Grandpa nodded. “Some of our friends broke into the morgue and conducted an informal autopsy on Kendra. Seems to really be her. Not a changeling, at least. We still can’t fathom what species of mind control may have been at work here.”
“She wasn’t herself,” Seth stated. “It wasn’t Kendra calling the shots.”
“I’m sure of that,” Grandpa agreed. “So is Warren. The man who ran the day care where she volunteered, Rex Tanner, turned up dead in his condo over the weekend. What do you know about him?”
“Nothing. But that is really suspicious.”
“A safe guess is that whatever happened to Kendra originated at the day care. But the trail is cold.” Grandpa looked around, then motioned with one arm. “Your folks are gone. I told them I would bring you home. They were in no condition to argue. I want you to meet someone.”
Seth heard more footsteps approaching, these much stealthier than Grandpa’s. They rustled the snow rather than crunched. A bald black man wearing a long leather coat and dark, glossy boots came around the obelisk. Snowy gravestones reflected in his sunglasses.
“Seth, this is Trask,” Grandpa said. “He’s a detective and a Knight of the Dawn. He’ll help us get to the bottom of this.”
“You look the part,” Seth said. “Do you ride a motorcycle?”
Trask stared down at him. “I’m sorry for your loss.” There was a no-nonsense tone to his voice.
“Have you found out anything yet?”
Trask glanced at Grandpa, who gave a nod. “I spent the last couple of days in Monmouth, Illinois.”
“Where the letter was addressed,” Seth recalled.
“Kept an eye on the post office box. Spent some time at the local college, got to know the town and the outlying areas. Nice place. So far, we have nothing. I left a man watching the post office.”
“I’m glad you guys followed up on the letter,” Seth said.
“We’re nowhere near done,” Trask promised. “I want to hear firsthand about any oddities you noted regarding your sister’s behavior.”
Seth recounted how Kendra had acted at breakfast, how she had come home early from the day care, how she had overreacted when she found him in her room, and the final tragic confrontation with Warren.
“All of this happened on the same day,” Trask confirmed.
“Yep. Except the scary part with Warren was technically early the next day.”
“No strange behavior the day before.”
“Well, she kept to herself more than usual the evening before. Stayed shut up in her room.”
“After she got home from the day care,” Trask said.
“Right,” Seth said. “She seemed very much herself the day before.”
Trask turned his head toward Grandpa. “Everything points to the day care. Elise checked in the windows multiple times while Kendra was there. Nothing appeared amiss. I interviewed Ronda Redmond, a woman who works overlapping hours with Kendra. I presented myself as a private investigator. She claimed that the only time Kendra was out of her sight on the day in question was when Rex brought Kendra into his office for a minute or two to respond to a call from a parent. We’ve kept Ronda under heavy surveillance and have dug deep into her past. Whatever transpired, she seems to be an oblivious bystander.”
“That brings you up-to-date,” Grandpa said to Seth.
“I want to help find out more,” Seth said. “Maybe you can use me as bait.”
Grandpa shook his head. “We can’t risk anything like that until we better understand what we’re dealing with.”
“Warren and Elise are no rookies,” Trask said. “Neither am I. This was done with an unthinkable level of finesse. We’ll get to the bottom of it, but time will be required. Unless fresh details come to mind, Seth, you could best serve our needs by returning to Fablehaven with your grandfather.”
“To Fablehaven?” Seth asked.
“Tanu is already prepping your parents,” Grandpa said. “Given their agitated condition over the loss of Kendra, and his skill with potions, they will soon arrive at the conclusion that you should spend Christmas with your grandmother and me.”
“No,” Seth protested softly. “I want to be here, helping the investigation.”
“We can’t protect you as well here,” Trask said. “There are many causes for concern. We can’t be certain the letter was the only communiqué sent to our enemies by whoever was posing as your sister. Who can say what they may have already learned? We need to assume a defensive posture until we have a more complete grasp of the situation.”
“On your feet,” Grandpa said, extending a gloved hand.
Seth took it and let Grandpa haul him up. On his feet, he gained a better appreciation for Trask’s impressive height. They began walking across the snowbound cemetery.
“Have you kept track of Kendra’s belongings?” Grandpa asked Seth.
“I hid the journal and the letters, like Warren told me. And I found the rain stick from Lost Mesa. She actually hid it really well, behind the drywall in her closet. She cut a small opening and slid it in, then sealed it up pretty good. It took some time to figure it out.”
“We’ll bring those belongings home with us,” Grandpa said.
“Grandpa,” Seth said hesitantly. “I took some gold from Fablehaven last summer. I felt I’d earned it doing business with the satyrs, so I didn’t return all of it to you. Kendra caught me. Before she wasn’t Kendra anymore. She isn’t here to make me, but I wanted you to know I’ll return it all.”
Grandpa’s eyes grew moist. He patted Seth on the back and nodded.
* * *
The last time Seth had driven to Fablehaven, he had streaked through the night in the back of a flashy sports car piloted by Vanessa. The pace was considerably slower with Grandpa Sorenson at the wheel of a bulky SUV.
Grandpa and Grandma had spent two days consoling Seth’s heartbroken parents while Tanu assisted Warren, Elise, and Trask with the homicide investigation. The days were frustratingly uneventful. No new clues were discovered. No enemies made a move. And they could find no ties between Rex and the Society of the Evening Star. The day-care supervisor appeared to have been an innocent victim.
Trask, Warren, and Elise had stayed behind to keep working. Unusually quiet and thoughtful, Tanu rode beside Seth, the seat belt barely long enough to stretch across his massive Samoan frame. Grandma sat up front with Grandpa.
Seth tried to sleep, but could never quite get comfortable. His imagination refused to stop inventing scenarios to explain what had happened to Kendra. He tried to keep an open mind, even to the point of questioning whether magical mind control had actually been employed. If somebody had used brutal blackmail, the stress alone might have altered her personality. But what leverage could have motivated Kendra to betray her family? Maybe she thought she was protecting them from something worse. But what?