Sanctuary by V.V. James

Author:V.V. James [James, V.V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Published: 2019-06-10T23:00:00+00:00

54

Sarah

Oh, Harper. Oh, my darling girl.

Couldn’t you have let me take care of this?

What have you done?

55

Maggie

I swing by the pad thai place on the way back to my rental apartment. I’ve a lot of brainwork ahead of me and it’ll need fuel.

I have to call Remy, like I promised, to update him on Rowan’s findings. But first I have to work out what the hell I tell him, because today dumped a bunch of new information and ideas in my lap. Unfortunately, not only does none of it solve things for me, it makes this investigation even more tangled.

Our magical investigator confirmed the presence of powerful, untraceable magic at the villa. But they also said Jake’s video doesn’t show Harper using witchcraft. So who was responsible, and what exactly did they do?

My skin still crawls just thinking about what happened at Sailaway Villa this morning.

Apart from Sarah Fenn, upset at a sex tape of her daughter, there’s still no one I know of with a clear reason to harm Dan. There’s no way I can put this to Remy. I’ve not forgotten what he said about both our jobs being on the line if I mess up.

So I keep things brief, telling my boss that Rowan’s still tired from their flight. He’s just asking if there’s been progress elsewhere when I get a call incoming. Now, there’s nothing you should interrupt a talk with Lieutenant Remy Lamarr for, not even a booty call. But the number is Chester, which means it might be important. I throw my boss a quick apology and take the call.

‘Ma’am!’ Chester sounds panicked. ‘Turn on the TV, now. WCON-TV Connecticut Tonight.’

Filling the screen is Harper Fenn.

‘Stay on the line,’ I tell Chester, and I hear his groans of horror as we watch the report unfold.

Rape. Harper has stepped forward and alleged that Dan Whitman raped her.

And although this makes my hot mess of a case a good deal messier, something inside me settles and calms.

Because I believe her.

I know what she’s referring to. The incident shown in the screen grab Varley sent me. Which I’ll bet shows that thing at the football party that Beatriz Garcia told me about earlier. A search on the right sort of website for ‘high-school witch slut’ . . .

I tell Chester to have a watch put on the Fenn house through the night, in case the folks who trashed it last time come back for more after this. Then I grab my laptop and check that the ‘safe search’ function is switched off. Honestly, someone should come up with a browser for cops that does an ‘unsafe search’, taking you straight to the dark corner of the web where the scum we deal with live. I tap in those four words, then hit the ‘videos’ filter on the results page.

The screen fills immediately with thumbnail images. Luckily, I don’t have to inspect them all, because one is a close match for the grainy screen grab. I see it again lower down in the list.

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