‘What clued you in?’ I asked as we stood on Kate’s street.
‘A few things, but the way he greeted me gave me instant concern. We’ve met on a number of occasions. There’s no way he would have forgotten that, not if he was the real Troy. And the cat thing. Catslovemerpeople. The mer eat a lot of fish and they have a residual fishy smell, just a hint, but normally cats roll all over merpeople. They love them as much as catnip. I’ve never seen one hiss at a mer like that. What tipped you off?’
‘Harry was a red flag for sure, and then Troy forgot fish was his favourite food. Not to mention he kept calling me Inspector, like Jingo does. And remember when I asked about a friend?’
‘Jack Hansen?’
‘Yeah. Jack was made up. Total BS on my part.’
‘And he agreed right away.’
‘Right.’ I rubbed my head. ‘I would have done a deep dive on Troy using my sub powers to confirm his identity,but my head was hurting so much that I couldn’t risk fucking it up. Still, I’m all but sure we had a lovely dinner with Jude Jingo. This is a fucking mess and a dangerous one at that.’ I thought of Kate and I struggled to push down my panic for her. We had to tread lightly. We couldn’t afford to tip Jingo off, but at the same time, Kate’s safety was paramount.
‘Agreed,’ Robbie said. ‘Do we tell Kate?’
I chewed on that, agonised over it. Finally, I shook my head. ‘I don’t think so. Not yet. She’ll change the way she acts around him – she can’t help but do so – and then he’ll know. Right now, he thinks he’s flying under the radar, and we have to keep it that way. It’s the only advantage we have.’ I tapped my lip in thought. ‘Have you ever heard of a doppelganger being ousted from a body without the current host dying?’
Robbie shook his head.
I sighed. ‘Me neither, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.’
‘If anyone knows about an option, it’s Amber DeLea.’
It was too late to call her. ‘You’re right. I’ll give her a call in the morning, and then I’ll get Ji-ho to dig into Troy Fairglass as well.’
‘Fairglass – or Jingo – seemed genuinely surprised about the vampyr attack.’
‘He did,’I agreed, ‘but he’s a doppelganger. He’s used to acting. It might not mean anything.’
‘It might mean something,’ Robbie disagreed.
‘This is a mess.’ I rubbed my forehead. ‘I should have looked at Troy harder. But I … I ignored my instincts because there was no physical evidence. I let that reassure me because I didn’t want Jingo to be in him for Kate’s sake. As you said, there’s no record of a doppelganger being ousted and the host surviving. Kate will be crushed. I don’t want that for her.’ I rubbed a hand over my face. ‘I let my feelings get in the way of the job.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up, Stacy. We all want to think the best sometimes.’
‘It’s not my job to think the best. It’s my job to think the truth.’ I climbed into the car. ‘Let’s go. I need sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll wake up clear-headed and without this bloody headache.’
Robbie drove me home and babied me, giving me more medicine and insisting I drink more water. I let him coddle me; it was surprisingly nice to be taken care of.
When I tumbled into sleep, he was beside me, but he couldn’t guard me there.
My arms were pulled taut behind my back, making the sockets hurt. The magic-cancelling cuffs I was bound with were tight; cold metal biting into my wrists.
My fear was high. I was panting with it. I told myself Dad would find me soon. He had to know I was missing. Had to be frantically searching.
Maybe someone had seen me get snatched off the streets. Maybe they had the car’s licence plate.
Maybe they didn’t.
Tears swam in my eyes and I whimpered. I was so fucking scared.
The door opened, and the man who walked in smiled at me. ‘Your daddy doesn’t know how to take a bribe, little girl. We’re going to teach him, aren’t we?’ He pulled some garden shears from his belt, and I started to plead.
‘Stacy! Wake up! Wake up, kærasta.’ Robbie’s voice, sharp and urgent, filtered into my consciousness. His arms were around me, rocking me back and forth. ‘It’s all right. You’re safe,’ he told me. ‘Just a bad dream. Just a dream, love.’
It wasmore than a bad dream; it was a memory. But I nodded against his shoulder. My face was wet with tears, and my throat was sore. I must have been screaming.
‘Sorry,’ I choked out.
