“So what exactly is it you want to know?”
I asked him how they got in.
“Broke the glass at the back.” He pointed to a boarded up window behind me. “Figured it must have been kids ‘cos it’s so small.”
I nodded briefly, thinking that it could have been any thing of any size that could shift its shape to suit itself.
“Was anything other than the coal and the screwdriver taken?”
“Nothing,” he answered. “Darn’dest thing as well, considering the till was right there. I’d not bothered emptying it that day because there wasn’t much money in there, other than the float and a few odds and ends, but they didn’t even try to open it.” He shrugged and took a sip.
I mulled that over. “Were there any traces of anything else? Anything at all?”
He took his time answering. “Only the slime.”
“The slime?” My life would have been a lot easier if Nick had mentioned slime when I’d talked to him before.
“Aye, smelly dark stuff. It was smeared along the shelf where the coals had been. There were a few drops of it on the floor too.”
“I don’t suppose you kept any of it?” I asked hopefully.
He looked at me like I was crazy. I supposed I probably was. “No,” he answered slowly. “That police bloke, Nick whatsisface Jones, took some. Said he’d send it away for testing or something. I don’t expect he really will, though.”
Perkins’ faith in the ineptitude of the police force was clearly unshakeable.
“He took the CCTV video as well.”
I sat up. CCTV? That was interesting. And helpful. Although it did mean I’d now have to go and see Nick after all. I gulped down the rest of my coffee. “Mr Perkins, thank you so much for your time.” I stuck out my hand and he took it.
“You’re welcome. You culty people might be odd but at least you’re polite.”
I smiled at him slightly. “If I find out anything, I’ll let you know.”
“It’s hardly even worth me filing the insurance claim, girl, so I don’t really know why you’re bothering.”
“It’s the principle of the matter, Mr Perkins. We cannot allow incidents of this nature to take root in Trevathorn. It’s a slippery slope, this kind of thing you know.” God help me, now I was starting to sound like Julia. It worked though, because he grinned warmly at me before showing me out the front door and locking it firmly behind me again.
It was barely a hop, skip and a jump to the police station so I wandered over without any further delay. I could handle one horny copper. Once, inside I asked the duty sergeant to let me through to speak to Nick. He wasn’t overly thrilled about it but called him up on the intercom to check first and then buzzed me through.
“Mack!” Nick stretched out his arms to greet me. “To what do I owe this wonderful pleasure?”
“I need a favour, Nick.”
He shot me a sly smile. “For you, anything.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’d like to see the CCTV you took from Perkins, and any report you managed to get from the lab about the slime.”
His smile disappeared. “What do you want that for?”
“Trying to keep the streets of Trevathorn safe, Nick.” I commented lightly.
He looked me for a long time, trying to judge how serious I was being. Eventually he spoke up. “I wouldn’t do this for just anyone, you know.”
I nodded, serious, but hopeful.
“The slime is still with the lab. How did you know about that anyway?”
I just shrugged and smiled demurely.
“Fine, whatever, don’t tell me. And if the sarge finds out I showed you the CCTV, I could lose my job.”
“Nick, I…”
He interrupted me. “Now, hold on. I didn’t say no yet, did I? I’ll show you it if you do something for me first.”
“What do you want?”
“Have dinner with me. Tonight.” There was a gleam in his eyes that slightly unnerved me.
“Nick, I’m sorry, but I’m just so busy at the moment…” I tried batting my eyelashes as Betsy had done at Corrigan at lunch although I had the distinct feeling that I looked like a fly had just flown into my eyeball instead.
“That’s my price,” he answered, and looked at me hopefully.
Fuck it. “Fine. I’ll have dinner with you. But not tonight – can we make it next week, instead?”
“Okay, dinner next week but a drink in the Bull tonight after we’re done,” he countered.
I knew I wasn’t going to win this one. “Okay. You’re on.”
“Come with me, then.”
I followed him down the corridor into a small room that was already set up with an ancient TV monitor and DVD player. He gestured to a chair and I sat down. He sat next to me, stretching an arm behind the back of my chair, and clicked on the remote. The screen flickered to life and I could see the shop front of Perkins, the camera angled down to cover most of the shelves and the till.
“Around 2.30am, this happened,” said Nick in a slightly bored voice.
A huge shadow loomed over the shop floor. It seemed to twist one way, then another. All of a sudden, the picture flicked to white snow.
“What? Bring it back!”
“That’s all there is,” he said with smug look on the face.
“You tricked me!” I thumped him on his arm.
“I did nothing of the sort. You asked to see the CCTV footage and I showed you the CCTV footage.” He grinned at me.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered.
He looked down at his watch. “And would you look at that? It appears my shift is over, and you owe me a drink.”
I rolled my eyes at him, irritated. “Fine, let’s go.”
“Ever the gracious lady, Mack.” He took me by the arm. I grimaced, but let him lead me back down the corridor. He shrugged on a coat, said goodbye to the duty sergeant and we left.
The only other person in the Hanging Bull when we arrived was the barman. I ordered a beer as I was definitely going to need something alcoholic to avoid strangling Nick for making me do this. He pulled me over to a small table along the wall. “We can go into Penzance for our meal next week, if you like,” he murmured.
“I’m sure that Trevathorn will do. We can go to the local café.” I retorted.
“Trevathorn works for me,” he said with a smile. “But the café food makes me ill so we’ll have to go to my place. I’ll cook.” He winked at me. Oh good God.
I was about to answer him when a shadow fell across the table. I looked up and my heart suddenly sank into the pit of my stomach. It was Corrigan. He’d changed since earlier and was now wearing a dark turtleneck and a pair of jeans that stretched snugly over his thighs. I swallowed.
“Well, well, well,” he said. “You’re just breaking hearts everywhere you go, aren’t you?”
Nick scowled at him and looked at me. “Who’s this, Mack?”
“I’m her employer,” said Corrigan, pulling up a stool and sitting down. The stool was too small for his body and he looked faintly ridiculous. I was still scared though.
“Where’s John?” asked Nick.
“He’s gone away on business,” Corrigan said, keeping his eyes trained on me with a terrifying focus. “So, Mackenzie, does Tom know that you are out here meeting another man?”
Nick jerked. “Tom? Mack, you said that you and he had nothing going on.”
I looked between the two of them. Hiding the truth from the Brethren alpha was definitely the preferable option. I sighed, hating myself a lot - and Corrigan more. “I’m sorry, Nick. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
He jumped back. “And dinner next week? Were you going to come along and continue to lie to me?”
“Nick, I’m sorry, I…”
“Fuck off.” He stood up, kicking his chair behind him, and walked out. The barman, polishing a glass a few feet away, raised an eyebrow at me. Corrigan stared stonily at him and he immediately coughed and muttered something about fetching a fresh keg from the back room, before darting away faster than I would have thought possible for a man of his size.
I looked at Corrigan, annoyed. He looked amused. “Playing around with a human behind a shifter’s back, eh kitten? You’re dangerous to know.”
The fire inside me rose. “You idiot - he’s the local policeman. I was trying to find out what he knew about John.”
“And why would he know anything about John? He’s just a human.”
My reply died in my throat. Just a human. I looked at Corrigan, mute.
He laughed, oblivious. “I’ll have to think of something that you would want from me so that I can get you to come round to my place for dinner too.” There was a suggestive gleam in his eyes.
My mind went suddenly and abruptly - and completely - blank. I continued to stare at him.
His tanned hand covered mine. I tried to jerk back but he clamped it to the table. “You need to come with me,” Corrigan said, with more than a hint of steel.
“I don’t need to do anything,” I replied, although this time without any fire. I was still confused by his last words. Between his proposition – had it even been a proposition? – and his dismissal of anyone human, my emotions were churning. I tugged at my hand and he thankfully let it go.
“The mage is here,” he stated, calmly. “We need all of the pack back at the keep.”
“So you came to get me yourself? Couldn’t the Lord of all the Brethren find someone to run his petty errands for him?”
“Oh, believe me, kitten, I enjoyed doing this one on my own.” His eyes continued to gleam and I was suddenly all too aware of his proximity. I scrambled to my feet.
“I thank you for your diligence,” I said formally. “I’ll see you back at the keep then.”