Jack nodded. “Yes. Lupo had been following Rudoldir and spotted Elvira when she killed him. He went and told her what he saw and blackmailed her. Lupo told Elvira that the kicker was he was following Rudoldir to kill him as revenge for what had happened to him and to his brother.”
“For a guy with almost no social life, Rudoldir somehow managed to have two people who wanted to kill him. That’s pretty impressive,” I said.
“And it also practically guarantees that you would have never managed to save him in the end,” Jack said. “If you had caught one of them, the other would have likely finished him off.”
“That must have been when he stole the globes, then,” I said. “If he had gone to the Luxe Lodge to blackmail Elvira.”
“I suspect you’re right. He was probably running really low on funds. Elvira told him she needed a few days to get the money together, and he insisted that he wanted some straight away. She told him she had a hundred abras on her, and he took that to start with. He was desperate.”
“He was living like a desperate shifter. When did she kill him?”
“She went to the warehouse to give him the money she had promised. Of course, she never even withdrew the money, showed up early, and hit him over the head with the globe. He didn’t see it coming.”
“Why was she there when I showed up, though? And how did she get past the wards?”
“Elvira went in through the roof so she wouldn’t be seen. She had been spending her days there trying to see how close we were to solving the case. When you grabbed the other globe and said aloud that you knew who had done it, she decided it was worth the risk to strike rather than have you tell anyone what you knew. She dropped an old brick on your head and thought you were dead.”
“It’s going to take more than that to kill me.”
“I always knew that thick skull of yours would come in handy,” Jack replied with a smile. “Seriously though, I’m really glad you’re ok. I think you know the rest of the story.”
I nodded. “I certainly do. She wasn’t expecting me to come back out of the flames alive.”
Jack grinned. “She had some questions about that. She wanted to know if you used magic or if you were a ghost.”
“Just the good old element of surprise,” I replied. “Although if I’ve learned one thing from this experience it’s that I need to learn how to beat people without using magic. That was too close for comfort.”
“For sure. Well, I’m going to steal Andy away, if you don’t mind. The two of us have a lot of paperwork to get done.”
“Actually, I might stay, if you don’t mind,” Andy said. “Can you have my paperwork sent over here? I want to make sure Ali’s ok.”
Jack looked a bit taken aback but recovered quickly. “Sure. No problem. And Ali?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for being too lazy to change your passwords. You’d probably be dead now if it wasn’t for that.”
“Do me a favor and tell my mother that my laziness saved my life, please,” I said as Jack laughed and left the room.
Andy turned to me when Jack left. “I meant what I said. When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
I nodded. “You know what? I think I’m ready to give this whole ‘true love’ thing another shot. But you have to promise me you won’t run off with my best friend.”
Andy laughed. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Good.”
Andy placed his hand on my non-burned one. “I can’t guarantee we’ll be together forever, but I’d like to give it a shot.”
“And I promise I’ll never stand you up if I can help it. You can always assume a crazy vampire has tried to kill me if it happens again.”
“Deal.”
I smiled up at Andy as I squeezed his hand. I wasn’t completely sure I was ready for this yet, but I was willing to give it a shot.
Chapter 27
Andy left a few minutes later, deciding to go help Jack with the paperwork back at their office after all, and Willow came in soon after.
“Knock knock,” she said as she entered the room. “How’s it going?”
“This potion is a miracle cure,” I replied. “I need some of this for when I mess up in the kitchen and burn my wrist on the frying pan.”
Willow laughed. “It’s a pretty good recipe. I’m glad it helps. You’re ok, right?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “It was a close one, though.”
“I can’t believe Elvira almost killed you. I’m glad you’re going to be fine.”
“Me too. She’s going to rot in Spellcatraz.”
“Good,” Willow spat with venom I didn’t realize she had. “If she’d succeeded, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“Avenged my death like the hero in a movie?”
“Definitely.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Willow.”
“Hey, on a different note, I saw that Andy was spending a lot of time in here,” she said with a wink.
“Yeah. We might be trying to see if we work out as a couple.”
“Really?” Willow asked, clapping her hands together with glee. “Good. I’m really happy for you, Ali. You deserve to be with someone who loves you for who you are.”
“And appreciates my lady bits,” I replied, earning myself another laugh from my best friend.
“That too. Anyway, I’ll let you rest. We’re going to keep
