“Find…me…” It was the same voice again with the same broken patter that the last phone call had. The number was been different, but I’m sure Oliver could track it for me.
I hung up and texted Oliver the number. I wondered where it was going to lead me next.
“Are we heading to your house?” Simon asked.
“Yeah, let’s swing by and grab some lunch first. I need the Hummer, and I want to see if I can find the contact information for Liz’s sisters.”
“Liz has sisters?”
“Two of them. She has pictures of them in her house. She said they were close. Maybe they have some idea of what is going or where she might be.”
“You think it’s personal. This case?”
“I have no doubt it is. I just need to make the connection. You don’t just disappear and leave a spew of dead bodies lying around.”
“She wants you to follow her trail.”
“Yes, she does.” I nodded. “And now, I have to figure out why.”
He snorted. “It’ll be easy.”
I was still leaning over a map when Simon brought me my fifth cup of coffee. “I need a third location from her to see if anything matches up. With just the two, I can tell you they are both isolated, but that could be a coincidence.”
“You’ve been looking at the same map for two hours, don’t you think you need to look at something else?” Simon sat down on the couch. “Or are you hoping the map will speak to you?”
“Don’t be silly, maps don’t speak,” I muttered and sat back, grabbing my coffee. “I’m going to try calling her sisters.”
Simon nodded. “Now that you know the map by heart.”
“Shut up.” I nudged him. “I was just hoping that something would pop out at me. I don’t really want to wait until we have another house full of dead bodies.”
“Or a dead Liz.”
I cringed. “Don’t even joke about that. She’s tough, she’ll figure it out.”
Simon didn’t respond. I put my coffee down and grabbed the phone to call the number I had found earlier.
Liz had only mentioned her sisters in passing, and Jefferson was a pretty common name. I was hoping that I had the right number.
The phone rang and went straight to voice mail. “Hi, this is Agent Collins from the Colorado PIB. I was hoping to speak to you about Liz Jefferson, I believe she’s your sister. Please call me back.”
I disconnected the call and tried the next number. That one gave me a disconnected notice.
“No luck?”
“Not unless the first number was correct and they call me back. Which might be wishful thinking.”
My phone rang a second later. “Or not.” I answered it. “Agent Abigail Collins.”
“She went after the bitch, didn’t she?” The voice shrieked.
“Woah, hold on a second.” I tried to make any sense of the sentence that the woman just yelled at me. “Who did she go after?”
There were a few deep breaths taken and then a steady voice. “Agent Collins, my name is Gabby Jefferson, I’m Liz Jefferson’s sister.”
“That’s a much better start, thank you.” I grabbed my notebook. “Now, who were you talking about?”
There was a moment of silence. “There’s a woman who believes that bathing in blood makes her immortal.”
“The Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Yes, we all know that story.”
She made a frustrated noise. “No, different woman, much worse than Bathory.”
“Okay, I’m listening.” I kept my voice calm in hopes to not frustrate her too much.”
“Liz went after her. I’m sure of it because that is the only reason you’d be calling me.”
“Why are you so sure of that?”
“It’s either that or she’s dead, Agent Collins. Is my sister dead?”
There was an odd coldness to her voice. I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “No.”
“Then I can promise you that Liz is tracking this woman down. Meet me at your office?”
“I can’t. I’m not working the case as PIB.”
“Your house then,” she said without even a question. “Send me your address. I’ll be there in a little bit.”
“You’re all the way across the country.”
She snorted. “Collins, please, I’m better than my sister is at transportation.” She disconnected, and I looked at Simon, who shrugged.
“We can call this progress?”
“I guess so.” I texted my address and then told her that she probably wouldn’t be able to pop up by the door because of the massive amount of protection spells.
Merick came around the corner. “Interesting phone call. Any news on Liz?”
“Her sister seems to think that she went after someone. I guess she’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Merick nodded. “Should I hide?”
“Maybe? I don’t really know who we can trust and who we can’t.” I glanced at my watch. “And with dusk not long away, I’m sure Mario and Levi will be here soon.”
“Best I hide then. Simon is here, so I shouldn’t have to worry about you.” He crossed his arms. “But I’m curious to see what Gabby has to say about the Liz situation.”
“You know her sister?”
“I know them both. They are both spitfires, just like Liz.” He smirked. “I’ll be around.”
He disappeared up the stairs as there was a knock on the door. I glanced at Simon, and he nodded. None of my magic had gone off, so I knew whoever was out there meant me no harm.
I disarmed the alarm and answered the door. A woman stood there. Her bright pink hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and her gaze narrowed at me. “Agent Collins?”
“Yes, you must be Gabby.” I held my hand out to her.
She shook it. “I am. What’s going on with Liz. You wouldn’t have called me if it wasn’t urgent.”
