The Isis Collar

happening?”

The simplest explanation was the truth. “You helped Ivy come give me a message. Thank you.”

The entity that was Ivy hovered near the ceiling, torn between staying near Julie and near her … our … mother. I helped Julie to her feet and then went over to Baker while Beverly took Julie to sit on a chair near the doorway of the bar. I whispered fast, trying not to sound as frantic as I felt. “You need to get my mother to a hospital. Quickly. Do not take her to the island.”

Baker looked at me with alarm and likewise spoke quietly. “We have medical facilities that are the equal of anything here.”

I shook my head and hissed, “It’s not that. Julie has a very serious illness. I just got over it myself. It’s transmitted by saliva and she kissed my mom. Natura might have been exposed also.” I took a pen and the list of bar addresses from my purse. I’d memorized Dr. Gaetano’s number and scribbled it onto the back of the list. “Call Dr. Thomas Gaetano. Tell him I found another case of M. necrose. Have him meet you at whatever hospital you wind up at.” I handed the note to her and put a hand firmly on her arm. “This is serious. You need to get the shot, too. Don’t go back to the island until you do. I’ll make it an order if I have to. You’ll infect the entire island.”

The two guards looked at each other and Natura went pale. She nearly let go of Mom, then shook herself and held her ground. Baker nodded. “What hospital? Should we follow you?”

Crap. That’s right. They didn’t even know the area, much less how to get to the emergency room. “Yeah. You keep my mom in your car and follow me. I’ll take the kids. I’ve already had a dose of the antibiotic. Might as well limit the exposure.”

Baker apparently agreed, because they pulled my mom toward their econobox. A regular cop would consider her digging in her heels to be resisting arrest. But Natura simply kept pulling and eventually they got her in the backseat.

I looked around, suddenly aware of just what a mess the bar was in. “You’ll probably want a check to cover this, huh?” I sighed. It would be a big check.

The chuckle that rose from him was both sad and resigned. “Happens once a week at least. Besides, it was that blonde witch that started it. You just got caught in the middle. Don’t worry about it. Take care of the kids.”

There was one more thing I had to do before I dealt with the girls. Rizzoli needed to know that the witch hadn’t left town. That, in fact, she’d been right here, just minutes ago. I dialed his number with trembling fingers, but didn’t get him. I had to satisfy myself with leaving a voice mail.

I sat down with the girls, explaining that I wanted a doctor to look at Julie’s arm. “How long has it been hurting?”

She touched the bruise and winced. “Not long. I noticed it a day or two ago, but it didn’t start hurting until this morning. Now it feels like—”

“Someone’s stabbing knives in it?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Do you know what it is?”

It was my turn to nod. “Uh-huh. They’ll have to give you a shot. Is that okay?”

Julie shrugged. “I used to get shots all the time. I had allergies when I was little.”

“Okay, hop in the sedan in the alley. I’ll call your mom to come pick you up.” They moved to obey and then I suddenly remembered why I had Rizzoli’s car. Man, I really was distracted. “Wait a second. Hang on.”

I held my arm over the doorway so they couldn’t leave the safety of the bar, then poked my head out the door and pointed the remote in my pocket at the car. Whew. Four green lights. “Okay, get in. Don’t worry about your bikes, we’ll take them with us.” Finally, Rizzoli’s monster sedan would come in handy. I was going to bet both bikes would fit right in the trunk.

Once the girls were belted in and I had both bikes loaded—and the trunk actually shut—I sat in Rizzoli’s car and pulled out my phone to try Dom one more time. “Rizzoli. Go ahead.”

“I found Mom but also found another problem.”

“Talk to me.”

I sighed and turned the key in the ignition to start the car to a quiet purr. “A girl from the school—you probably remember her as the younger sister of the girl who blew the horn with me at the rift—has a painful bruise on her arm.” I paused. “She’s eight, Rizzoli.”

“Oh, hell.” His voice sounded pained. “Take her in. I’ll bring your car and meet you at the hospital.”

“It’s okay?” It brightened my mood immensely. I was surprised just how nervous I’d been.

“Yeah, it’s been defused. There was a rather nasty little spell attached to your ignition. It would have made you really aggressive … the bomb squad actually went to blows like an NHL Stanley Cup game.”

All the better to have me picked up and put away forever. Or worse, staked on the spot. I frowned and felt the bruise on my forehead twinge. It reminded me of my own Stanley Cup bout. “Oh, and before I forget … the witch was at the bar I just left, down on Eighteenth. Just now. I got a good look at her face and I recognize her, Rizzoli. I have no idea why she would be involved, but it’s the new owner of MagnaChem. G. Linda Thompson. She’s been trying to hire me as a bodyguard for over a week now. I’ve been refusing, but someone called me yesterday and told me to take the job, so I looked her up. She seriously put the hurt on me today with some powerful magic. I’ve got bruises from head to foot from flying pool balls, bottles, and cues.”

“Bruises that … wait. Hell. I’ll call you right back—” He hung up so abruptly I thought the connection had dropped.

I was halfway to the hospital when the phone rang again. It was Rizzoli and he sounded angry, horrified, and relieved. “I just got off the phone with my wife. Mikey told her about a bruise on his hip yesterday. She mentioned it in passing at dinner last night. Today it’s bigger and it hurts. She’s on her way to the ER with him right now. I gave her Dr. Gaetano’s number.” He paused. “Thank you. Without you telling me about that—” He paused again and didn’t finish. After a deep breath he changed the subject. “It’s probably too late, but I have a couple of people going down to the bar you just left to see if we can do a magical trace. I’m going to need to get tested. I’ve hugged and kissed the kid. So has my wife.”

Oh. He heard the first part and panicked. Which was good. But … “Did you hear the second part of what I said?”

“The witch was there. Right. Got it.”

“And the witch is G. Linda Thompson. Owner of MagnaChem? Did you catch that part?”

Now there was a long pause. “Thompson? You mean Jamisyn.”

My brows furrowed. “No, Thompson. She bought stock in MagnaChem when her dad died and then took over controlling interest. I read an article in the New York Post online.”

Rizzoli’s voice was patient. “And Linda Thompson married one Richard Jamisyn last fall. Does that name ring a bell?”

R. Jamisyn. “So that’s the connection! But why would the millionaire owner of a drug company marry a security guard?”

The deep male laugh on the phone startled me a little. “Normally, I’d say you’re too cynical and anyone can fall in love with anyone. But in this case, I’m starting to think it was because he was the right person at the right location. The person with the ‘in’ at the schools. Officer Jamisyn had a side career as a security guard trainer during the summer. He had a very interesting list of cities on his itinerary this past year.”

I’ll bet they included Denver, Chicago, and L.A. Hell. Nice to have the resources of the FBI to search a person’s past. “But why would a drug company want to blow up bombs in schools?”

The answer he gave chilled my blood. “They have the patent on the antibiotic. How many doses do you imagine will be ordered by the nation’s school system once this comes to a head?”

Holy evil plot, Batman. “So now what? I still need to call Julie’s folks and wait with her at the hospital. Well, Julie’s mother, anyway.” Mick Murphy was in Arkansas, wrapping up the old life that Vicki’s millions had changed forever. A vision had compelled her to leave part of her fortune to a total stranger. But it wound up being for a good reason. Her foresight had managed to give us the tools to close the demonic rift. Molly had moved the girls into Gran’s old house so Beverly could be close to the ocean and get training on the Isle of Serenity.

There was another pause. “Right now you sit tight and stay with the girl. We’re about to try to turn the