"Never mind," I muttered. "My point still stands. What kind of power does the dagger have?"
"I'm not exactly sure. They didn't want to let specifics get out. But I heard rumors it can open portals into the Summerlands—wherever the wielder is. Not just where the fixed doorways are. And na Garanwyn is hot for it—"
"Rhys or Kal'andel?" Jack pinned Jed with a grim stare. "They're twins, but the answer is very important, trust me. Please don't say Kal—"
"Kal'andel."
Jack swung away, faced the wall, and muttered a string of words that included a lot of growled consonants. Then he turned back to face us.
"This may be trouble," he told me.
"I'm shocked," I said dryly, holding my hands up to my cheeks in a parody of thatHome Alonekid. "Trouble in Dead End? Who could have guessed?"
"We should move this out of the police station," Susan said, checking her watch. "Our temp guy comes on duty in a few minutes, and I don't want to try to explain this to him. Just the other day I had to tell him that saying 'This town isn't big enough for both of us' to Mrs. Quindlen because she parked slightly outside the lines at Beau's isn't something we do. I think the kid believes he's living in an old western movie."
Andy blew out a sigh. "If he says 'a loner's gotta be alone' one more time, I'm going to toss him in the swamp and let the gators sort it out."
Susan looked thoughtful for a moment, but then regretfully shook her head. "Maybe not. Knowing our luck, he'd survive and sue. Anyway, let's take Mr. Shepherd—the elder Mr. Shepherd—somewhere else, shall we?"
Andy pointed at the door. "I'm going to go disperse the crowd, if anybody is still out there, and then I have to take Mom's cat to the vet. If you don't need me anymore, Susan."
"You found a vet open on Sundays? That would be great for me," I said.
"There's a new vet in town," Andy said. "Mrs. Lee's granddaughter moved here to start her own practice."
"Oh, right," I said. "Charithra. Mrs. Lee said she was with that big group in Tampa."
"Yeah, Dr. Charithra Kumari. She left Tampa to move back home. She's not actually usually going to open the office on Sundays, I don't think, but Mom talked her into seeing Mrs. Floof." Andy's cheeks turned pink. "And don't give me crap about that. Mom named her."
"You're a wonderful son," Susan told him, but her lips quivered a little. "Go ahead. I think we've got this covered."
Jed, who'd been wide-eyed listening to all this, shook his head. "I don't understand what's happening. Why would you take your cat to a veteran?"
"A veterinarian," I explained. "An animal doctor. Not a doctor who is an animal, well, usually, though I guess vets can be shifters too, but a doctor who treats animals."
He blinked. "In my day, we took care of our own animals."
"Right, but we've come a long way from leeches," Jack drawled.
"I said the leeches were for Miss Callahan's headache," Jed shot back at him. "Although the judicious application of leeches to a deep bruising on a cow's flank works wonders."
Andy's face took on a green tinge, and he gulped. "Right. Anyway, Tess, do you still have a headache? Mom swears by the ABC One Two Three cure: One cup of Coffee, Two Benadryl, and Three Acetaminophen. It opens things up so everything can flow. Blockage causes headache, I guess."
My head started throbbing again, so I gave him the best smile I could muster.
He edged away from me, and I sighed. I really needed to work on my smiles.
"Thanks," I said. "I'll try anything."
Susan cleared her throat. "So…"
"We can all go to my house," Jack said. "He's my family, after all."
He didn't sound even a little happy about it.
Jed held out his hand to me. "Allow me, lovely lady."
I flinched, just a little, because I didnotwant to see how he'd died. Which we still didn't know. Or, in fact, if he ever had died? So then I'd be seeing how he'd die in the future?
