With the warrant served, Jerry had no option but to let Merrow and his deputies search his apartment. Of course, they already had, but he didn’t know that. As a precaution, Jerry had been cuffed, too.

He stood between Birdie and me in the office. Gracie had stayed behind in the RV. “There’s nothing to find. We haven’t done anything.”

Birdie crossed her arms. “You should be quiet. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you know.”

His eyes widened. “Are you arresting me?”

“Nope.” She glared at him. “Just reminding you.”

Merrow came out of the apartment. “That’s a pretty fancy laser printer, that Acme Industrial Inkjet 3500. What’s a thing like that run?”

Birdie pulled out her phone and started typing away.

Jerry shrugged. “I have no idea. My wife handles all of the big purchases. I think she got it secondhand, though. Some kind of deal. Doesn’t even work that great to be honest, but it does all right for the passport photos and portraits I do.”

“Ha.” Birdie laughed and held up her phone. “That printer is four grand.”

I smirked. Birdie was a special kind of dangerous.

“Good to know,” Merrow said. Then he disappeared back into the apartment.

Birdie looked at me, then tipped her head toward Jerry. “Listen, Quinlan. Things will go a lot easier on you if you just tell us where Jayne is.”

He shook his head. “I told you, I don’t know anything about this.”

Birdie looked like she might bite him. She turned away to hide the glow in her eyes. “I gotta go outside for a minute, Sin.”

She needed to compose herself. I understood. “Go ahead. He’s not going anywhere.”

“I’ll just go check on Gracie.” She stepped out into the snow.

Leaving me alone with Jerry. I’d waited long enough. I wrapped my hand around his wrist and spoke slowly, keeping my voice down. “Where is my wife?”

He tried to pull away, raising his hands like he needed to protect himself. Probably not a bad idea, but there was nothing he could do. I tightened my grip.

He looked a little scared. “I told you, I don’t know. I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“You’re lying, Jerry.” I jerked his hands higher so he could see what I was doing and pushed power through my fingertips. Under my grasp, his skin began to darken and wrinkle. Like a piece of fruit going bad.

His eyes rounded. “W-what are you doing to me?”

“Tell me where she is. They’ve already found a bowling trophy with blood on it. We know something happened here. All you’re doing is making things worse for yourself.”

He swallowed but said nothing. His eyes were wild, though, darting around like he was looking for help.

He wasn’t going to get any.

I opened myself up completely to my power, letting it flow through me and into my eyes so that they’d change color. If that didn’t scare him, I’d need Birdie to go full wolf.

I knew the instant my eyes went silvery-white because he sucked in a ragged breath and tried to get away again. He shook his head. “Leave me alone.”

“Do you know why your skin is turning black, Jerry? Because it’s dying. Just like the rest of you is going to do if you don’t tell me where my wife is. If you think I’m lying, I’d be happy to prove otherwise.”

Jerry looked like he might cry. “She’s in our storage unit. With Sandy.”

I let go of him just as Merrow came back into the office. Jerry pulled his hands in close to his body and shrank away from me. “He tried to kill me.”

Merrow looked at Jerry, then me. “What did I miss?”

I let the power drain out of me, returning my eyes to normal. “His wife has Jayne in their storage unit. We need to go now. Also, Jerry’s going to need a doctor.”

Merrow sighed and squeezed the radio on his shoulder. “Lafitte, office.”

A moment later, Lafitte showed up. “Have Deputy-in-Training Morales take Mr. Quinlan into custody, then get him some medical attention. This crime scene is officially under your control. Get another deputy out here.”

Lafitte nodded. “On it.”

Merrow jerked his head at me. “Did you happen to find out where the storage unit was?”

I glared at Jerry.

“Storage Plus on Sanderson Road.” He gulped. “Unit 198.”

“Let’s go,” Merrow said.

We hurried out of the office.

“Birdie,” Merrow shouted.

The RV door opened, and Birdie stuck her head out. Gracie was right behind her.

I couldn’t wait for Merrow. “We found Jayne.”

I could hear Birdie gasp from across Pumpkin Patch Lane. She and Gracie came running down the steps.

“Lock the door,” I said.

Birdie ran back and took care of that. “You can ride with me, Sin.”

“No,” Merrow said. “He’s with me.”

I got the sense he wasn’t open to discussing it. I was pretty sure I knew why. He wanted to talk to me about what I’d done to Jerry. And possibly what I’d let Jerry see.

In general, Nocturne Falls liked to keep the supernatural population a secret. Allowing real supernatural elements to be seen was okay when the tourists thought it was a show or someone playing a part. But to really let them see it?

That wasn’t on the approved list.

We got into his vehicle. He started the engine and got us on the road. Birdie followed with Gracie behind her. For a brief moment, I wondered how the two women were getting along, what with Birdie being a wolf and Gracie being a jaguar.

Merrow cleared his throat as we pulled onto the main road. His speed increased to a number no civilian would have gotten away with. “What you did back there …”

I nodded. I’d been anticipating this. “I know. I shouldn’t have done it. Whatever the consequences are, I’ll take them without complaint. I don’t mean to sound flippant, but this is my wife’s life we’re talking about.”

Merrow nodded, his expression grim. Although he sort of always looked that way. “I would have done the same thing if Ivy was the one missing. But I can’t pretend you didn’t violate a pretty basic tenet of what makes this town work.”

“I know.”

“What did you do to him, exactly?”

“Death touch.”

Merrow slanted his eyes at me. “You want to explain that?”

“You know I’m a necromancer.”

He grunted.

“One of my skills is being able to raise the dead. Temporarily. But I can also reverse engineer that and cause death where I make contact. Except it’s not temporary.”

“That’s why he needs medical attention?”

“Yes. What’s on Jerry’s wrist is a spot of death. It might look like a bruise, but it’ll stay black, and it won’t heal. The only way to get rid of it is to cut it out. And it will have to be cut out or Jerry could eventually die.”

“We all die sometime.”

“In his case, it would be sooner than he’s supposed to. The death spot will necrotize more and more of his body, working outward as well as internally. My understanding is that it liquefies the insides if left untreated.”

Merrow’s lip curled slightly. “That’s quite a gift you’ve got.”

“I almost never use it.”

“Good to know.” Merrow slowed, then pulled into the storage facility. It was fenced and gated, but there was a keypad near the opening.

My heart was pounding in my chest. We needed to get in. I gauged the height of the fence. I could probably climb it.

His phone rang. “Yes?”

I could hear Birdie through his phone. “The code is one-zero-zero-one-one.”

Merrow jumped out, punched the code in, and the gate began to roll back. He returned to the vehicle and shut the door. “She drives me mad sometimes, but she’s the best employee I have.”

I smiled despite the situation. My pulse ticked down a notch. I had a deep affection for Birdie myself.

We drove through, Birdie and Gracie behind us. Merrow parked, and we jumped out, headed straight to the Quinlans’ unit. There was a padlock on the side of the garage door.

Merrow glanced around, found a security camera, then turned his body so the camera’s view was blocked. As Gracie and Birdie joined us, he grabbed the padlock and twisted.

It popped open.

Impressive. I raised my brows. “I’m not the only one with interesting gifts.”

Merrow pulled his service weapon, keeping the barrel down, finger off the trigger. “Stay behind me.”

We did as he asked.

He went to the center of the door, reached down to grab the handle, then yanked the door up. As it flew open, his gun came up. “Sheriff. Freeze.”

But even in the dim security lights, it was easy to see the unit was empty. Of people. There were stacks of boxes all around it.

Merrow went in, checking around a few stacks before putting his gun away. He stood near the back, looking at something.

I came around some boxes and saw an old wooden chair and a moving blanket. “They were keeping her here.”

Merrow nodded.

Birdie was at my elbow. “We’re too late.”

Merrow opened one of the boxes. “Looks like gauze and bandages.” He dug deeper and came out with a bundle of money. Before he could say anything, the radio on his shoulder squawked. “Sheriff?”

He squeezed the receiver. “Go ahead, Dispatch.”

“The silent alarm at the Santa’s Workshop toy store in town has just been triggered.”