Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 156 - Filthy bitch

Chapter 156

Valkyrie couldn't find a single clue in the house. Not a single thing to indicate what exactly the raiders had tried to find when they were pulling the place apart, nor an indication of where they went. There were a few blood spots in the living room which they suspected came from either Myra or Nadia, or from someone Tanith had cut. Tanith had also been here because her sword was on the dining room floor.

"What about Laila?" Dexter asked as he came back down the stairs.

Valkyrie bit her lip. "I– I don't know. Tanith wouldn't pick up her sword with Laila around, but it was an emergency, she might have had to. The buggy's still here."

"Did she say anything this morning?" Ghastly asked. He was pale but he was holding it together.

"Nothing. She was asleep when we left, remember? So was Laila. She has been going on walks in the morning, but she wouldn't have just left Laila outside. She's definitely not hidden upstairs?"

"Nothing," Dexter repeated.

Valkyrie told them to all sit down so she could look around again and they did that. She was going through the dining room when she was suddenly called over by Saracen.

"Her phone!" He exclaimed, holding Nadia's smartphone out to Valkyrie. She snatched it, unlocked it quickly and looked through the messages and phone log. It was empty. She sagged and then pressed the 'tabs' button and noticed the camera as a recently opened app. She pulled up the photo album.

"It's Tanith and Laila. They went for a walk this morning, but she took her in the carrier," she told them quickly.

"The carrier isn't here, I'm sure," Dexter said, but Valkyrie ran to her room to check. Sure enough, Tanith's carrier was gone, but she checked the window and found the lock had been broken just as only Tanith could have done. So she had to have known something was up to sneak in. The question was, where was the baby? With Tanith, or with someone else that got free? That person could be Nadia or Myra, surely not a neighbour.

Saracen, at least, knew that she wasn't with neighbours, but he didn't seem to have any other indication and was getting frustrated. While he tried his hardest to influence his magic, she and Fletcher searched his and Myra's bedroom and didn't find a struggle or anything useful at all. That meant both Myra and Nadia hadn't seemed to have fought.

Narrowing her eyes, she surveyed her family on the sofa's. She had a suspicious, though small, and wanted to check it.

"Fletcher," she said, turning to him. He was still on the bottom step, waiting for her to move. "Can you call Myra please?"

He frowned but pulled it out and quickly called her. It almost rang through, letting Valkyrie's suspicion die out, and at the last moment, picked up. They went to the kitchen, Valkyrie staying silent and Fletcher put it on speakerphone.

"Fletch, are you okay?" Myra's voice said.

"Pretend we're still there and won," Valkyrie mouthed.

He nodded. "Err, I'm fine babe. We're all done here, waiting for everyone to finish up so I can leave and come meet you. Are you still at the house?"

"Actually, I've gone for a walk with Tanith and Nadia," she said. Fletcher and Valkyrie locked eyes. "We won't be gone for too long. Hey, how long do you think it's going to be?"

"Oh, like–" Valkyrie indicated ten fingers "–ten minutes? Y-you know, I'd love to meet you guys, maybe we can all go to lunch?! It went so well, we should celebrate."

There was a very short pause. "That would be great babe!" There was a small cry down the line.

"Is that Laila?" Fletcher asked quickly.