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Ferret who saved the day. I never saw such
guts.'
    'I know
that, also. Poppy was wondering if there were still repercussions
from that case, coming back to haunt us. Is that why he is missing;
maybe taking the danger away from his wife? Opinions?'
    Morris
gave his. 'Like Vince said. Ferret's courage isn't in question. I
saw him with the noose around his neck, ready to die to save Poppy.
But we saw things not of our world; we discovered there's an evil
surrounding us we didn't know even existed. I think we got the
slightest glimpse into another world; not an experience I ever want
to repeat. Could that evil still want Ducket? I suppose we couldn't
rule it out. What we experienced that night, well. Who could
know?'
    'But you
don't think so?'
    Morris
found his thoughts being dragged back to a house full of evil,
where a creature was called from the bottomless pit of hell. He had
been transfixed to the spot, as the monster with the leg of a bird
stomped around them, his claws, long and vicious, making teeth
grinding scratching sounds on the bare floorboards.
    He could
still smell, even taste that fetid, rancid breath of the thing from
another dimension as it strutted before him. He had fought evil
every day of his life, but this was the stuff of nightmares, and
remained only partially submerged in the darkest recesses of his
mind. The Chief had asked for his honest opinions. Did he think
evil like that could ever truly be destroyed?
    'All
that was left over from the witches were little piles of ashes. But
something that lived centuries ago, I'm not sure what that
means.'
    Crowe
said, 'I don't see it. That chicken legged freak took them home
with him. They aren't coming back.'
    'I hope
so,' the Chief said, 'Which comes back to my original theory why
Ducket's missing. Sandra.'
    'Oh,
God,' said Morris. 'No disrespect to your sister, Sir, but if she's
back, some big bad shit is going down.'
    The
Chief agreed. 'Keep on your case. Forget about Fred. But if he or
my sister makes a sudden appearance, they become your priority. Got
that?'
    'Yes,
Sir,' said Morris. 'Anything else, Sir?'
    'Yes. If
you two ever hold back information about a case ever again, no
matter how strange, you can look forward to issuing speeding
tickets until the day you retire. Understood?'
    'Yes,
Sir,' said Morris and Crowe together.
    'Glad we
cleared that up. Now get the hell out of here.'
     

Chapter 16
    'Are you
absolutely sure?'
    'Uncle
Bernie. I'm not a kid. I've taken a pregnancy test.'
    Debbie
shot him a warning look. 'Of course she's sure.' She poured more
gravy on her roast beef dinner and glanced at Poppy. 'Men,' she
said with a sigh.
    'I wish
I had known before he disappeared,' said Poppy. 'If he had known he
was going to be a dad, he'd never have gone.'
    'I had a
chat with Morris and Crowe today,' said Bernie. 'Everything out in
the open. They can't see it being a witch thing.'
    'Mom?'
    'It has
all the hallmarks. To be honest, it scares me. What can be so bad
and big to make Fred go the way he has?'
    Debbie
pushed her empty plate away. She had an idea that whatever the
cryptic conversation she was hearing between uncle and niece, it
held veiled dark secrets she wasn't a part of. She gathered the
plates, scraped the scraps into the waste disposal and loaded the
dishwasher. Then she turned to face Bernie and Poppy, her back
against the worktop, her arms folded and her expression
fixed.
    'Right.
I want to know if I'm part of this family or not.'
    'Debbie?'
    'Don't
you Debbie me, Bernie. I'm here listening you two talk about all
kinds of weird stuff. What am I? Somebody who just lives here? That
is not like being a part of a family.'
    'What's
your problem?' said Bernie, having suffered enough confusion with
all that was going on. He didn't need any more.
    'My
problem? I hear talk of witches, demons, peculiar
sisters...'
    'Excuse
me? My sister isn't...Okay. Not quite like the rest of us. She
kills people with her bare hands. That doesn't make her a