Rituals (Cainsville 5)

"You're a day early," he said. "Guess you heard I had a visitation from the dead."

"Actually..." I explained that the woman who'd tried to visit him really was Seanna.

"So, not an entirely welcome resurrection," he said when I finished.

"To put it mildly," I murmured.

Todd looked over at Gabriel. He didn't offer any sympathetic comment, but he nodded, as if to say he understood this wasn't welcome. Then he turned back to me with, "Well, if she tries to see me again, I'll keep on refusing. I can't imagine what she'd want anyway."

"She says she knows something about your case."

"How--?" He paused. "Right, she's from Cainsville. She knows about the fae, then."

"Actually, she doesn't," I said. "Whatever she's coming here for, it's bullshit. If she tries again, we'd appreciate it if you'd alert the prison authorities, so we can clear up her latest death hoax. But otherwise..."

"Steer clear," he said. "I will. I'm not interested in whatever game she's playing. Pam might be, though. You know how she is."

Oh, I know exactly how she is.

"She's already talked to Seanna," I said. "She couldn't resist that. We'll speak to her next, and see what happened."

"I wouldn't worry too much." Todd gave me a half smile. "Your mother can take care of herself. It's Seanna you should be concerned about."

"I'm not," Gabriel said.

"Maybe so, but we know how Pam feels about you, Gabriel. If she sees Seanna as a way to hurt you..." Todd shrugged. "Just don't ever tell yourselves that Pam can't do much from behind bars."

"I think she's already proven she can," I said.

He winced. "Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to remind you. I know you're a match for her. Just...be careful. Both of you."

--

We'd just left the visiting room when someone called, "Mr. Walsh?"

It was a guard--a young one I'd seen before, maybe twenty-one. He looked as if he'd come straight from the army with his crew cut, ramrod spine, and manner that was a little too deferential for my tastes.

He hurried over and said, "Thank-you for waiting, sir."

Gabriel grunted, as if he was more comfortable with rudeness. Civilities meant someone wanted something from him.

"It's about that lady who came to see Todd Larsen? Said she was your mother?" The guard inflected his sentences, adding invisible question marks to the ends.

Gabriel nodded curtly, hurrying him along.

"She asked me to give Todd something," the guard said. "I told her we can't do that, but she said it was only a piece of paper, and she was real insistent. So I took it." Along with a twenty-dollar bill, I bet. "While I'm sure it's nothing--Todd's a good guy, never any trouble--I can't break the rules. I figured I'd give it to you, and you can pass it along, since you're his lawyer."

The guard held out a church offering envelope. Which could mean Seanna was being clever, gift-wrapping her message in the most innocuous package possible, but it had probably just been the easiest place to steal an envelope.

Gabriel took it and passed an expertly folded fifty, saying, "Thank you, and I apologize if she placed you in an awkward position."

"No, sir. It's fine, sir. Happy to help."

"If she comes back, I would very much appreciate a phone call. She has dropped out of contact, and I'm concerned. My mother has..." He dropped his voice and said, "Substance abuse issues."

The guard nodded, a little too puppy-eager.

"I'd like to get her the help she needs," Gabriel said.