Wickedly Dangerous (Baba Yaga, #1)(12)
Chudo-Yudo chose that moment to appear from the back of the Airstream and let out the short, growly bark that was his version of “hello.” It gave most people a sudden inexplicable desire to be elsewhere, but Belinda just smiled and held out a hand to be sniffed.
“What a handsome dog!” she said, which got her the honor of a wet black nose pressed against her knee. She took the hint and scratched him behind the ears, and Chudo-Yudo’s eyes drooped closed in doggy bliss. “Is he a pit bull? What’s his name?”
“Chudo-Yudo,” Baba said and waited to see how extensive the tale telling had been.
“Chudo-Yudo; wasn’t that the name of the dragon who guarded the Water of Life and Death?” Belinda asked. “Is he named after that Chudo-Yudo? How cute.”
Cute. Baba shook her head. “He is that Chudo-Yudo. And don’t call him cute. It will just give him a swelled head. And look at the size of the one he’s already got.”
Belinda’s eyes got big. “He’s a dragon? But, but, he looks just like a dog.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Baba said, a warning hum behind her words. “Often.”
Belinda started, probably feeling the menace of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but knew alarmed her. Baba had that effect on people. Often. Sometimes even on purpose.
Baba changed the subject, pouring tea into two pottery mugs carved with ancient magical symbols and decorative chickens, placing one in front of her visitor. “So, your daughter is the third child to be taken. Do the children who vanished all have something in common, that you know of?”
Tired brown eyes gazed back at her. “Not that we’ve been able to find. And believe me, Sheriff McClellan has been looking for a connection. Not to mention the state police, who searched every database they had for any disappearances remotely like these. There are two girls and one boy, between the ages of two and eight, from different areas of the county. They don’t all go to the same school; their parents aren’t members of the same organizations. Nothing.”
“Interesting,” Baba said. “And no evidence of any kind left behind at the scene?”
“None.” Belinda nibbled on an already ragged nail. “You’d think they vanished into thin air.” A single tear tracked down her face, as if she’d cried so much already and it was the only one left. “I swear, I turned my back for less than a minute. I heard her giggle, like she’d seen something funny, and when I turned back around, she was just gone. The state police didn’t find anything more than we did.”
Chudo-Yudo raised the corner of one pink-edged lip to reveal sharp and shining teeth. Baba nodded back in agreement. There was something very wrong here. More wrong than three missing children. Otherworld involvement wrong, maybe. That would explain a lot.
“Huh,” Baba said, for lack of anything more helpful. “So, tell me about your child’s father. Is there any chance he was involved? Anything . . . unusual . . . about him?”
Sometimes if one parent came from the lands beyond, they eventually returned home, taking the child with them. Not that many there had children anymore, even on the rare occasions when they dallied with the mortal kind. These days, an Otherworld child was a rare and precious thing, a treasure to be prized above all else.
Belinda gave a sharp, harsh laugh, like a bullfrog as the night came down. “Not likely. Eddie didn’t want anything to do with Mary Elizabeth, not once the thrill of proving his manhood was gone. He was my “bad boy” walk on the wild side. When I got pregnant, I made the mistake of marrying him. Spent the next five and a half years putting up with his drinking and his lowlife friends.” She shook her head, as if in wonderment at her own stupidity. “I stuck with him for far too long, even after he started beating me, but when he drove drunk with Mary Elizabeth in the truck, I finally came to my senses and kicked him out. As far as I know, he’s not even in the area anymore.”
Well, that was a boring old Human story. But at least it sounds like the father wasn’t part of the problem. That wouldn’t have explained the other children anyway.
Baba plucked at the sleeve of Belinda’s uniform, trying not to make a face at the slick artificial feel of the tan poly-cotton blend. If it were hers, she’d work a little magic to turn it into something more comfortable and flattering. “I’m surprised he had the nerve to beat on a cop; you folks usually stick together, don’t you?”
Belinda gave another laugh, this one filled with genuine humor; her smile made Baba revise her original estimate of “just pretty” up to “almost beautiful, when her life hasn’t been ripped apart.”
“Oh, no,” Belinda answered. “I wasn’t with the department when I was married to Eddie. I got the job afterward.”
“So you’d be safe if he came back?”
“So I could shoot his ass and get away with it.”
It was Baba’s turn to laugh. Not because she didn’t believe Belinda, but because she did. Damned if she didn’t like the woman.
At their feet, Chudo-Yudo’s furry white sides shook with amusement too, and they exchanged glances.
“Very well,” Baba said.” I will help you.”
Belinda looked like she couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. “Because I said I would shoot my ex-husband?” Clearly, she thought that was a strange factor to consider in her favor.