I stepped through the door marked with an emerald scarab beetle. I hadn’t gotten a chance to call Brooke to give her an update on how things were going or when I would be home since Rend didn’t have a phone at his house in the Alps.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure if international calling was a thing in the fifties. I was clueless about how things worked this far back.

But since I didn’t know what was going on with her here in the house, I quickly summoned my power and glamoured myself as Dr. Evers once again. Better safe than sorry these days, but I hoped more than anything that I would go downstairs and hear Brooke say that she’d found the portal and was ready to go home.

Instead, I heard Melody’s voice at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m sorry, Detective, Dr. Evers isn’t here this evening,” she said. “I’m not sure when she’ll be home.”

I tossed Rend’s bag into the bedroom and hurried down, glad I had taken the time upstairs to glamour myself. And so incredibly grateful I had gotten enough rest over the past couple days to have all of my power back. Today, holding the glamour felt as natural and as easy as breathing.

“I’m here, Melody,” I said. I didn’t want her to send the detective away. Out of everyone I knew about in this timeline, he was the most likely to know where that portal was located. Now that I had the potions for the girls, he was my next objective.

“Oh,” she said, turning with wide eyes. “I didn’t realize you were home.”

“Just got in,” I said, smiling.

I opened the door wider, and the detective stormed in.

“Where in the world have you been?” he asked. He glanced at Melody, and then gave me a pointed look.

I took the hint.

“Melody, would you mind making us some coffee?” I asked.

She didn’t exactly look eager to leave me alone with this guy, but she nodded and disappeared down the hallway that led to the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, the cop grabbed my arm and pulled me into the sitting room.

“Where were you, Monica? I’ve been going out of mind waiting for word about our next moves,” he said. “I’ve been by every half hour since the day after the fire almost. I think this nurse of yours is starting to get suspicious. What is she doing staying here, anyway? Doesn’t she have her own apartment?”

“I didn’t want to be alone,” I said. “Let go of my arm. You’re hurting me.”

He released me and started pacing the floor behind the sofa.

“I don’t understand what’s going on. Where is your mother?” He stopped, worry flashing in his eyes. “She didn’t leave, did she? If you guys are ready to end this little charade, that’s fine, but don’t leave me here. You promised me that once this whole thing was over, you would take me home. I don’t want to be stuck in this shit decade forever, Monica.”

I cleared my throat. What exactly was his role in all this?

“Neither do I,” I said. “Trust me on that.”

“Then what do we do? How come you didn’t kill the girls this time? This whole thing is a huge logistical nightmare,” he said. “The hospital’s fully expecting that the parents of these poor girls are going to show up to claim them. What do you think is going to happen when no one shows up? They’re going to start asking questions, that’s what. And I can’t afford to have any of this crap leading back to me. You’ve got your magic to help you do whatever it is you need to do, but if I get locked up, I’m stuck here. I’m ready to go back, Monica. I need to know what the plan is.”

Wow, he was really angry and worried. I certainly didn’t have any answers for him. I tried to think fast, but nothing was coming to mind except to keep bullshitting him until he said something useful.

“I’m just as in the dark as you are,” I said. “I had no idea the fire was going to be set early this time, and I haven’t seen my mother since the night of the fire, either.”

“She went home, Monica,” he said, grabbing my arm again. “What are we going to do if she just left us here? Would she do that? She promised me that if I helped her with this little project of hers for a couple decades, she would set me up for life. In the twenty-first century, though. Not here. I can’t live here.”

I seriously doubted that the emerald priestess ever had any intention of setting this man up with a sweet life in the present day, but he obviously believed she could be trusted. I had probably saved him from a horrible death when he had outlived his usefulness, but I couldn’t exactly tell him that.

“I went looking for my mother, thinking that maybe she had gone to take care of something out of town before the fire,” I said. “But I haven’t been able to find her. She wouldn’t leave us here, though. I know she wouldn’t. I’m honestly afraid something has happened to her.”

His eyes widened, and he ran a hand through his thinning hair.

“Then we have to go now,” he said. “Do you think the portal home would still be there, even if something did happen to her? Monica, I found out that several bodies were discovered in the basement of the hospital yesterday. They were both burned beyond recognition, though. Two girls were unaccounted for, so I assumed it was them down there, but what if one of them was her? What if your mother died in that fire?”

I laughed and shook my head, but I hadn’t missed his mention of the portal. Did this guy know where it was located?

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said. “You know my mother just as well as I do. Do you think a simple fire would kill her? Come on.”

He tilted his head toward me, and I wondered if I had said something wrong. He definitely was giving me a suspicious look.

“Maybe a simple fire wouldn’t have been enough,” he said. “But if someone figured out what she was doing here? Or if someone she was working with was tired of what she was doing to these girls?”

My mouth went dry. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.

“What exactly are you trying to imply?” I asked, drawing my arms close to hide the fact that my hands were trembling.

“I’m just saying that the past few times we’ve killed these girls, you simply haven’t had the stomach for it,” he said. “Last time, you even suggested that you wanted to be replaced with a new doctor. Your mother, of course, would hear nothing of it. You are far too talented at what you do for her to replace you very easily. Besides, you were always her favorite daughter. Everyone knows that.”

“I adore my mother,” I said, hoping there was enough passion in my voice to make him believe the lie. “I may not have always loved what we were doing here, but I would never have done anything to hurt her.”

He turned around and stared into the shadows. “Well, if not you, then maybe someone else,” he said. “One of the girls? Maybe one of the ones who was missing from the check?”

I swallowed. I couldn’t let him get too close to the truth.

“I’m sure my mother is fine,” I said. “The two bodies that were found were most likely those of the two girls who were missing. But you’re right that we should check on the portal home. If anything did happen to my mother, we need to make sure the portal is still open. If we have to, we’ll go through together and figure out what happened later.”

He took a deep breath, but finally nodded.

“We should go together,” he said. “I don’t want you going through without me and closing it behind you. Besides, the only reason I haven’t checked on it yet is because I didn’t want you or your mother to find me there and think I’d betrayed you.”

I nodded. “Of course,” I said. I had no idea where the portal was, but hopefully he knew exactly where to find it. Of course, I couldn’t go through with him and leave the girls and Brooke here, but I could figure that out when we got there.

“I need to take care of a couple things down at the station, but as soon as I can get away, I’ll come back to pick you up,” he said. “We’ll go together.”

I shook my head. “No, I’ll go with you now,” I said. “I can’t have you heading there without me.”

He narrowed his gaze at me. “Now you don’t trust me?”

“Right now, I’m not sure I trust anyone,” I said. “We go together, and we go now.”

“What about this nurse?” he asked. “Should we kill her before we go? She might already know too much.”

“She’s harmless,” I said, my mouth dry. “I’ll make up some reason why I need to go down to the station to answer a few questions. She won’t think a thing of it. You don’t need to worry about her.”

“If you’re sure, I guess we can leave her alive for now,” he said. “Grab whatever you need to grab and let’s go. It’s already getting dark, and the road to the cabin is hard to find in the dark. I’ve only been out there once without your mom telling us where to go. I just have to have a simple phone call first.”

I swallowed and nodded. “Of course,” I said, showing him to the phone. “I’ll be right back.”

As I walked away, all I could think was this guy better remember how to get to this supposed cabin. This was my best shot at finding my way home, and I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fingers.