Grim and Bear It
Chapter Nineteen

Jake

I knocked on Eliza's door before using my key and stepping inside. "Hello?"

"Kitchen!" My sister called.

I walked through the dining room to replace her kneading bread dough. Oh no. While Eliza loved cooking, she only baked when she was stressed. Bread meant she was really struggling. "What's going on?" I asked, taking a seat at the table and balancing the handle of my cane on the top.

She glanced over at Daisy's door, blew hair out of her face, and leaned toward me. "Daisy got in trouble at school twice this week. Once for 'telling lies' that she's a witch, and a second time for shoving an older kid who said she was a bastard because she didn't have a dad."

"Good for her for standing up for herself."

"She broke the kid's shoulder." Eliza shook her head. "She must have used some kind of magic. It's like it's manifesting when she's angry and she can't control it." She stopped kneading and looked over at me. "I think we're going to have to apply for someone to help in the interim while you finish your case."

I swallowed hard, trying to shove down the anger and frustration. It was supposed to be me. Lucinda was supposed to plead guilty; I was supposed to move on and help Daisy. "I'll help you replace someone, okay?" "You're so busy."

"Not too busy to help you through this." I reached over and squeezed her forearm. "You're not alone, okay?"

She sucked in a deep, watery breath. "I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm trying so hard." She picked the bread up and smacked the dough on the floured counter.

"You're not doing anything wrong. Your high-spirited daughter has big feelings and magic isn't helping. We'll figure it out, yeah?"

She wiped her eye with her shoulder and nodded. "Yeah."

I stood and walked over to her, squeezing her shoulders. "How about I take her out for ice cream and give you some alone time?"

"That would be amazing, thank you."

I walked over to Daisy's bedroom. "Does my favorite niece want ice cream?" I asked loudly, knocking on the door. No answer. "Munchkin, can I come in?"

I shot a look to Eliza who narrowed her eyes on the door. "Daisy, can you come out here please?"

One second. Two. Three. Five. Ten. Silence.

I turned the knob, meeting the resistance of a lock. I reached for the top of the doorframe where Eliza kept an emergency key. "Daisy, I'm unlocking the door and coming in," I warned. I turned the handle and pushed open the door. My heart plummeted through the earth. The room was empty. The window on the side of the house was open, her floral curtain billowing in the breeze. Eliza pushed past me, opening Daisy's closet and checking under the bed to make sure she wasn't hiding.

I yanked my phone out of my jeans, dialing SHAP. "Agent Robinson. I need to report a missing child. Potential kidnapping. Daisy Robinson."

SHAP didn't waste time launching a search, especially on an agent's child with powers. Mina's dad and Territory Director, Jim Summers, arrived first, Paris second. Magnolia and my dad definitely broke speed limits to get here from work, and Mina and Carma-no doubt notified by Jim-followed.

"Can't be here," Jim ordered when Mina walked in.

"Dad, I can't not be here!" she defended.

He shook his head and walked over to his daughter, putting his hands on her shoulders. "If this has to do with the case, and it's documented that you're here"

"Yeah, okay. I get it. It's fucking stupid, but I get it." Mina looked at me, her eyes shiny. "Call me the moment you know something, yeah?"

I tapped my chest. "Promise."

"I'll have Sebastian activate the ghost search."

Eliza ran over to Mina and hugged her, then Carma. Mina held the sides of Eliza's face. "We're going to replace her. Try not to kill Paris before you do."

Eliza laughed through a sob and nodded. "I'll try."

Despite their mutual dislike, Jim and Magnolia were looking over a paper map spread out on the kitchen table, dividing up the town into sections, while Dad made calls to alert the search party leads of their coordinates. "We only have two hours until dark. Let's get feet on the ground," Dad ordered. "Check in at this number or with Jim."

I moved back to Daisy's bedroom, where Paris was dusting the window frame inside and out to look for magical residue that didn't belong. She was leaning through the window, pulling samples off the frame. She looked over her shoulder at me when I walked in, then eased herself back and put the swab sample into her handheld machine.

"Your niece has very strong magic," she told me. "It's hard to decipher all of it, although it seems to have similar structure."

I leaned against the door frame. "Yeah, makes sense. It's like it's growing faster than she is."

"That's why you're going to help her." It wasn't a question. Paris knew it was important to me. The machine beeped with a result and her brow pinched. She looked back at the window, then around the room, before looking back at the machine. "This room is chaos," she grumbled. "Gotta take a new sample."

Eliza, who had just approached the doorway, crossed her arms. "Yes, please worry about how messy my daughter's room is instead of doing your damn job."

I flinched. "Eliza, that's not what she meant "

Eliza put up her hand. "I don't want to hear it." She glared at Paris. "Finish and leave me alone." She stomped away.

Paris's cheeks burned bright red, her eyes fixated on the machine. "I didn't mean...it's just..."

"I know," I promised. "She's just struggling right now, and her daughter is missing. It has nothing to do with you."

Paris smiled ruefully. "Neither of us believe that." She straightened her shoulders and turned back to the window, pulling another swab from her crossbody bag.

I left the room to replace Eliza scrubbing a pan that had probably been clean an hour ago. "She just pisses me off so much," she said, obviously complaining about Paris. "She thinks she's better than everyone and on top of that, she's judging my housekeeping skills? Let's see her keep a perfectly clean house with a full-time job and a kid who can throw temper tantrums while hovering three feet in the air." The pan slipped out of her hands and into the sink.

Eliza leaned against the counter and started sobbing. I turned off the water, handed her a towel, then wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Nothing's going to happen to Daisy," I promised, even though I had no business doing so. "What if Poppy was here for her?" she whispered. "What if my last words to my daughter were 'go to your room'? She was so upset and scared and I just―"

"Shhh, shhh. No way Poppy would let something happen to Daisy and not warn us." I looked around the room to double check, but didn't see any purple. "You'll have plenty of time to give her stories to tell in therapy."

As Eliza cried, her shoulders shaking with gut-wrenching sobs, everything that had been threatening to tear me apart during this investigation-the lack of sleep, the constant pain, the bittersweet heartbreak at seeing Poppy again, the fact that I put my niece in danger just by doing my job, the heartache that Eliza kept getting beaten down by life-clawed at my chest, making my own breath ragged. Unlike Eliza, I didn't want to cry. I wanted to break shit.

As if she could sense it, Magnolia touched my shoulder. I shifted Eliza to her arms and took a deep breath, trying to compose myself. It did nothing to abate the fire in my chest.

"Robinson, your computer here?" Jim asked.

"No, it's at home," I managed through a tight jaw.

"Go get it and come back. Paris will run the scene until then." He looked over at me and then moved his gaze to the front door. It must have been obvious I was about to lose it. "Do you want backup?" I shook my head. "Nope."