Guarded (27 page)

“Yes. He’s been back there for most of the trip.” Jules mentioned the ghost as if she were discussing which kind of pet food to buy. “He said that Callie would do better in a warm bed than running around in the November night air.”

Jules laughed lightly.

“What?”

“He also said that he was glad he didn’t have to ride with the ferret. She doesn’t like him.”

“Lucy can see ghosts?” Shelley asked, stunned by the thought. “I’ve never had a single animal tell me they can see spirits.”

“I don’t know if they see them so much as sense them. And I don’t know if all animals can do it. I’ve never had an animal talk to me. That’s your crift,” Jules said with a smirk. “But I know dogs can sense specters. More than once I’ve had Theresa’s dog growl when a ghost appeared.” An odd expression crossed Jules’s face. She swiveled her upper body again, stared into the back seat and asked, “Were you outside my apartment building last night?”

“You know I was.”
What was she talking about?

“Not you, Silly Shelley.” Jules waved a dismissive hand and grinned. “I was asking Tomás.”

“What did he say?” Shelley asked after several minutes of silence. “And don’t call me Silly Shelley. I always hated that nickname.”

Jules winked at her when she straightened in her seat. “I know. Why do you think I used to say it?”

I came back for this?
Shelley, wisely, kept her lips pressed tight rather than ask.

“Oh. Darn.” Jules frowned. “Wasn’t him. He saw you but was nowhere near you when the dog went nuts. He thinks it was a different ghost. Great, it was probably another lost soul who needed my help but will have to wait until I get home. Hope it wasn’t a time-sensitive emergency in the mortal realm.”

“Time-sensitive emergency in the mortal realm?”
Who talks like that?
“Can’t you just call to the ghost? You said they can hear their names, right?”

“Yes, mortal realm. It’s a lot easier to say than ‘the land of the living.’”

Shelley exited off the interstate and the city melted away, replaced by a highway surrounded on both sides by thick forest.

“And I would call the ghost or ghosts if I knew their names, but Tomás didn’t get close enough to find out.”

It made Shelley wonder, “Is that the only way to reach the ghosts?”

Jules was quiet for so long, Shelley wasn’t sure her sister would answer the question. “No, if a ghost sticks around the mortal realm, he or she looks for someone like me to talk to. Word gets around the ghost world when people like me exist. Usually I don’t have to do anything, and they come to me. Sometimes, like with that dead woman from Seth and Dev’s jewelry theft, a ghost attaches itself to an object.”

“The stolen diamonds?”

“Exactly.”

“But I don’t have anything of Tomás’s.”

“I think it’s why he couldn’t find you until you said his name. He was searching for you but had nothing to . . . I don’t know, grab onto, I suppose. Am I making any sense?”

“In a weird way, yes.” Shelley cast her sister a quick glance. “And you live with this all the time? I never realized how hard it must have been for you when we were kids.”

“No harder than you talking to every squirrel, raccoon, and cat on the street,” Jules countered with a grin. “It’s not so bad anymore. Once I stopped fighting the crift
,
it’s been getting easier. Plus, there are definitely benefits to being able to see things other folks can’t.”

A roadside sign read thirty miles to Elkridge. Shelley glanced at her watch. She didn’t want to think about Beau, frightened and possibly in danger. The idea of anyone hurting that child made her queasy, and so angry she actually scared herself. So she pushed the thoughts away and focused on what Jules was saying.

“. . . and Seth loves me for who I am. Just like Dev loves you.” Jules smiled.

“Jules, I’m happy for you. I truly am. But I told you, Dev and I are just friends.”

Jules gave her the “are you crazy?” look. “Right. And you
didn’t
sleep together last night?” She paused and added, “Sorry.”

“Oh God.” A heat burned Shelley’s cheeks. Even her ears went hot. “I have a life in Elkridge. I have a purpose there. Dev and I were just getting a college fantasy out of our systems.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that in front of Tomás. Bad enough you heard it.”

Jules shook her head. “Don’t worry, he took off right after I apologized for mentioning that you and Dev slept together. I think if he could have blushed, he would have. Anyway, I think he was giving us some privacy.”

“You were apologizing to him.” Shelley’s head was starting to ache. “I thought you were talking to me. How does Seth know whether or not you’re talking to him?”

Jules gave her a wicked smile.

Instantly, Shelley regretted the question. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

All at once, the check engine light lit up and smoke began pouring from the car’s hood.

*   *   *

D
EV
HADN
’
T
LOOKED
at his phone since Shelley called when he’d first stepped into the office. Now he could kick himself. Finally, the captain dismissed them to work on the case, and there were six texts from Shells; the last two read
Can’t wait
and
Worried about the boy
. He was about to hit send when Seth, climbing into the passenger seat of Dev’s car, said, “Fuck! The girls are gone.”

Seth flashed his iPhone at Dev. The text from Jules said it all:
Tomás thinks Beau is in danger. Come ASAP.
“I can’t believe they left after we specifically told them not to. What am I saying? It’s Jules, of course I can believe it.”

Dev was out of the parking lot and pulling onto the highway before Seth had fastened his seat belt. Snaking between cars, Dev kept the speed between eighty and ninety, all the while silently cursing Shelley and himself for not realizing sooner that she would feel obliged to race to the boy’s rescue. Regardless of her own safety.

But damn! There was a killer on the loose. One who’d already likely drugged Shelley and had definitely been in her home. The idea of something happening to Shells . . . of her ending up like Wallace or Rush or Tomás made him want to puke. He’d be damned if he’d let that happen. She’d been hurt in college because he hadn’t been there to protect her, but he’d protect her now.

They drove in silence for a half hour. Dev was lost in thoughts of his case, Shelley, and the meeting in the captain’s office. He began to doubt his silence at the station.

“Seth, do you think I should have told the sheriff about suspecting that Shelley had been drugged?” Dev asked, gripping the steering wheel tighter and zipping around a car that pulled into his lane.

“Kid, plausible deniability. The moment you mention the drugs, you admit to knowing where she is. Even if the good sheriff thinks she’s in the clear, you’ve just admitted to potentially hampering an investigation. You want to get yanked from this case? Tell the captain or the sheriff that you spent last night in bed with Shelley. I guarantee, you’ll be off the case and on foot patrol faster than you can blink. Like it or not, you made the decision the moment you didn’t call it in when you saw the news report.” Seth made a disgusted sound in his throat. “Don’t worry, kid, I’ll be right there with you busting kids for jaywalking. Unless we can solve this first. So no, I don’t think you should have said a damned word.”

“Crap, we should have taken her to the hospital to be tested for the drugs in her system.” Dev didn’t want to think about what might have happened to her in her impaired state. Then it occurred to him. “I thought you were by the book. When did that change?”

“When I got engaged to a woman who sees ghosts.”

Dev hit autodial on his phone and waited.

Ian answered on the first ring. “Glad you called, Cuz. Ryan and I have big news. We’re headed your way. Should be at your place in about forty-five minutes.”

“I hope it’s good news. I need it right now.”

Seth’s phone rang. He answered it, then said, “Crap! The car broke down, where? Where the hell is Carson?”

*   *   *

“I
T’S ABOUT THIRTY
miles east of Elkridge,” Jules said into the phone. “Seth, don’t worry. There’s a gas station with a little restaurant across the street called the Café and Gas.”

Shelley stared through the steam, not smoke, rising from the hood at the shabby little diner on the other side of the gas pumps. Maybe they’d have someone inside who could look at the car?

“Ian and Ryan? Are you sure?” Jules sounded slightly exasperated. “Fine. I said,
fine
, Seth, dang. We’ll meet you inside. Yes, she drove. I’d have gotten us lost before we left Tidewater.” She paused, listening. “Yes, I know you said to add water to it before driving. We did that. I have no idea why it died. Maybe because the car’s older than Theresa? Good-bye Seth.” Jules pressed the button on her Bluetooth.

“Let’s get the car off the road,” Shelley said, putting Lucy in her carrier. Together they pushed the car the last few hundred feet off the mostly deserted road and into the parking lot of the gas station.

Hot and sweating, Shelley and Jules climbed back into the car. “Well, I won’t need to go to the gym tomorrow,” Jules said, wiping the back of her hand across her brow.

“You work out?” Shelley huffed, wondering if that would help her trim down.

Jules laughed. “Not ever. That was a joke.”

“What now?”

“Dev, Seth, Ian, and Ryan are on their way. Dev and Seth are about forty minutes away, but Ian and Ryan were in Elkridge and on their way back. They should be here any minute with news.”

“Has Tomás come back yet? Has he found Beau?” Shelley jiggled her knee, unable to sit completely still. “Maybe someone inside will give us a lift to Elkridge?”

Jules gave her a dubious look. “Look, Seth said Ian and Ryan will be here any minute. They just passed the café on their way back to Tidewater. We should wait for them.”

“But Tomás said he thought Beau was in trouble, didn’t he?”

Someone knocked on Shelley’s window, making both women jump.

In the dim glow of the last vestiges of sunset, Ian smiled his usual Hollywood smile. “Pop the hood, then head inside for a bit while Ryan and I take a look. Dev and Seth will be here shortly. He said to wait.”

“We don’t have time to wait. Beau’s missing.”

“No, he’s not.” Ian gave a good-natured shrug. “He’s fine.”

“Really?” Shelley climbed out of the car and looked around for the boy. “Where is he?”

Ian’s friendly expression turned to stone. “Ryan and I left him about an hour ago. At his foster mother’s. She’s a wicked-cold bitch. But the kid seemed okay, except for the bruises on his face that looked a couple days old.”

“Someone needs to report her,” Ryan said, reaching past where Shelley stood in the doorway of the car; he popped the hood. “We’d have brought him with us, but we couldn’t get close to him. And he didn’t look too excited to see two big men standing in the woman’s doorway.”

“But he did smile,” Ian added, helping Jules out of the car. “When I promised her that I’d be back and there had better not be another mark on him.”

*   *   *

I
T HAD TAKEN
ten minutes for Ian, Ryan, and Jules to convince Shelley to wait in the diner. Sitting in the booth next to the large picture window overlooking the road, she’d watched as Ian and Ryan poured antifreeze into Seth’s engine, then took it for a test drive. The men pulled the car around the back of the café, out of sight.

Knowing that Beau was alive and unhurt, if not completely safe, at Mama Margaret’s was a relief. The tension in her shoulders had begun to lessen.

Her cell phone rang and hoping it was Dev, she answered without looking. “Hello?”

“You’ve gotta help me! There’s someone in here.” Jacob’s hushed voice sounded frantic. “Oh crap. Oh crap! He hit Dr. Kessler. The old man’s not moving. I think he’s dead!”

Shelley’s heart catapulted into her throat, but she kept her voice even. “Jacob, where are you?”

“In the clinic. I’m in the dog spa.” Jacob’s whispered words were punctuated with sniffles. “He’s going to kill me too. I know it.”

“Jacob, call 9-1-1.” Shelley started to sweat. He didn’t answer. And he still didn’t answer. “Jacob! Did you hear me? Call 9-1-1.”

“I already did. The operator put me on hold.” Jacob sobbed, his voice pitching higher with each word. “Oh, God! Oh, God! I can hear him moving around out front.”

“Jacob, stay calm and quiet. Can you get out of there? Do you know who’s in there with you?” Shelley tugged her sister’s sleeve across the table to get Jules’s attention, mouthing, “Call Seth now!”

“Christ, I don’t want to die.” Jacob started to cry. “He’s gone crazy.”

“Who’s gone crazy, Jacob?” Shelley asked. “Talk to me, Jacob. Who killed Dr. Kessler?”

“It was—” Jacob’s words were cut off with an ear-piercing scream.

Then the line went dead.

While Jules spoke quietly into her cell, Shelley dialed 9-1-1 and relayed everything Jacob had told her as calmly as possible. She explained about the phone call and the scream.

“And your name?” asked the operator, keys tapping in the background.

Shelley bit her lip. It’s not like they couldn’t figure out who was calling based on her cell phone. Elkridge was small, but it did utilize the advanced 9-1-1 system. She inhaled a deep breath and prayed she wasn’t doing the wrong thing. “This is Dr. Shelley Morgan of the Elkridge Veterinary Clinic.”

The tapping stopped and the operator went quiet. Across from her, Jules spoke earnestly into her cell. Her words hurried and hushed.

“Ma’am, did you say you’re Dr. Morgan?” asked the 9-1-1 dispatcher, his voice unnaturally calm. “Are you at the clinic?”

“Yes, I’m Dr. Morgan, but no, I’m not at the clinic. I told you, my intern, Jacob Durand called me in a panic. He said someone is trying to kill him and the killer’s still there.”

“Ma’am, there are deputies on the scene. They would like to speak with you.” He paused, then added in an even more casual tone, “Can you give me your current address?”