A moment later, Reggie dropped out of the ceiling. “Hey, boss. Something’s going down. I’ve felt Drake, and he’s got ghosts freaking out all over the place.”
“Ghosts. Why are they worried about him?”
Reggie shrugged. “Don’t know. It’s like fish darting away from rocks dropping in the pond. I had a bead on him, but when the boss calls…”
“Damn. My luck, of course. Okay, get back out there and see if you can find him. If you see Shelby, let her know the cops may be out in force to get her unless she shows her face real soon.”
“They worried about her and that agent girl?”
“You’ve seen them?”
Reggie smiled. “Yeah, Shelby was flying out of town with her clutched on to the back of the cycle. Took her up to that park north of town that looks out on the lake, can’t think of the name.”
“You followed them?”
“Hey, easy for me, and I was, you know, curious.” He laughed. “I wouldn’t worry too much ’bout them, boss, if you know what I mean.”
Nick ran a hand through his bristled, short hair. “Christ. What is she thinking?”
Reggie gave Nick a wistful smile. “How’d you feel about finding someone who realized what you were and didn’t run screaming in the other direction? Or is it the girl-girl thing that’s crimpin’ your dick?”
Nick glared at Reggie’s ghostly right hand. “Reg! You know Shelby and I-”
“Nick Anderson!” It was Jackie’s voice, yelling for him outside the room.
“See ya, boss. Got things to do.” Reggie vanished into the floor before Nick could reply.
Jackie stormed in a moment later. “What the hell are you doing? I heard Shelby’s name. Who were you talking to?”
“Just a call to the office, Ms. Rutledge.”
She walked right up to him, her finger stabbing him in the chest. “Where is Shelby? What is she doing with Laurel?”
Nick stepped back, raising his hands defensively. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“She sucked three pints of blood out of that guy in there. Sliced him open with a razor and bled him out.” Jackie’s trembling hand hovered over the grip of her Glock. “She’s the killer, isn’t she, Nick? Isn’t she!”
“No,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “She’s not.” Nick decided against informing her that her partner might be making out with her new number-one suspect.
“You knew she did this, didn’t you?” Nick’s silence appeared to confirm her suspicion. “You are so fucking under arrest.” Her voice shook with terrified rage. “If she’s done anything to Laurel, so help me, I will bleed you out myself.”
Nick raised his hands behind his head, keeping a careful eye on the hand that now clenched around the holstered pistol. It looked like nobody would be catching Drake today.
Chapter 27
“We’re back!” Shelby yelled at Laurel over the rumble of her motorcycle.
Laurel peeled herself away from Shelby’s back and looked around. Her car was there in front of them, parked across from the Jade Dragon, where Shelby had picked up Chinese for their lunch. She licked her windblown lips, still tasting the faint sting of the chili peppers that had been in Shelby’s food and hot upon her tongue.
The icy-cold wind of the dead had still not left her bones. Shelby had let down her guard and let Laurel see, let her be witness to what Shelby was, a woman sitting on the border between life and death, drawing energy from the blood of others to keep herself on this side of the doorway, able to draw upon the spiritual energy of the dead lingering on the other side. Shocking did not even approach how Laurel felt at the discovery, though it came pretty close to the feeling of Shelby’s lips on her own after the fact. She felt sixteen at the moment, returning from her first real date. It was completely absurd, and though she was still overwhelmed by the events, a certain giddy elation kept her body tingling.
“Damn. I was just beginning to enjoy the ride.” Laurel swung her leg over and stepped off the back of the BMW.
“You can ride with me any time you like, Laurel.” Shelby grinned and pulled Laurel’s purse out of the storage compartment. “It was nice having your arms around me.” She handed the purse over to her. “Here.”
Laurel felt the warmth rush to her cheeks yet again. Shelby had no qualms about saying exactly what was on her mind, a refreshing and certainly attractive attribute, especially when it was her that appeared to be occupying Shelby’s mind. “Thanks. It’s been an… enlightening trip, to say the least.”
“I was worried you’d freak and want to arrest me on the spot.”
“Oh, no,” Laurel said, shaking her head. “I knew all along you had nothing to do with killing those boys. “Your aura is all wrong for it.”
Shelby reached out and took her hand. “What is my aura telling you now?”
Laurel swallowed hard, embarrassed that she was actually embarrassed. Okay, she had not been on a date in forever, but still. The woman’s touch sent goose bumps down her spine. “It’s telling me that maybe there’s another meeting in store for us. Soon.”
She squeezed Laurel’s hand and laughed. “God, I certainly hope so. I haven’t wanted someone so bad in years.” Shelby leaned over and kissed her quickly and then sat back on her motorcycle, zipping the leather jacket up to her neck. “It’ll happen. I can promise you that, but I need to get back out there. I can sense that fucker Drake in the area. It’s weird that he keeps fading in and out like this, but we’ll track him down. He wants us to find him, after all.”
“Call us if you do,” Laurel insisted. “Don’t take him on by yourself.”
“Worried about me?”
Again her cheeks began to flame. “You need to quit embarrassing me every two minutes.”
“It’s cute as hell though.” Shelby revved the engine and flicked on her blinker. “You telling Jackie what happened?”
“Yeah, I need to.”
“Will she believe you? Will she understand?”
Laurel shrugged. “Believe me, yes, even if she doesn’t understand it. What about Nick? Can you convince him to cooperate and help us?”
“I’ll talk to him again, but I don’t know. Part of me thinks he wants Drake to take him down.”
The thought sobered Laurel up in a hurry. “That’s no good.”
“Nope. He’s tired and full of guilt. Can’t blame him too much, really, but he can’t give up now. I think we might actually have a shot at Drake.”
“I hope so,” Laurel said.
“I know so,” Shelby said with a heartless smile. “He wants us to.” With that she gunned the BMW and roared off into traffic, taking the next corner nearly horizontal to the ground.
“Wow,” Laurel whispered, feeling the trailing cold tails of ghosts whip by her as Shelby vanished around the corner. The feeling lingered, however-cold and malignant.
Laurel turned and felt around, using her sense to home in on the spirit. It was near, a block or two at the most. Why had she not felt it earlier? There was something oddly familiar about it as well. Shouldering her purse, Laurel began walking down the sidewalk.
A cold wind picked up the closer she got to whatever it was. Whispering along with it, dark and unkind, came a voice. “Laurrrelll.”
It hit her then, why this spirit felt familiar. It had been the same one outside her window a couple days earlier, the one that had tried to claw its way through her protective charms. What was it doing over here?
The cell phone buzzed in her purse, reminding her she had yet to check in with Jackie. She could wait a few more minutes. She wanted to find this ghost before it stepped back into the world of the dead. Deadworld. Shelby had spoke as if it were a place you could go visit, like Holland or Bermuda. Shelby. The cool fingers on Laurel’s face had certainly not left her feeling cool. She grinned at herself, feeling light and a bit crazy. She might have a date with a vampire. What a strange world.
“Laurrrelll.”
There. A mini market across the street. She was sure of it now. Laurel waited for traffic to clear and hurried across to the corner store, its windows plastered with ads and posters for lotto tickets, cigarettes, beer, and other assorted healthy ways to spend one’s money.