Joyce & Jim Lavene - Taxi for the Dead 02 - Dead Girl Blues (23 page)

“She’s right.” I smoothed her fine hair that the lake breeze had ruffled. “But sometimes I get sad anyway. Do you?”

“Yes. I miss him. And sometimes, I worry that you’re going away too.”

I wished I could promise her that it wouldn’t happen, but that would be unfair. It could happen, if not tonight then some other time.

“Everyone dies, Kate. We have to love people as much as we can while they’re alive.”

“I love you, Mommy.” She looked off at the lake. “If you’re still alive next week, can we go on a boat ride? Mary’s family just got a new boat. It made me wish we could go on a boat ride. I remember doing that with Daddy once.”

“Yes. If we’re both alive next week, we’ll go on a boat ride. We’ll take Lucas with us because he might not have ever been on a boat ride.”

“Really? Is that because sorcerers don’t like boats?”

“I don’t know.” I glanced at my watch. “Let’s ask him when we get home. We’d better go get cleaned up for supper. Grandma won’t like it if we’re late.”

She skipped along beside me to the van. “Can ghosts go on boat rides too?”

I laughed as I opened the door for her. “I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Grandma about that.”

I didn’t know if it was right to encourage an eight year old to think about death and dying, much less sorcery, but this was Kate’s life. She wasn’t going to grow up to be a normal adult. But I hoped she’d grow up happy anyway.

And that she wasn’t the granddaughter of an evil sorcerer.

The last thought was uninvited. I tried to banish it as we drove back to Apple Betty’s Inn. It seemed like the more I tried not to think about it, the more it took hold of my mind. It couldn’t be true, and yet it was so weird and strange that I couldn’t imagine why Artemis would say it if it wasn’t.

Debbie’s minivan was in the drive as we got back. I sent Kate up to get washed as I searched my partner’s grim face. Bowman and Raina were watching TV.

“You didn’t find him.” I guessed.

“No. I looked everywhere, but I had to be back for the kids.”

Lucas was at the stove with Addie. They were making corn fritters—he had a thing for pancakes.

“I’m sorry,” Debbie called out to him. “I didn’t mean the things I said. You saved my life, Lucas. I’d be gone like those others if you hadn’t been there.”

He nodded but didn’t speak.

“What now?” I asked her.

“I’m sending the kids away to my parents. I went to the school this afternoon and let them know Bowman and Raina were taking a few extra days for summer break. It’s the only way I know to protect them, and this way I can look for Terry.”

“I can attempt a spell that could help you locate him,” Lucas volunteered. “He has an unusual vibration that you might be able to follow.”

“Thank you.” Debbie blinked the tears from her eyes and faced me again. “I went to see Abe again. You were right, Skye. He’s not going to do anything for Terry. He made it clear that I still belong to him, and he expects me to honor my commitment. He won’t release me.”

“I’m sorry. We’ve both known for a while what he wanted from you. I don’t know if what happened with Terry was on purpose, but—”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve decided that I’m going to find my husband and a way to get us both out of Abe’s grasp. I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to do it.”

I invited her to stay for supper, but she had to go home and pack for the kids. They were leaving that night. Debbie wasn’t willing to take any chance on Terry coming back.

“At least I know that he’s still inside that thing.” She smiled. “As long as there’s a chance I can get him back, I’m going to keep looking for him.”

“I don’t blame you. I think he still loves you. I could see it was driving him crazy not to help you. You’re lucky to have him.”

“I know. I’ll be back as soon as I can. If we get called on a pickup, can you cover for me?”

“Sure. Abe might be a little put out, but we know he’s not going to do anything about it. We’ve got him there.”

“Thanks.” She waved to Lucas and Addie. “I’ll see you later.”

I said goodbye to her, Bowman, and Raina. Like Kate, Debbie’s kids had a glimpse into an unexplained world that they shouldn’t have been able to see. It was going to impact them the rest of their lives. There was no way to take it back.

“The longer the man goes as the beast,” Lucas said when she was gone. “The harder it will be for him to recall ever being a man.”

“I’d do the same thing if it was Jacob.” I set the table for supper. “She has to try. How could she ever love someone else knowing he’s out there suffering?”

Addie did her ghost version of clearing her throat. “I don’t know. You fell into another man’s arms pretty quickly. It didn’t seem to bother
you
.”

“Jacob is dead,” I harshly reminded her. “There is nothing I can do for him. And I’m tired of you making cracks about Lucas and me all the time. It won’t be long, and Kate will notice. Cut it out.”

“This is still my house. I can say what I like.” She glanced at Lucas. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean any disrespect to you, and you’ve been a big help to all of us. But it’s just not right.”

She disappeared, and I sighed as I put the beans she’d been cooking into a bowl.

“It’s hard for her,” Lucas said as he put the giant mound of corn fritters on a platter.  “Her son is gone. She wants everyone to know her despair.”

“I think we all know it. There’s no reason for her to drive it into the ground.”

I had no sympathy for her that night as I was about to put my life, such as it was, on the line to avenge her son. I would have told her, but I knew she’d never believe a werewolf had killed Jacob. Unless I came back with its head on a platter, like the corn fritters, it was unlikely she would ever believe it.

I called Kate for supper. Lucas poured sweet tea into glasses filled with ice.

Kate put one corn fritter on her plate with a spoonful of beans.

“We’re never going to eat all these fritters,” I said as I took one for myself.

Lucas put at least a dozen on his plate. “I believe we can put a sizable dent in these fritters. Kate, eat another one. Let’s show your mother that one cannot make too many fritters.”

After supper, we put dozens of leftover fritters in the refrigerator while Kate did her homework at the kitchen table. Lucas and I washed and dried the dishes. Addie still hadn’t put in an appearance. I had to look for her upstairs so she could be with Kate when Lucas and I left to join Gerald and Tim.

I wasn’t surprised to find her in Jacob’s bedroom. “I have to go out. I need you to watch TV or something with Kate.”

“I know something is up,” she remarked without looking at me. “Lucas is going with you, isn’t he? Does it have something to do with Debbie’s husband?”

I frowned.

“I can’t help it. I hear everything in this house. It’s part of me.” She patted one of Jacob’s old stuffed animals. “You might want to consider that when you’re in bed with Lucas.”

I sat at the old desk. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re one of the few things I have left from when my life was normal. I don’t want to fight with you. Can’t we get along for Jacob’s sake if nothing else?”

“Why? We never did when he was alive.”

“I’m going out tonight to find his killer,” I confessed. “We both know he didn’t die in the crash, Addie. I have a chance to prove that he didn’t and do something about what killed him.”

“Do something like what? What do you think killed him?”

I took a deep breath. “A werewolf. We think a werewolf killed him and some other people in those woods.” I told her about Tim and Gerald. “We’re going to kill it.”

Her dark eyes for once looked happy. “Good. That would make me feel a lot better than all these newspaper clippings on the wall. I guess you’ll need Lucas’s magic.”

“Probably.”

“That makes sense.”

“Why do you believe me? I thought for sure you’d laugh me off.”

“I’m a ghost, Skye. You’re dead. My husband was dead for twenty years before he went away. Lucas does magic. It’s not too much of a stretch for me to believe there are werewolves and that one of them killed my son.”

I was completely amazed. I hadn’t given her enough credit.

She sniffed. “You know he’s a good man—Lucas. He’s not my son, mind you. But he’s a good man. You could do worse, I suppose.”

“Thanks, Addie.” I smiled as I got up to go.

“But keep it down in the bedroom. There’s a child here, for God’s sake.”

She disappeared before I could leave the room.

It would’ve been nice to have that ability as a zombie.

I looked around at all the evidence I’d collected for the past three years as I’d haphazardly looked into Jacob’s death. It had brought me to this moment where there was no way to go back. All I could do was plunge ahead and hope I was doing the right thing.

“I love you, Jacob,” I whispered to the empty room before I went downstairs.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Kate barely noticed when I left. She was so engrossed in a BBC show that was also a favorite of Addie’s. For all of my mother-in-law’s rough charm, she was a hopeless Anglophile.

It was just as well, I told myself as I walked out to the van. I’d rather Kate not worry about what I was doing. I could do that well enough for both of us.

Lucas was waiting outside. The full moon caught his profile as he stared up at it.

“Ready?” I asked. “Is there a special chant or something.”

“I am ready.” He turned to me. “I hope you’re as ready as you think.”

“I already saw one man change into an animal and try to kill people.” I hopped up on the seat. “What’s one more?”

He sat on the passenger side. “The difference is in the details. Terry was clumsy, slow, and weak compared to your adversary this evening. I hope the enchanted bullets and the spell on your gun hold. I also enchanted my crossbow and arrows.”

I started the van and pulled out of the drive. “Crossbow and arrows? Where did that come from?”

“I may not remember everything about my past, but I do remember that we hunted with a bow. A crossbow is best.”

“But where did you get it?”

“I bartered a few services with the local hunting store. The man assured me the arrows are strong enough to penetrate a large animal such as a bear.”

“You did magic for him?” I could only imagine
that
phone call if the magic didn’t work.

“Of course not. I clipped his hedges. They were unsightly. It was a good trade.”

“It sounds like a good trade. But if my bullets can’t kill it, how would an arrow?”

“Neither will work in that case. It’s not the weapon but the enchantment that will guide it to your foe. Without the enchantment, we are no doubt dead. I hope you explained that to your friends.”

“They know the risks.”

I kept my eyes on the ribbon of road ahead of us. In the twilight, the trees and houses took on a burnished hue with the sun setting behind them.

Lucas and I didn’t speak again until we reached the woods at the top of the highway. There was very little traffic. I saw a new Chevy pickup that I assumed had to be Tim’s. He had brought Gerald with him from Nashville. Both of them were waiting beside the vehicle.

We parked behind them. I nervously checked my Beretta and extra clips. This was it. If I was going to turn back, this was my last chance. I closed my eyes and said a prayer I remembered one of my foster parents teaching me when I was very young.
Angel of God, my guardian dear
. I got out of the van and joined my partners.

Lucas was already with them. He was enchanting an array of weapons that were in the back of the pickup. There was everything from small handguns to the assault rifle and an AK47 that had to belong to Tim. There was even a handheld missile launcher.

It made me smile, despite the circumstances, to see Lucas appear to be praying over them. I knew that wasn’t it, and I could see the faint green glow when he was finished. My gun and his crossbow were also tinged with green. His enchantment seemed to work, as far as that went. The question was—would it hold, and was it strong enough to kill the werewolf?

“You’re really losing it here, Mertz,” I whispered to myself a fair distance away from the enchantment. “You’re in the woods with three strangers getting ready to fight something that shouldn’t exist. It’s time to wake up, girl.”

I wished it was that easy.

Lucas turned to me when he’d finished spelling the weapons. Gerald and Tim nodded as they pulled out all the weapons, finding holsters and other places to store them for the fight.

“He’s out here somewhere,” Gerald said as though he could feel the beast.

“Let’s go get him,” Tim snarled. “It’s a good night for hunting.”

Lucas took up his quiver of arrows and slung it across his back. He held the crossbow in his arms as we advanced toward the trees.

In some ways, I agreed with him.

It would be nice to put this behind me. In other ways, my conscience was beginning to bother me. Would it help to kill this thing? Should I have worked harder at tracking it, as Lucas had suggested? I’d let myself be swept up with Gerald’s need for blood—my need too, if I was honest.

Lucas touched my arm. Nerves frayed, I jumped.

“The wolf is out here. I can smell it. It’s too late to worry about your choices, Skye. It’s important to stay focused on our quarry.”

“Quit reading my mind. I have enough trouble keeping my thoughts to myself.”

“I don’t have to use magic to know what you’re thinking. I know you quite well by now. Allow that a man can understand a woman without tricks or subterfuge.”

“I’ll allow for that. Just don’t broadcast it, okay?”

“Shut up back there you two,” Tim harshly barked at us. “Hunters don’t talk while they’re hunting.”

I could argue that fact but didn’t. He was right. Our supernatural prey probably already knew we were here. Gerald was in front of me. His death grip on the rifle told its own story. Everyone was afraid.

As the sky darkened and the stars came out, it only got worse.

Lucas stopped walking. He put his hand on my arm to stop me too. He didn’t speak, just stood there staring ahead. I couldn’t say anything to Gerald—he was out of reach. Tim was in front of him following what seemed like a trail through the trees.