1 Broken Hearted Ghoul (16 page)

“I would not without asking.” He tucked a loose strand of damp hair behind my ear. “First you accuse me of murder, and then you accuse me of snooping and invading your privacy.”

“You already admitted to the invasion part,” I reminded him.

I hated to admit it, but I felt lighter, happier, being with him. I enjoyed looking into his eyes, and wondering what it would be like to kiss him again.

“True. You must admit that you have
little
to hide in here.” He tapped on my forehead with a grin. “Here might be different.” He carefully touched my chest.

“Probably not. But I don’t care if you want to sift through my thoughts—unless it hurts or I’ll be brain dead or something after you’re done.”

“No assurances.” His eyes didn’t move from mine. “Only jesting. I would never hurt you.”

“Thanks.” I licked my lips, and put my hands in my lap. “What should I do?”

“Sit there quietly, please. Try not to look at me so lustfully. I sometimes feel as though I am only a large wedge of the chocolate they show on Lady Kate’s electronic box. How good could it be, after all?”

I licked my lips as I held his gaze. “
Really
good.”

 He faltered. I could feel his breath come faster. “On second thought, just close your eyes, please.”

I felt flushed with the lust I’d already assigned to him. It cut through a lot of the game, but I still wasn’t sure I was ready for it.

I sat there for a long time with my eyes closed as he lightly placed his hands on my head. I kept waiting for something to happen, but I couldn’t feel a thing. I finally peeked, and saw him sitting beside me with his eyes closed, forehead deeply furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What did you see?”

“Everything.” His voice was full of sorrow. “You were right. Everything I knew is gone. I am a man outside of time.”

Chapter Twenty

“Tell me,” I urged.

“Again, I can show you more easily.”

“Can I do that—see into your brain?”

“If I allow it.” He took my hands and put them on his head. “Close your eyes again, and I shall guide you.”

There was a moment when it felt as though I’d been pulled under a big wave at the beach. I wanted to struggle to the surface, and fought briefly to get away.

“Be at ease,” Lucas said. “I have you.”

I took a deep breath, and released it before I was submerged again in that terrible feeling of being dragged out to sea with no hope of ever reaching shore again. I forced myself to push off from the place where I was, and reach for the place that I was going.

Suddenly, the whole world opened up for me. It was another place—maybe another time. The stars in the amethyst sky were bigger and brighter. The air was sweeter. I took a deep breath. There seemed to be more oxygen that filled my lungs.

It wasn’t just the air and the stars, I realized, as I looked around myself.

There were small stone houses with thatched roofs, and a castle rising from dark hills. Brilliant green meadows swayed in the breeze, and rutted cart tracks went off in various directions.

It was early evening. The same small crescent moon, the one I had admired on my way to the tattoo shop, was on the rise.

“Either I’m at Disney World, or I’ve really lost it,” I muttered.

“This is my home.” Lucas’s voice permeated my thoughts. “This is where I was before I woke up in your city.”

“Where are we?”

“I am afraid I do not know.”

“If this is
real
—it looks like someplace from back in the Middle Ages.”

The illusion—or whatever it was—was gone. I was back in my bedroom, holding Lucas’s hands.

“I’d say you’re definitely out of time.” I shook my head. “How did you get here from there?”

“I do not possess that answer.” He got up, and walked around the room. “I can see my home, but I do not remember how I got here, or even where or when my home is.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure it will come back to you.”

“Perhaps.”

He looked lost and alone. I could feel those instincts to protect him rise up in me.

“You can stay here as long as you need to, Lucas. I really don’t think you’re a killer.”

He smiled. “That is comforting.”

“I’m not sure
what
you are, but you make great pancakes. You were right about Addie being stronger. I’m not sure I’ll thank you for that in the long run.”

“She loves you, you know. She is fearful. Death is not an easy thing to conquer.”

“Tell me about it!”

“You have conquered it beautifully. I am inspired by you, Skye.”

“Thanks.” I watched him closely. “You were right about Abe’s wife, Lucas. She started out as a zombie, and now she’s a ghoul, living off of the blood and guts of Abe’s people.”

He shook his head. “I am afraid I do not understand the terminology. Zombie?”

“Let me explain—”

***

“So what are you going to do now?”

We’d gone downstairs so I could check on Kate again. Her fever was gone for the moment. I’d made some chicken soup that turned out well. Lucas wasn’t that impressed by the soup, but he’d eaten almost an entire row of saltines.

We sat talking in the kitchen after Kate went to take a nap. Addie was practicing her new ‘powers’ that Lucas kept goading her into by trying to make banana bread.

“I confess to a certain amount of trepidation regarding how I got here as well as how to go home,” he admitted. “A spell or charm that can bring back my memory has eluded me thus far. I must hope that time is what is needed.”

“At least you found part of the answer.”

“True.” He changed the subject. “What are your thoughts regarding the woman who is killing your friends? Will you hunt her? What will you do if you find her?”

“I don’t know.” I told him what Abe had said about his lost love. “I don’t think he could kill her if she showed up.”

“Creating a ghoul would be a difficult thing to live with. They are relentless creatures. Does he expect you to locate it for him?”

“He hinted about having help from a sorcerer, or someone with magic.”

“He senses me.” Lucas nodded. “I am not surprised.”

“Don’t worry—I didn’t volunteer you. I think what I have will do the trick if I meet up with her.”

“Your weapons alone will not stop her,” he cautioned. “You will have to cut off her head, being certain it never meets the body again, before you burn her corpse.”

“Sounds messy.”

“And not easy to cut off a head!” Addie said as she kept trying to stir the bread mixture. “I was raised on a farm. Cutting off anything’s head is hard.”

“You are correct, Madame! A finely honed sword would do the trick.”

“I don’t have a sword.” I smirked at the idea. “Maybe I could find a big knife.”

 “Do not take this lightly, my lady. Your near-death state could become something more permanent before your twenty years are gone.”

I knew he was right. I wanted to keep my head down, and look the other way. I didn’t want to risk myself, and jeopardize Kate’s future, fighting Abe’s problem.

But it had become my problem now too. I was a strong believer in a good defense being a damn good offense. It was better for me to hunt her than for her to sneak up on me, as she had Martin.

“I know.” I toyed with the tablecloth. “I don’t want to do this. I feel like I don’t have any choice.”

“I may be able to assist,” Lucas volunteered.

“You might need help,” Addie agreed.

“I appreciate your offer.” I got to my feet as I heard Kate call my name. “But you should figure out what’s going on with you. I can handle the ghoul.”

I
sounded
convincing. I hoped I was as sure as I sounded.

Kate was watching reading her books and laughing when I got upstairs. She wanted to go to the mall, or at least call her friends. I took her temperature again. It was normal, but I still had to disappoint her as far as going out was concerned.

“If you’re better tomorrow, we’ll talk about it again.” My phone buzzed, and I checked it. Abe had called an emergency meeting at Deadly Ink.

“No fair! I
hate
when I have to be punished because I’m sick!” She pulled her blanket over her head.

“Me too.” I kissed her through the blanket. “I’ll see you later.”

I asked Addie to join me in the kitchen before I left. I told her about possibly seeing Jacob’s ghost. “Is that possible after all this time?”

“Why are you asking me? Being a ghost myself doesn’t make me an expert.”

“Have
you
seen him?”

“No. I would’ve told you if I had. I don’t think he’s hanging around watching over us, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“What kind of things did Jacob’s father do for Abe during his twenty years?”

She flickered. “I remember him looking into a few cases for him. That’s about all. He mostly did his job, and sometimes Abe called him. He said he needed a man like my husband. Once he offered the deal, we took it.”

“How was he . . . when it was time?” I wasn’t sure why I was asking. “When they came to get him. Was he ready to go?”

“No one is ever ready to go, I imagine,” she said.

“But you both knew it was coming. Did Jacob know?”

“No! We decided not to tell him. We made up a story about his father going to work, and he never came home. People looked for him. There was a grand funeral. Jacob accepted it. He knew his father was in a dangerous job. He was fine with not knowing.”

“And that’s why Jacob didn’t know how his father died.” I considered two generations in a family being involved with Abe. “We talked about it. Jacob said the police thought his father had drowned. His body was never found.”

“That’s right.”

I nodded. “I want to tell Kate. Not yet—she’s too young. But one day when she’s older. I don’t want her to be surprised.”

“That’s your choice.” Kate called her from upstairs. “What about the magic man?”

“I don’t know yet. I didn’t think he’d come back.”

“He’s been a help to me.” She acknowledged as she inspected the mudroom. “I think I could learn a lot if he stayed.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Abe had wanted me to bring Debbie to the meeting too. As I waited in the van for her (I always seemed to be waiting for Debbie), I thought about what Addie had told me.

Her story had made me curious as to how Abe chose people to offer twenty-year reprieves.

Maybe he’d wanted me to serve him because I’d been a cop at the time. Jacob’s father had been a deputy sheriff. If Abe had been able to save Jacob, he would’ve had another member of law enforcement in his pocket.

And yet, Abe wanted me to quit the police department. It didn’t make sense. There had to be another person in the Nashville Police who served him.

Maybe now would be a good time to talk with Abe about me going back to the job. I hadn’t really questioned it at the time when he’d asked me to leave it behind. With Martin gone, he might be eager to have me in that position again.

I realized that I could continue Martin’s investigation into Mary Gable from the inside. It might be the only way to find Mary. A ghoul lost in Nashville could be anywhere—coming out when she felt like it to claim another victim. I didn’t want her out there stalking me.

Debbie rushed breathlessly out of the cabin, and jumped up into the van. “Sorry I took so long. I had to get the kids some lunch.”

I muttered some general remark about being glad to see her. She’d answered the phone right away when I called her. That was good enough for me. She seemed even perkier than usual, if that was possible. The bright orange beret, probably handmade, accentuated it.

Debbie rattled on about how happy she and Terry were this morning. I let her talk as I drove into Nashville. This would be one part of becoming a police officer again that I wouldn’t miss. Sometimes partners were good—sometimes they were just a nuisance.

I really didn’t want to be her confidant if Abe was about to make a move on her. I knew I’d have to hear all about it. That was the way Debbie was. I wasn’t so much a sharing person.

“What is this all about today?” she asked me.

“I think it’s about the other zombies that have been killed.”

She shuddered. “Do you have to call them that? I don’t like thinking about you, or Terry, that way.”

“What way?” I glanced at her. “You mean dead?”

“Yes. And calling yourself a zombie seems so negative.”

“That’s what we are.” I chuckled. “We were dead. Now we’re working for Abe. I can’t think of another term for it.”

Lucas had translated zombie into sleepwalker. They’d had zombies where he was from. “Sorcerers captured their souls to do their bidding. I suppose that may seem a deal like what you do.”

“I know that’s what happened,” Debbie continued. “I just don’t like dwelling on it.” She took a deep breath, and pulled out a pretty pink tin from under her coat. “I brought some cookies along that I baked this morning. Would you like one?”

“No, thanks. Are they for the meeting?”

“Yes. I thought it would help things go along better, you know?”

“That’s what I thought.”

 Debbie’s chatter—and her recipe for the chocolate chunk cookies in the tin—went on until we rolled into a parking space outside the tattoo shop. I got out of the van gratefully. Living her life had to be like a soap opera. I wasn’t particularly interested.

We went into the shop together. Dex was directing everyone to the back room. I wondered if there had been new information about the killings or if Abe planned to tell everyone about Mary, and their relationship.

A few metal folding chairs were haphazardly thrown into one of the rooms that was normally used for storage. Abe was talking to some people I recognized as other zombie pickup drivers.

Debbie opened her cookie tin with all the happiness of Doris Day, and walked around offering her goodies to everyone.

“I’ll bet you know why we’re here.” Brandon ambled up to me and whispered.

“I figure either another zombie is gone, or Abe has decided to share. I’d feel better if he told everyone, and had some plan of action.”