1 Broken Hearted Ghoul (18 page)

“You can’t really face the idea of her dying, can you?”

“
Skye
.”

It was a warning. He didn’t want to know what I had to say on the subject.

Too bad. This involved me too. “You have to let her go. Remember you told me that about Jacob?”

“I do.”

“You couldn’t kill her the other times either, Abe. She’s getting worse. You’re not sure you can protect yourself anymore. You can’t protect us either.” I paused, and stared at him. “You promised me twenty years with my daughter. I’m not losing that to a broken-hearted ghoul.”

Time passed. Minutes ticked away. He didn’t move, didn’t speak—just stared at a place above my head.

I waited for an outburst of anger. I knew giving orders to kill Mary was like stabbing him in the heart. I knew how I’d feel. Would he be able to move forward with the plan, knowing it would end with Mary’s death?

Trying not to look like I was doing it, I searched his dark face for any sign of what he was thinking. He didn’t give much away. His lips seemed a little thin and taut to me. His forehead was slightly puckered.

He finally nodded. “I don’t want you to re-join the police force. But I have someone else who can help you continue what you and Martin began.”

He jotted down a name on a piece of gray paper. “I’m sorry about Martin’s loss. He was a good man.”

“Thanks.” I took the paper from him, trying not to feel let down about not rejoining the police department. “And I’m sorry it has to come to this with you and Mary. I know it has to be hard for you.”

“You’ll never know how hard.” He smiled. “Loving someone for fifty years makes it difficult to part with them. Loving someone for more than two-hundred years is impossible. She knows me in ways no one will ever know me again. I would give anything if I could make this outcome different than it must be.”

“Are you sure you don’t want someone to call you when it happens—when Mary dies?”

“No one will have to call me. I will feel whatever happens to her.” He put his hand on his chest. “And I will be diminished by it.”

“One more thing. The black greasy film at the kill sites. Do you know what it is?”

“Yes. Ghouls secrete a powerful pheromone that sedates their prey.”

“That was why Martin didn’t fight back.”

“Most likely.”

I started to leave him with his own hard choices, but he called me back.

“Does Debbie speak of me when you’re working?”

That kind of messed with my brain. I was so busy worrying about the ghoul that I’d forgotten about him and Debbie. “She does. She thinks you’re a wonderful man.”

Was that too much?

He sighed. “I approached her today for the first time. I wasn’t sure of her response.”

“I’m sure she was . . . surprised . . . since she’s married.”

“I’m sure you’re right.” He looked up suddenly into my face. “Will you tell me if she was—
repulsed
—by me? I would like to know.”

“Sure.” I smiled a little. “If there’s nothing more, we’re headed home.”

“Have a safe journey.”

I left Abe’s office while I still could. Dex and Rocky were snickering as I walked by them to the door, like always.

Debbie was in the van, crying. Great, heaving sobs shook her.

I looked into her blotchy face, and couldn’t help myself. It was like watching Kate cry. I put my arms around her, and held her tight.

Chapter Twenty-three

“H-he n-never s-said,” she sobbed. “I-I never guessed. W-why would he think I would—?”

“What did he do?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t
do
anything. He told me he had a high regard for me, and that he would like to know me better. He asked me out to d-dinner . . . and a n-night at his cabin in the mountains.”

“I didn’t even know he had a cabin in the mountains.”

“
Skye!
He wants me to have an affair with him!”

I re-focused. Truthfully, I had expected much worse. I guess he’d been a gentleman about it. I don’t know why I’d expected him to act any differently than he usually did. Most people didn’t.

I thought about what Lucas had said about me accusing him of things he hadn’t done. I couldn’t help it. I had suspicious nature.

“I’m sorry. You told him no?”

“Of
course
!” From the look on her face, she was shocked that I’d even asked. “I’m married. I have two children. Why do men keep hitting on me?”

A smile came over my face. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“Please don’t tell me that I’m so beautiful and sexy that men can’t help themselves. It’s not true.” She sniffed. “I must be putting out some kind of vibe that makes men think I’m looking for it.”

I turned her to face me. “Don’t you dare blame yourself! You’re a nice person. You try to help everyone. You didn’t do anything wrong, Debbie. It was all them.”

“You don’t think Abe would hurt Terry because I said no, do you?”

“No.”
At least I hoped he wouldn’t. How did I know?

I thought again about Terry, and what I’d seen. Was any part of that Abe’s fault? Now that I knew that zombies became ghouls when they didn’t come back at the right time, I understood that situation better. What else was out there?

“Well, maybe it’s for the best that we’ve gotten that out of the way then.” She straightened her shoulders, and wiped away her tears.

“I have to head over to the police department. Want to come? It could take your mind off of things.”

“Sure. Thanks. Why are you going there? I thought Abe didn’t want the police involved.”

I started the engine, and pulled away from the tattoo shop as I explained to her that Abe didn’t mind using the police—as long as it was on his terms.

I told myself that I didn’t care as long as there was a rational way to hunt for Mary. It wasn’t true. Disappointment about no going back to my old job was raw in my throat.

Debbie was back to her usual, happy self as we drove into the heart of the city. She didn’t say another word about Abe, or his designs on her. We talked about Mary, and what could happen if she wasn’t found.

“I’m glad you understand all of this police stuff.” She smiled. “I’d be lost working that kind of job.”

“Yeah? What would you like to do, if you weren’t picking up zombies?”

She shrugged. “I always wanted to be an artist. I try to find time for it whenever I can. If I could do anything, I’d go to art classes and paint portraits and landscapes.”

“You could do that in your spare time—just like you told Brandon.”

She waved her hand, dismissing the idea. “Maybe later. Right now, it’s all I can do to keep up with Terry and the kids, and this job. We’ll see.”

We drove to the downtown office of the police department. I hoped Abe’s zombie cop was as good as Martin.

I had to honor his command not to rejoin the police, but I chafed at it. I was ready to go back. It felt like it would make me feel sane again. I needed some normalcy in my life. Maybe not people shooting at me, but officers dedicated to the same purpose—keeping people safe.

Debbie and I walked into the police station. It was like walking back in time. I knew the sergeant at the desk. He’d been a good friend of mine and Jacob’s. He had rookies flying around, getting us coffee and donuts in record time.

“Coming back to work finally?” he asked with a broad grin.

“I wish, but not yet.”

“What’s stopping you?”

I shrugged. “I just need a little more time.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “Jacob was a good man. You’re entitled to a little grief. Come back soon, though, Skye. I’d like to see you on the job again.”

“Thanks.” A lump rose in my throat at his words. Maudlin, I was getting maudlin.

I missed this other family. Besides Addie, Kate, and Jacob, they were the only family I’d ever known. This place had been my home. It was the only place I really felt safe before Jacob and I were married.

Detective Lee Kerns was a leathery-faced man whose collar was a little tight at his muscular throat. He wore his brown hair shaved down close to his scalp, and his warm blue eyes were sympathetic and friendly.

“It’s good to finally meet you, Skye,” he said. “Abe talks about you all the time.”

“Really.” That surprised me. He’d never mentioned Lee to me until today. “Don’t believe any of it. I’m better than he thinks.”

“That might be hard since he talks about how
good
you are.”

I sipped my coffee. “I appreciate that, Lee. What have you got for me about Mary Gable?”

We went back to his desk. Debbie and I sat on opposite sides of the small, over-stacked space. He was surrounded by boxes of files. I remembered that feeling of being overwhelmed sometimes. I never thought I’d miss it.

“There’s not a lot that the sheriff’s office could find for me. Deputy Cummings didn’t leave a lot behind.” He handed me a few files. “He was looking into this Mary Gable, building a profile on her. Do you know why?”

Since he hadn’t been at the meeting earlier, I explained what I knew.

“Wow. That’s bad. No wonder Abe wants this to have a high priority.”

I searched through the files. He was right. There wasn’t much there. Someone named Mary Gable had worked a few temp jobs around the city. It was mostly manufacturing stuff—at night.

Martin had done a remarkable job of tracing her to Nashville from New Orleans. His notes looked more like someone searching for their ancestors since he’d tracked her from the early 1900s.

“I’m glad she has a human persona. If she’s working, and out there in the world, we can find her. Do you have an address for her?”

He nodded. “We could go by and take a look. Maybe she’ll be there, and we could get this over with. I’m sure Abe would be
really
grateful.”

Maybe I hadn’t emphasized the point about Mary being the love of Abe’s life strongly enough.

“We aren’t supposed to engage,” I reminded him. “And we have to call Jasper.”

“This ever bother you, Skye?” he whispered, leaning closer. “All this hocus pocus—I’ll take my Glock anytime over magic, and all that other junk.”

“Yeah. Me too,” I agreed. “But I don’t want my heart ripped out either. I like the idea of going to pay her a visit, but we have to hang back if she’s there.”

“You got it.” He glanced at Debbie. “Is
she
coming too?”

“Yes. She’ll probably wait in the van.” I looked her way, and she nodded.

We waited until Lee got his things together. Debbie wondered why we were taking it on ourselves to try to find Mary.

“Why not wait for her to come to you, like Abe said?” She rubbed her arms nervously.

“Because she won’t know we’re looking for her. This way, we find her, and we have the upper hand. The other way, we’re out working, and she jumps us when we’re not suspecting it. Make sense?”

“I suppose.”

We followed Lee back downstairs. I was driving too, and following him in his unmarked car. I felt safer with my own vehicle.

I didn’t have a sword, or any other kind of large blade to cut off Mary’s head. That bothered me. I hoped Jasper would furnish that when we called him. There were too many variables in Abe’s plan, too many things that could go wrong. I didn’t like it.

I hoped we’d find Mary. At least we’d have the element of surprise. Most really bad guys expected you to be too afraid to come after them. It made it easy for them to lie in wait for you. I hoped that would be the case.

If not, I hoped Lee’s Glock—and my Beretta—worked on ghouls long enough for us to get away.

Chapter Twenty-four

We approached the last known address for Mary Gable with caution. I parked the van in the alley behind the red brick apartment building while Lee parked his car in front. We’d agreed to come in through different entrances, making sure she was there before we called Jasper.

It was always terrifying to try to box in a suspect known to be armed and dangerous. There was so much that could go wrong. Along with those feelings of fear came the rush of adrenalin, and the knowledge that you might not walk out of the situation alive.

This was no different, except that we knew Mary couldn’t be killed with a gun. There was no backup, no vests that could protect us from her if she found us first. The drive to protect both ourselves and others had made us come up with the plan. We had to see it through.

“Maybe I should go too,” Debbie suggested as I got out of the van.

“I think you should stay here. Get ready to text Abe and Jasper in case we need them. You’ve seen her face. If you see her come out of the building, duck down. If I don’t come out, you have to take care of making sure she won’t kill anyone else.”

“You think that’s possible?” Her brown eyes were enormous in her face. “Skye, maybe this isn’t worth it.”

“I think we’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Just stay down, keep a sharp lookout, and do your part. Okay?”

“Okay.” She reached out and hugged me. “I’ll do it. Be careful.”

“Thanks.”

Lee texted me that he was in position in front. I texted back. I smiled at Debbie and then walked into the building.

This was a family place. Bikes, skates, and other sports equipment littered the foyer. It wasn’t a great neighborhood, but there was a feeling of the place mattering to people. It was clean, and smelled like room deodorizer. I passed a few residents who smiled and nodded as they were leaving.

They had no idea that they were harboring a deadly creature in their midst. I hoped they never found out.

Lee texted me that he was headed up to the second floor. NO SIGN OF MARY’S NAME ON THE MAILBOX BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN SHE’S NOT HERE
.

I agreed and then put my phone in my pocket. I didn’t want to be distracted by texting. I might miss an opportunity to save my own life.

The Beretta was in my hand as I walked up the stairs to join Lee. My heart was pounding. I knew there was no second chance this time if I died.

Nothing short of my own real death would bring me out to risk so much. I didn’t care about the rest of it. I only wanted to keep Kate safe and happy. But I knew I had no choice. I couldn’t keep my head down on this and wait for it to pass.