Things She's Seen Page 16

  “Will do.”

  As Em climbed out of the van and followed him, another reason she might remember the house came to her. She caught up with Gar and snagged the back of his coat to slow him down and allow Devlin to go into the building ahead of them. Then she lowered her voice. “Should this place look familiar to me?”

  He nodded. “She wasn’t a vet back then, but yes. This is where your ID came from.” His voice turned wistful. “She’s done a lot for me over the years.”

  “That’s cool,” Em managed to say, despite a twinge of totally unjustified jealousy toward the unknown woman. She had no right to feel that way. She didn’t even know her. Still, it was hard to hear Gar talk fondly about someone who was everything she wasn’t: educated and smart, and a humanitarian as well. It made Em feel like a total lowlife, especially since Gar had known this woman back when Em was homeless, drunken jailbait.

  Em felt the press of Gar’s hand against her waist. He bent closer to her and whispered, “Can you still sense Saille around me? I’m feeling…almost too good. Sharp. Together.”

  The jealousy subsided, overtaken by worry. “Honestly? I’m not sure. Sometimes I faintly sense a thread of her attachment to you, then it’s gone. But hauntings don’t vanish until the ghost is at peace, and Saille definitely isn’t at peace. It’s strange.”

  Gar released her waist and opened the office door. He laughed nervously. “Feeling good shouldn’t be a bad thing.”

  “Let’s hope it isn’t,” Em said.

  The reception room was sunny, the floor tiled, and the walls decorated with children’s crayon drawings of birds and strange, wolfish dogs. A teenage girl in green scrubs sat behind the counter.

  “I’m looking for the man who just came in,” Devlin said to her. “White hair. Beard.”

  The girl got to her feet. “He’s waiting down the hall. I’ll take you to him.” As she came around the counter, her gaze went to Gar. “Your sister wanted me to apologize for her. She was called out on an emergency. She said I should give you whatever you want.”

  “We don’t need anything, except maybe shovels—two if you can spare them,” Gar said.

  “Sure. I’ll put a couple in your van.”

  Sister? Em glanced at the framed credentials that hung on the wall, some for a Dr. Charles Birdland, and others for Dr. Lea Remillard-Birdland. “This is your sister’s office?”

  Gar slapped his forehead. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I meant to say something. Yeah, she and her husband are both vets. My family’s super proud of them and everything they do for the pack.”

  “That’s understandable. I wish I could have met her.”

  “Me too,” he said.

  As the girl led them down a hallway with closed doors on both sides, Em smiled to herself, feeling as unjustifiably relieved as her jealousy had felt earlier. Gar was not only amazing: his family was too.

  The girl steered them into an examination room at the end of the hall. Most of the space was taken up by a steel-topped exam table. There was a metal chair and a window with magazines on the ledge. Zeus stood by the window. Between the beret that topped his styled white hair, his trimmed beard, and his expensive leather jacket, he looked like he’d stepped out of an advertisement for top-shelf cognac. Beside him, a sleek Doberman sat statue-still, the perfect companion. Zeus nodded a brisk greeting.

  “Would you like coffees, or something else to drink?” the girl asked.

  “We’re fine.” Gar shooed her out. He shut the door, then turned to face everyone. “I believe we can skip the introductions?”

  Zeus dipped his head. “I know who you are. And, of course, I’m quite familiar with everyone else. Let’s get down to business. What exactly is going on?”

  Devlin gave him a rundown of what had happened at the Council headquarters, about what Em had seen while possessed, and Saille haunting Gar. Basically everything Zeus hadn’t known already, plus their current plans.

  Em tucked her hands into her pockets and stepped behind everyone else, listening and glancing at the dog while Devlin went on. Despite his statue-like pose, the dog’s ears twitched, and his eyes widened and narrowed as if he had something important on his mind. He whined, and Em wondered if he was as uncomfortable about the cell-like feeling of the room and lack of a second exit as she was.

  Zeus took a firmer grip on the dog’s collar. “If I’m hearing you correctly,” he said to Devlin, “you intend to risk being caught grave robbing so someone—I assume me—can take Saille’s body to the Council and make sure a more thorough exam is done, one that includes toxicology tests.” The dog fixed his gaze on Gar, his whine becoming an insistent whimper. Zeus gave his collar a jerk. “To reiterate what I’ve said in the past, disbanding the coven before the Council orders it is the most sensible and financially wise route for everyone involved. It’s certainly wiser than this hairbrained, dangerous scheme.”

  “You’re wrong.” Devlin thumped his fist on the exam table. “It’s time to prove the Circle’s innocence—and yours—once and for all.”

  Gar squared his shoulders. “I’m not going to lie and say I don’t have concerns about the incident with Merlin’s Shade. But I agree with Devlin about exhuming Saille.”

  Zeus chuckled. “You would. I remember your mother, Gar.”

  “What exactly do you remember?” Heated sarcasm hardened Gar’s voice. But Em didn’t sense a rise in Saille’s presence. His anger came only from the need to defend someone he loved deeply. “Are you saying there’s something wrong with my mother because she was young and in love? Or is it because she married a loup-garou?”

  Sweat beaded on Zeus’s temples. “Your mother certainly didn’t feel any allegiance to Saille.”

  “That doesn’t mean she didn’t love her.” Gar narrowed his eyes on Zeus, his voice growling. “What about you, was Saille good to you? Would she have let your murder go uninvestigated?”

  Zeus took his hand off his dog’s collar to dab the sweat away. The dog bolted to Gar and hunkered down submissively, tail flailing in utter joy. Gar crouched, let the dog sniff his palm, and sent him back to Zeus with a flick of his fingers.

  “Traitor,” Zeus harrumphed, and glared down at the dog. His attention went back to Gar. He shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. We—all of us—could stand to be more like Saille, and Athena, for that matter. I still don’t think this is the wisest route.”

  “But you’re going to help us?” Devlin asked.

  Em crept forward a step and crossed her fingers in hopes that Zeus would agree.

  Zeus took off his beret and scrunched it between his hands. Then he put it back on and nodded. “Against my better judgment.”

  Relief went through Em and she let out a long breath.

  Devlin clasped Zeus’s hand in a firm, double-handed shake. “You won’t regret this.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Zeus grumbled.

  Gar held out his hand. “We really do appreciate this.”

  Zeus got out his phone and brought up a map to show them not only which cemetery Saille was buried in, but also exactly where her grave was located. He also reassured them that her casket had been placed directly in the earth, not in a concrete burial vault as was now required by law.

  “I won’t play any part in the retrieval,” Zeus said. “But if you meet me back here tomorrow at dawn, I’ll see to it that her body gets to the Council and is examined properly.” His nose crinkled as he scanned Devlin from head to toe. “I have one more suggestion. You—all of you—are a mess. Unless you want to draw attention to yourselves, I suggest you find some clean clothes. You smell as rank as a butcher shop.”

  Em cringed. She glanced at her jeans, and an intense awareness of the blood spray hidden by their dark color came over her. Zeus was right.

  She stepped up next to Gar. “I’ve got a suggestion about that.” They all turned to look at he
r, as if surprised to hear her speak up. “There’s a Goodwill just north of Albany.”

  No sooner had the suggestion left her mouth than Em wished she could reel it back in.

  Sure, she knew firsthand the Goodwill shop was nice, and that she’d be able to buy everything she needed with the cash in her pocket. But Chloe and Devlin didn’t wear clothes like that. Zeus certainly didn’t either. The dog’s collar probably cost more than her entire wardrobe.

  “That’s a great idea.” Devlin sounded thrilled. “I’ve been trying not to complain, but I feel disgusting. Not to mention that I’d glow like a lava lamp if the police spritzed me with luminol.”

  Gar slung his arm over her shoulder and she leaned against him, relieved that Devlin liked her idea and glad that everything was going to be okay.

  But then a sinking feeling dropped into her stomach. Despite how much she wanted to pretend everything was fine, she couldn’t believe it. If anything, the situation was about to get worse—and a lot more dangerous.

  Chapter 21

  I buy a packaged sandwich and climb three flights of stairs to my room.

  The carpet smells of vomit. Water trickles from the shower.

  But there is a bolt on the door and I’m only there for one night.

  I tell myself a bare mattress is cleaner than sheets a stranger slept on.

  —Journal of Emily Adams

  Memory. Late Winter. Albany, New York. 21 years old.

  Dozens of ghosts with sheets for bodies and skeleton-mask faces hung from the ceiling of the Goodwill store. Giant spiderwebs spanned bins of trick-or-treat buckets and racks of secondhand costumes. Mothers and kids and teenagers crowded every aisle. Long lines snaked from the checkout counters. Em was surprised to find the place so packed with shoppers. After all, Halloween was still two weeks away.

  As she followed Chloe deeper into the store, her sixth sense alerted her. Sadness. Loneliness. The emotions—and whispers—of real, not pretend, ghosts filled her head, and a lot more of them than she’d experienced the last time she was in the store.

  She tucked her hands in her pockets, guilt tumbling inside her as her desire to help the spirits find peace collided with the more vital need to get in and out without raising attention. She should have expected this. It wasn’t unusual for ghosts to haunt items that ended up in thrift stores, or for them to become more active when they sensed her presence.

  Gar nudged her in the ribs. “Get what you need.” He shoved a wad of cash at her. “I’m going to wait in the van.”

  “But—” She started to argue, then noticed he’d snugged his cap on extra low, its brim hiding his eyes and concealing any emotion they might betray. That—along with the sweaty dampness of the cash—clued her into what was going on. Gar might have held his own in front of the Council, but a shopping frenzy was way outside his comfort zone. “What size do you wear?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I didn’t get…dirty.” His gaze went to a mob of teenage girls tearing through a case of junk jewelry. “Good luck.”

  “I’m out of here too.” Devlin turned to follow Gar.

  “Okay, I guess,” Chloe said, clearly surprised he was leaving. “What do you want me to get for you?”

  “A light coat or hoodie. Nothing fancy, just hurry. All right?”

  Chloe waved him off. “Sure. Fastest shopping trip ever.”

  Em bit her bottom lip, holding back a smile. Then she glanced at the bundle of cash in her hand. Twenties. Fifties. Generous to a fault, like Johnny had been.

  It didn’t take much time to find a quilted jacket for Devlin. After that, Em led the way to the women’s section. Other than the larger-than-usual crowd, the place hadn’t changed since she visited with people from the halfway house.

  As they started to make their way along a sweater rack, an uneasy feeling came over Em. She went up on her tiptoes and looked over the racks, scanning the crowd for someone familiar who her senses might have picked up on. Maybe her therapist, or someone else from the halfway house. Or, worse yet, someone from the Council, like the asshole medium with the pasty-clam complexion.

  Em hugged herself. She couldn’t be picking up on her aunt or mother’s presence, could she?

  She shook her head, answering her own question with a resounding no. If they were anywhere, they were headed to Burlington to look for her. Besides, now that she had taken more time to focus on the sensation, she realized it wasn’t from the proximity of a familiar person. It wasn’t about ghosts or her turning her back on them, either. This was the same creeping sense of uneasiness that she’d felt in the van earlier—a warning from her subconscious that she was missing, or forgetting, something important.

  “This would look great on you.” Chloe held up a charcoal-gray cable-knit sweater against Em’s chest as if checking for size. “Comfy, and the perfect color for…nighttime activities.”

  “Yeah. Perfect,” Em said, her thoughts still focused on remembering the something that refused to come to her. What was it?

  Chloe frowned. “Something bothering you?”

  “I’ve got this weird feeling something’s wrong.” She hushed her voice even more. “Do you sense anything? Magic or whatever?”

  “No. But we have every reason to be worried.” Chloe turned back to the rack of sweaters. “Let me just grab a bunch of things really fast. We’ll try them on, then get out of here.”

  Chloe snagged a few more sweaters. Then she found an empty shopping cart, wheeled it to the jeans, and started tossing pants into it. Em hung back, letting her do it all. This wasn’t a pleasure visit, and Chloe was the shopping expert.

  In less than five minutes, they were in a dressing room. In another two, they’d made their choices. Em gathered up her things and was about to leave when Chloe stopped her. “Wait a minute. I know we’re in a hurry, but there’s something I have to talk to you about—while we’re alone.”

  Chloe’s serious expression stopped Em in her tracks. “Sure. Anything. Don’t worry, I can keep a secret.”

  Chloe fiddled with her charm bracelet. “It’s not exactly a secret. If anything, that’s kind of the point. You and Gar—are you sure getting involved with him is smart? You barely know him.”

  Heat rushed up Em’s chest and neck, flooding her face. Anger sharpened her voice. “You haven’t known Devlin much longer, and you two are like an old married couple.”

  “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

  Em turned her back on Chloe. She clenched her teeth so hard her jaw hurt. “There’s nothing to worry about. Gar and me, we just connected. Neither of us expect it to go anywhere.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Em.” Chloe’s tone gentled. “Your magic makes little sparking noises whenever he’s around you. I can see it in the way you look at him, too.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “The sex, the being with someone, it means a lot to you.”

  “Maybe. But I’m not naive, or stupid.” She longed to tell Chloe more about her and Gar’s past, about Johnny and how much he’d meant to her, but she’d promised to keep his alter ego a secret.

  “You’re setting yourself up for a heartache. You haven’t been sober that long. You moved to a strange town, then the stuff with Merlin’s Shade happened. Gar arrived—”

  Em swung back around, glaring at Chloe. “If you’re trying to say that Gar was horny and I was an easy mark, it’s not that. He’s a nice guy. If he has any fault, it’s his stubborn loyalty to the Council. I wish as much as you that he’d totally believe us about Athena’s death and Merlin’s Shade, that he’d reject what the Council told him about what happened. But he’s on our side now, because as much as he believes in loyalty, he believes in justice more.”

  Chloe smirked. “Now you’re being honest.”

  Em realized she’d been baited and snapped her mouth shut before anything else could slip out.

  “I’m not bla
ming you for getting involved with him. I’ll admit, I’m starting to like him myself. But we can’t forget that even before the Council sent him to investigate, he had it out for the Circle because of his family’s love for Saille.”

  The tension drained from Em’s muscles. She loosened her grip on the clothes and nodded, the truth behind Chloe’s words twisting in her chest. “Everything comes down to Saille, doesn’t it? If we can prove Rhianna poisoned her, or if she was murdered at all.”

  “It seems so.” Chloe smiled. “Just remember, you can count on me. No matter which way things turn out.”

  “Thanks,” Em said, and she meant it.

  Chloe opened the dressing room door, and they tossed the clothes they wanted into the shopping cart and started for the checkout. But they only made it a few yards before Em’s sixth sense began to tug at her.

  Please. Can’t you hear me? See me? a ghostly voice whispered.

  Em blocked out the voice and stared straight ahead as they wheeled the cart toward the front of the store. Without taking time to locate and talk to the ghost, there was no way to tell what was going on, other than it was trapped in the Goodwill store. She didn’t have time for that right now, and it wasn’t like she was ignoring all the spirits who reached out to her. They were on a mission to help Saille, after all.

  Chloe stationed the cart at the end of the shortest checkout line, behind a woman with a mound of clothes the size of a Volkswagen. Em eyed that stack, then their own. This was going to take forever.

  Em’s neck and scalp prickled, her sixth sense nagging at her once more.

  Please. Hear me. See me.

  Chloe elbowed Em, then lifted her chin, indicating the store’s front windows. Beyond the glass, in the parking lot, Devlin and Gar were climbing into the van with what looked like coffees and bags of fast food.

  “That’s good,” Em said, unable to come up with anything more astute thanks to the ghost’s voice pulling at her heart and body.

  Please. Can you hear me? Lonely. Lonely.

  “I wonder what they bought? I’m starving.” Chloe’s gaze flitted from the window to the exit door, like she was contemplating taking off.