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Sean leaned forward, cradling his Coke between his hands. “Yeah, the age of the dirt matters. You wouldn’t think so, but it does. New graves? Too chaotic. Old graveyard dirt is more powerful and focused. Anyway, I was wandering through the cemetery and I heard some noises. The sidewalk curved next to a really old cedar tree, and I heard some yelling—it was coming from around the tree. I sneaked up behind the cedar. I didn’t know what was going on, and it seemed smart to stay out of sight until I knew.”
“Good thinking.” I gave him a firm nod.
He looked at me and blushed. His eyes lingered over my breasts, and then he blushed again and looked away quickly. Yep. Hormones.
“Thanks. Well, I peeked around the tree trunk, and I saw…” Here, Sean paled again, the ease fading out of his expression. Frightened Rabbit was back.
“Go on, tell Detective Johnson what you told me.” Tracy reached out and put her hand on Sean’s arm. He didn’t shake her off this time.
“I saw something…bodies…they looked like they were from that old movie, Night of the Living Dead. There were several of them. And they had hold of this cop—I didn’t see how they caught him, but they were holding him down and they were…” His voice cracked, and tears formed in his eyes. He dashed them away angrily and rested his fists on the table.
“What were they doing, Sean? It’s okay to tell us.” I leaned across the table and put my hand over his.
“They were tearing him apart. Ripping into him like he was a piece of meat. He was still alive and they tore out his guts! I could hear him screaming.”>Chase was sitting at his desk, his leg in a splint propped up on a footstool. When we walked in, he jerked his head up. “About time. Where were you?”
I waved off his question. “Chill, Johnson. We do have other things to do besides hold your hand all the time. We’re here now, so let’s get on with this.” But I flashed him a smile to let him know I was just teasing.
“How’s your foot?” Delilah gave him a quick hug, and Chase kissed her on the cheek right about the moment Sharah walked in. I glanced at the elfin medic. Queen Asteria’s niece, Sharah was also Chase’s current girlfriend, and she was pregnant with his baby.
Her gaze darted from Chase to Delilah, then back to Chase again, and I knew what that look meant. But both Chase and Delilah were busy chatting and I wanted to smack them upside the head. Clueless, with a capital C.
“Chase, here’s the report on your officers.” Sharah’s voice was abrupt, and I caught the same hint that I heard with Iris—hormones running rampant and affecting her emotions.
I edged over to Delilah and gave her a sharp nod to move out of the way. She glanced at me, then over at Sharah, and as understanding filled her eyes, she quickly moved away from Chase and took a seat.
“Thanks.” He glanced over at Delilah, still blissfully unaware of his faux pas. “Broke the ankle. Shouldn’t take too long to heal, though. It was a clean fracture. Hurts like an SOB.” Chase, still blissfully unaware, picked up the reports. Sharah pulled away, scowling, and left the room. The minute the door closed, I swung around.
“Idiot. Can’t you see she was upset?” Hands on my hips, I glared at him, then turned to Delilah. “And you…you know better than that.”
“What? What did I do? What’s wrong now?” Yep. He had that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. Clueless.
“Use your brain. Sharah’s very pregnant, and very volatile. She comes in here, sees you and Delilah exchanging a kiss—albeit a friendly one—but given your history, I imagine she feels a little insecure. And being pregnant isn’t going to help. Instead of dropping what you were doing and greeting her like you really love her, you brushed her off with a peck on the cheek.”
“But we’re at work…”
“Dude. Pregnant woman who loves you? Work, schmerk. You could have at least given her a smile or something.”
Chase groaned, his expression shifting from clueless to oh-I-am-so-fucked. “Oh man, nobody warns you about this stuff. Why isn’t there a father-to-be manual that gives you the heads-up on everything you should know during your woman’s pregnancy?”
Delilah let out a sigh. “I am so stupid. I didn’t even think about what she might think. Camille’s right. You’d better apologize, but give her time to cool off. And some flowers wouldn’t hurt.” She rubbed her temples. “She might still think we have feelings for each other—”
“We do.” Chase stared at her. “And we always will, but they aren’t…I’m not…”
“I’m not in love with you, either,” Delilah said gently, smiling. “But Sharah’s the one who needs to know that.”
“Fine. Chase is going to buy flowers and eat crow, and you both are going to be careful about the touchy-feely stuff. Let’s get on with it. Lindsey Cartridge is on the way down here right now, Chase. She has some information that may be important in your investigation of this morning’s events.” I quickly outlined what she’d told me. “I promised her that the kid wouldn’t get in trouble.”
Chase let out an exasperated sigh. “You do know desecration of a grave is a misdemeanor?”
I stared at him. “Uh, yeah. I use graveyard dust, too, so you want to lock me up while you’re at it?”
After a long pause, Chase shrugged and flipped through the report. “Whatever. We’ve got more worries than a kid trying to steal some dirt. If he really did see the grave robbers and knows what happened to my officer, then I don’t care what he was doing…within reason.”
“What cemetery did they hit this time?”
“The Wedgewood. So, really, is there any way to find out if they drained off the souls or spirits or whatever spooks were hanging around there?” He frowned, pausing over the papers Sharah had given him. “Zombie attack probably killed this officer, too. His neck was broken and his arm was…gnawed on. Hell of a thing to tell his wife.”
“Can you tell her it was a dog?” Delilah asked.
