Page 97 of Cemetery Boys

“Jesus, Yads,” he sighed in exasperation with a grand roll of his eyes. “We’ve still got your cousin to find, right?”

Yadriel could only bob his head in a nod.

An amused grin tugged at the corner of Julian’s lips. “So let’s go,” he said, waving them on. “Before the rain wipes out any chance Tweedledee and Tweedledum got.”

Maritza gasped. “Don’t you dare call them that!”

Julian chuckled.

“You’re the dumb one,” she said, starting after Julian, Donatello and Michelangelo obediently following along.

Gratitude flooded Yadriel with warmth. He wanted to stop Julian and thank him, truly and genuinely, but he could picture his reaction in his head.

Can we not talk about feelings right now?

Instead, he clutched the shirt tightly to his chest and chased after Maritza and Julian as they continued to bicker down the street.

Belvedere Park was made up of two parts. The north side was the community park, which had a public pool, a skate park, and sports fields. The south side had a man-made lake. The 60 freeway cut through the middle. There was a pedestrian bridge that you could take over the freeway that connected the north to the south. Julian took them to the south end, where the pedestrian bridge bottomed out at a small parking lot.

“We were coming down that ramp,” Julian said, pointing to where the caged bridge ended. “Luca went up ahead, I heard him yell, saw some guy—”

“Are you sure it was a guy?” Maritza asked, scuffing the toe of her shoe against an empty beer can.

“Yes it was a guy,” Julian said, annoyed. “He was taller than me, and—”

“There’s plenty of women in the world over six feet—”

“Well, they were strong enough to murder me,” Julian shot back.

“I’m sure plenty of women are smart enough to overpower you,” Maritza said, casually examining her nails.

Julian spluttered, but Yadriel cut in before they got too off topic. Again.

“And that’s all you remember?” Yadriel asked, turning in a slow circle.

Julian shrugged. “That’s it.”

The pavement was cracked and overgrown with weeds. The barrier walls were covered in graffiti and did little to block the thunder of traffic on the other side. There were some trees and large, overgrown bushes. Litter was ensnared in tufts of dead grass: straws, take-out containers, and plenty of cigarette butts.

There weren’t any telltale signs of a struggle. Though, to be honest, Yadriel didn’t know what to look out for. Either way, there was nothing glaringly obvious, like blood or a murder weapon, let alone a dead body.

But that was why they had brought the dogs along. Hopefully, they could pick up on things the humans couldn’t, and lead them to something useful.

“Ready to give it a shot, boys?” Yadriel asked.

The sudden attention got them both wiggling with enthusiasm.

“Fingers crossed,” Maritza said, taking off their leashes.

Yadriel crouched down, holding Julian’s shirt out for them to get a good sniff. Their wet noses snuffled against the material, making sounds that were more pig than dog.

Michelangelo wandered off first, probably realizing there was nothing edible hidden between the folds.

Donatello, on the other hand, didn’t give up so easily.

Before Yadriel could realize what was happening, Donatello was choking on a sleeve. “No, don’t eat it!” He yanked on the shirt, and Donatello hacked it up. “Oh, Santa Muerte,” Yadriel groaned, nose wrinkling as he held it out of Donatello’s reach as the dog tried to jump up on his stubby legs.

Julian ran forward. “Man, that’s my favorite shirt!” he lamented.