Page 42 of Grave Danger

Demmy shook his head. “No. The other one.”

Jugs looked back at Cody. “What’s the cemetery Ollie hiked from?”

“Hollow of Eternal Rest.”

Jugs snorted. “Doesn’t sound like the residents read the fine print, because some of them are not resting for eternity.”

“Yeah, exactly. So as Ollie and I were talking, or, rather, as Ollie was sassing back to me, an old woman came out of the woods after us.”

“What?” Jugs’s voice went up almost a full octave. “There’s more?”

“There’s at least two,” Cody said. “Ollie and I got away from her, and I drove him back to the cemetery to pick up his car, and we saw a second grave that looked like someone had dug up from underneath and crawled out.”

“Oh my Lord and taters,” Jugs said.

Cody looked at Demmy, and they shared a smile. He looked back at Jugs, cocked his head, and said, “Sorry. ‘Oh my Lord and taters’?”

Jugs waved his question off. “It’s something my Nana always says.” He stood up and walked in a circle as Enid Helen watched him closely from her bed in the corner. “Zombies are a whole different thing from the other shit you two have dealt with.”

“Tell me about it,” Cody said. “They’re dirty and diseased and relentless. All of it is gross.” He thought back on the smell coming off the mayor as he had leaned into the truck’s cab, dirty fingers reaching for him, and he shuddered. “So gross.”

“Who knows about this?” Jugs asked. “Who can I talk to about this?”

“Us,” Cody said.

“Oliver and Dave know,” Demmy added. “Oh, and word has gotten out to Amelia and Otis and Eileen.” He held up a hand and pulled his phone from his pocket. “I need to send Oliver a text and check in about Eileen.”

“I’m going to talk to Aggie about it.” Jugs turned to Cody. “I gotta talk to someone about it.”

Cody groaned. Aggie was Agatha Tisdale, who had been a veterinary student some years ago when she had hired him and Demmy to help with a suspected chupacabra that had turned out to be a drugged family dog. She was a vet now and had been a big help to them on the werewolf case where she and Jugs had met. She’d been bitten and turned shortly after the same thing had happened to Jugs. It must have been something in the bite of the werewolf or the glow of the full moon, but they’d been dating ever since. And, if he knew Aggie as well as he thought he did, Cody knew once she heard about this, she’d want to know more. And she would definitely have some opinions to share with them.

“Fine,” Cody said. “But for God’s sake, keep it between the two of you.”

“Yeah, of course.” He looked at his phone. “It’s lunch time. Any more jobs today?”

“Just one this afternoon,” Cody said, waving him toward the door. “Go see Aggie and dish about the undead. Just do it quietly. Don’t blab about it in her office or in a restaurant.”

“Yeah, of course. Mum’s the word.” Jugs bent to scoop up Enid Helen and was out the door with a distracted, “Bye,” over his shoulder.

“Think all of Harriettville will know by the time the lunch hour is over?” Demmy asked.

“Most definitely.”

Demmy sat in his chair and put his hands flat on the desk as he looked at Cody. “Everything seems to be limited to the Hollow of Eternal Rest cemetery.”

“For now.”

“Right. For now.” He drummed his fingers. “Too bad we can’t track down one of those zombies to present to Lucia.”

Cody smiled. “Like leave it in her house to surprise her when she gets home?”

“No, that’s terrible.” But Demmy chuckled at the dark humor of it. “I meant for proof or study or something.”

“Please don’t say you think we should call our usual crackpot paranormal specialist.”

“Oh, God no.”

“Thank you.”