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He grinned sultrily and his eyes sparkled in amusement. “You care to indulge him on our night of pleasure?”
No, I didn’t. But the mention of it brought memories back into my mind tenfold.
His eyes—the nibble on his lip—my body warmed at the thought of it. Enjoyment flashed across Kipp’s face. Evidently, he’d been searching for just this reaction. I scowled, which he laughed at, then looked back to Zach. “Hannah came to us a little while ago. She said she headed out on a walk and ended up back at the area where she’s buried. Then the memory of when she woke came back to her.”
Zach’s eyes widened. His lip did a good Elvis impression. “Woke up—as in—where she was buried?”
My laughter hung right at the edge of bursting, but I remained a good girl and refrained. “You got it.”
His gaze remained glued with mine, an expression so serious on his face I had trouble deciphering his thoughts. He blinked. “Explain this to me, because I’m having a real hard time getting a grasp on exactly what you’re saying to me here. Hannah, the ghost, went for a walk around town, stumbled across the place she’s buried, then came to you—to tell us where to find her body.”
“No…I mean yes.” I shrugged. “She probably doesn’t know exactly where she’s buried, but she can give us a roundabout area.”
Zach shook his head, apparently trying to focus his thoughts. “And just how would she all of a sudden remember something so important?”
“Because that’s what happens.” Really, I grew so tired of repeating myself. If this ever happened again, which I would see it never did, I would have to write things down so I could save my voice from straining itself and just have them read it themselves. There had to be an easier way than this nonsense.
When Zach’s expression didn’t waver from his need for answers, I added, “It’s just what they do. Sometimes when they find me, they know enough to get down to business. But with others, their memories aren’t so clear and are held back from them. And it’s those times I usually need to give them a little push in the right direction or ask questions to bring the memory back up to the surface so they can,” I waved my hand whimsically, “cross over. But as always, with every circumstance, that push triggers more insight. Apparently Hannah knew more than she thought and could have been drawn to that area since it’s the reason for her inability to move on. It’s probably what led her there. You know, action without thought.”
Zach shook his head again. “If you say so.” He appeared far beyond mystified. “So then, tell me, where is Hannah Reid buried?”
Finally, we were moving on. The good thing about Zach, and one I surely appreciated, was he caught on quick. He asked the right questions to either prove or disprove and whatever way he decided, he went with it. I liked that about him a lot. “Meeman–Shelby Forest.”
Zach sighed deep, annoyance flashing across his face, which caused it to darken considerably. “Of course she’s somewhere like a forest. Why should I have expected anything different?” He dropped his face into his hands.
What did I miss? Shouldn’t this all be good news? We had the location of Hannah’s body, which was a good thing, and her family would have answers, also a good thing. So what had him all huffy? “What’s with the grumpy face?”
He slowly raised his head and his gaze connected with mine. “Do you have any idea of how large the forest is?”
Of course I did. It’d been great hiking destination here in Memphis—a wonderful way to get far from the busy city. Anyone and everyone from around these parts had camped, hiked or canoed there. “Er…yeah, it’s pretty big. Isn’t that what makes it so great?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Doesn’t that answer your question?”
I glanced at Kipp, looking for a bit of clarity. “He doesn’t know Hannah has pinpointed the area her body is in. I think you confused him when you said she didn’t know exactly where he placed her body. He assumes we’ll have to search the entire forest.”
“Oh!” I finally got a clue. “You don’t need to worry about it, Hannah said she can point us in the right direction. She doesn’t know…” I raised my hands and quoted with my fingers, “the exact place, but she knows the area she’s located in. She’s pretty sure she can show us how to get there on a map.”
“You’re fucking kidding me?” Zach exclaimed.
His outburst startled me. “No, I’m not kidding—what’s so funny?”
Kipp laughed. He apparently understood what had Zach’s face lighting up as if it was Christmas morning.
“You’re honestly telling me Hannah has agreed to take us to the location of her corpse?”
He didn’t have to spell it out more than he had. I got the humor in this all too quick. “Um…yes.” Now thinking about it, it sure sounded right up there in crazy town. I got the reaction I expected, Zach burst out laughing.
Kipp followed and I quickly joined them.
The whole scenario showed itself, and for all the strain we’d been through these past days, it came out in a fit of laughter. To think that we actually found Hannah, informed the cops of my ability and the bar incident—now the implication we were about to go hunting for bones was so absurd, none of us could control our emotions.
My eyes filled with tears as my stomach tightened from the force of my laughter. We’d been so wrapped up in it all, been through so much together, the reality just hadn’t set in. Now it had.
Zach keeled over, busting a gut. “You talk to ghosts—they tell you about their deaths.” His voice sounded strangled through loud, deep gasps of breath. “That’s fucking insane.”
“I know,” I managed. “They never shut up, always wanting something—I’m dead, where do I go, who am I?” My breath released in loud pants, my tummy ached from my muscles contracting with each laugh and tears streamed down my face.
Zach gripped his stomach as his face turned the shade of a tomato. “Oh, hey—by the way—I know where my corpse is.”
