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“We spent the last few years barely talking, and I’ve been fine.”
Laura grabbed Cassie’s arm and spun her around. They now stood toe to toe in the kitchen. “Fine? You think you’ve been fine? Look at what happened to you.”
“I’m well aware of what happened to me.”
“Then how can you say—”
“What else am I going to do?” Cassie’s voice was loud now. But she didn’t care. “Huh? Hide in my bedroom every day? Refuse to go out? Refuse to go to work? I can’t live my life that way.”
“I’m not asking you to.” Laura took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was much softer. “Cassie, I was worried about you, okay? I didn’t mean to cross any boundaries. Didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I didn’t want to accuse you of anything without evidence to back up my claims.”
Cassie had better control of her voice now, but there was still a bite. “So, what are your accusations?”
Laura rolled her eyes. “Poor choice of words. I’m not accusing you of anything. I know you didn’t go to work today. I worried about you the entire time. You don’t have to tell me where you went, but I would like to know why you felt like you had to lie to me. That hurt my feelings.”
She wasn’t sure if Laura had done it on purpose, but her sister’s words achieved the desired effect of washing away the rest of Cassie’s anger. A pang in her chest replaced it. “Believe it or not, I lied to you because I didn’t want you to worry about me.”
“Well, you failed on that account.”
Cassie’s laugh was a little watery. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m sorry, okay? I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings.”
“I know.” Laura leaned in and Cassie returned the hug. When they separated, Laura had a smirk on her face. “So, are you going to tell me where you were?”
“I thought you said I didn’t have to?”
“You don’t. But now I’m curious.”
Cassie leaned against the kitchen counter. Less than twelve hours earlier, she and her sister had been in this same room under quite different circumstances. There was no evidence of the shattered coffee mug or the strangled ghost, and yet Cassie wished she could rewind the clock. Dealing with the spirit world was much easier than dealing with her sister.
“I was at the police station downtown.”
“The police station?” Laura stood up a little straighter. “Why? Is everything okay? Are you in trouble?”
“See? This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“I’m allowed to worry. You don’t have a good track record in the Everything-Is-Fine category.”
“Everything is fine.” When Laura frowned, Cassie carried on. “Really, it is. I’m not in any kind of trouble, I promise. I have a friend who’s a detective. He wanted me to check out some details about a case he’s working on.”
“And you couldn’t tell me this?” Laura’s entire face lit up. “Wait, is this detective your secret lover? Do you have to keep your relationship quiet so the criminals he puts away won’t target you when they get out of jail?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you talking about?” Cassie couldn’t keep from laughing. “My life isn’t some lame romance novel.”
Laura shrugged her shoulders. “Doesn’t have to be a romance. Happened to Batman all the time.”
“David is not Batman.”
“You don’t know that. But you’re getting sloppy—you said his name.”
Cassie covered her face with her hand. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to laugh or groan. “His name is David Klein. He’s a detective, not Batman. He’s also twenty-some years older than me and married with kids. He’s got grandkids. He is not my secret lover.”
Laura deflated. “Okay, then I really don’t understand why you didn’t tell me.”
It was Cassie’s turn to shrug now. Did she have a suitable answer? “I didn’t want you to worry. And I didn’t want you to get involved in a murder case.”
“Who said I’d get involved?”
“I know you. You’re too curious for your own good. You like helping people. I don’t need you to stick your nose in this one.”
