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“Lucien?” I ventured, hating how shaky my voice sounded.There’s no reason to be afraid,I told myself.Ghosts can scare you, but they can’t hurt you.
At least, that was the standard party line when it came to the spirits of the departed.
No response. The air seemed heavier than it should be, laden with a memory of the violence that had happened in the secluded little spot.
The pendulum hung straight down from my hand, unmoving. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it? If there was any evil spirit activity nearby, wouldn’t it have been swinging wildly, telling me to get the hell out of there?
Maybe…or maybe not. I’d never been in this particular situation before…and neither had my pendulum.
Better to try again. “Lucien?” I asked.
A breeze fluttered by my cheek. It could have been just a bit of late afternoon wind, nothing supernatural at all.
Or maybe not.
The wind picked up, tugging at my loose hair. A few dark strands blew past my cheek, and I pushed them back with the hand that wasn’t holding the pendulum.
The breeze seemed to be moving toward the water. Was there something in the river itself, something Calvin’s team had overlooked?
I guessed I needed to find out.
The ground got rockier again at the water’s edge. Gingerly, I made my way over the river stones, moving a few feet away from the bank. My boots were halfway submerged, but I’d splurged for the waterproof versions and had to hope they’d live up to their manufacturer’s promises.
Wait — was that a glint of something metallic wedged down between the rocks?
I leaned down, squinting as I tried to make out the shape of the object between the mossy stones. Closer…closer….
“Hey!” came a man’s voice, and I startled.
I caught a quick glimpse of Calvin Standingbear striding toward the water, brows drawn together in annoyance. And that was the only glimpse I got, because as soon as I glanced back at him, I promptly lost my precarious balance and went ass over teakettle into the water.
My day just kept getting better and better.
8
Tea and Sympathy
“Just what thehell did you think you were doing?” Calvin asked.
At least he’d waited until I staggered out of the water, jeans dripping, before he started the interrogation.
“Looking around,” I replied. I’d already figured there wasn’t much point in trying to cover up what I’d been doing, so I thought it was better to tell the truth. “I was hoping I could pick up on any vibes that might help point me toward Lucien’s murderer.”
“‘Vibes,’” Calvin repeated, expression still irritated. Then his eyes narrowed slightly. “How did you know this was the place where he was killed?”
Despite everything — and despite my waterlogged clothes and boots — I couldn’t quite hold back an inner rush of triumph. So, my pendulum had led me to the right spot. “My pendulum,” I answered.
That reply didn’t seem to have mollified him. “Your what?” he asked.
I reached into my damp pocket and pulled out the object in question. Thank the Goddess I’d stowed it there before venturing out onto those precarious stones, or I might have lost it when I got dunked. Whether my phone and key fob had survived their immersion was something I’d have to wait to discover. “It’s generally used for divination,” I explained. “But I thought it might help as a guide for other things…and it looks like I was right.”
Calvin appeared nonplussed. “You shouldn’t be poking around out here. There are snakes and bobcats and coyotes. Bears and mountain lions sometimes, too.”
“I thought the snakes hadn’t started to wake up yet,” I said innocently. “I read somewhere that it’s still too cold overnight for them.”
“That still leaves the bears and the bobcats and the coyotes…and the mountain lions. And that’s leaving out contaminating a crime scene.”
“Was I, though?” I asked. I didn’t know whether I liked this gruff, official version of him, although I suppose he had every right to be annoyed with me. “It looks to me like you got everything cleared up pretty efficiently.”
