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“Not this time.”
Now it was my turn to hesitate. “Who are they?”
“Mind your own business, Clay.”
An uncomfortable truth jumped up and bit me on the nose. “You’re the one who stole the sketch.”
“How do you know about that?”
“Who are they, Anna?”
“I told you to stay out of it and leave West alone. He has enough on his plate. He doesn’t need to be bothered with this.”
I glanced at the phone to see that she’d disconnected the call. So much for getting to be the bearer of good news.
My leg throbbed by the time I hobbled up the steps of my front porch, carrying my grocery bag.
“Ray, Lorelei’s home,” Nana Pratt said.
I pulled my hair into a ponytail and squeezed out the excess water. Then I removed my boots and set them on the porch.
Ray joined his ghostly cohort. “What happened? Did someone accuse you of being a witch and try to drown you?”
“No need to kick a girl when she’s down.” I strode into the house, dreaming of a hot shower.
“May we come in?” Nana Pratt called from the threshold.
I continued my painful walk to the staircase. “You may.”
“What happened to your leg?” Ray asked, finally noticing my blood-soaked bandage.
I stopped at the bottom step, summoning the strength to lift my leg. “There was a monster in a lake.”
“Which lake?” he asked.
“Bone Lake.”
“What kind of monster?” Nana Pratt asked.
“The monster is TBD,” I said.
Nana Pratt frowned. “Tiny But Deadly?”
“To Be Determined,” Ray answered for me.
“I thought you knew all there is to know about these creatures,” Nana Pratt said.
“I haven’t seen all of them up close and personal. Sometimes they require a little research.”
Ray lit up like the sky at sunrise. “I can help with that.”
“Can the description wait? I am desperate to wash off the dirt and grime.”
Nana Pratt folded her arms. “Yes, you’re tracking it through the house, and I only cleaned the floors this morning.”
“You cleaned the floors?”
“You’ve been so busy. They needed a little elbow grease.”
