J Duncan - Deadworld

“Ah,” was all he said and grabbed his own jacket.

“If anything has happened to her, your ass is mine, Anderson.”

“Nicholas?” Mia stood with the two plates in her hands, a look of chagrin and confusion on her face.

“Sorry, Mia,” Nick said and stood to kiss her on the cheek. “I’ll explain later.”

Jackie headed for the door without looking back.

Nick stepped into an empty patient room at the end of the hall, the first available spot away from Jackie, who was asking a lot of implicating questions at the moment with Shelby’s victim. He knew it would turn to trouble. Blood always did. Shelby’s phone rang half a dozen times again before going to voice mail.

“Shel, you better watch your ass if you get this message before you’re being checked into the county jail, and have Ms. Carpenter call Jackie so I can get her foot out of my ass. You’re really pissing me off now with whatever the hell it is you’re trying to pull. I showed her a while ago. She believes, but she isn’t going to stop. I’ve got no choice but to try to use their help, and no thanks to you, I’m guessing. Just watch yourself, please.” The last thing he wanted was for Shelby to get shot up, but she had blood in her for the moment, which would help her out if shit hit the fan.

He dialed the office, and Cyn picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Cyn, has Shel checked in with you?”

“Hi, Nick. Nope, haven’t heard a word. Reggie let me know earlier that the ghosts were out and about over there where you’ve been hunting. Everything okay? You sound stressed.”

“I’m at County General at the moment.”

“What?” Her voice jumped an octave. “You okay? Did you get hurt? You didn’t find-”

“Whoa, slow down. I’m fine for now, but I might be spending a night in jail here if Shelby doesn’t make her whereabouts known pretty quick.”

“Jail?” Cyn sounded more worried about that than any trip to the hospital. “Should I be calling Dewey?”

“Wouldn’t hurt. Just in case I need him.”

“Okay, I’ll do that now. Be careful, Nick. That FBI woman has a lot of dark energy around her.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that one out. Take care, Cyn.”

Drawing Jackie in had shown him that clearly enough. Something awful had happened to her in the past that still tormented her. Scary thing was she had peeled open like a ripe banana, putty in his hands. The tough exterior was all that was keeping that woman together. She was a survivor, and Nick certainly related to that. More so, she was terrified of people seeing what she was like underneath, and Nick knew all too well what that was like. He had been living a veiled existence for over a century now, and he knew the effects it had on one’s soul.

Nick took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, letting that doorway to the other side open just a crack, and winced at the sharp, icy wind that sucked at him. “Reggie! Get over here. Now, please.” It didn’t matter how loudly or softly he called. Reggie always heard.

A moment later, Reggie dropped out of the ceiling. “Hey, boss. Something’s going down. I’ve felt Drake, and he’s got ghosts freaking out all over the place.”

“Ghosts. Why are they worried about him?”

Reggie shrugged. “Don’t know. It’s like fish darting away from rocks dropping in the pond. I had a bead on him, but when the boss calls…”

“Damn. My luck, of course. Okay, get back out there and see if you can find him. If you see Shelby, let her know the cops may be out in force to get her unless she shows her face real soon.”

“They worried about her and that agent girl?”

“You’ve seen them?”

Reggie smiled. “Yeah, Shelby was flying out of town with her clutched on to the back of the cycle. Took her up to that park north of town that looks out on the lake, can’t think of the name.”

“You followed them?”

“Hey, easy for me, and I was, you know, curious.” He laughed. “I wouldn’t worry too much ’bout them, boss, if you know what I mean.”

Nick ran a hand through his bristled, short hair. “Christ. What is she thinking?”

Reggie gave Nick a wistful smile. “How’d you feel about finding someone who realized what you were and didn’t run screaming in the other direction? Or is it the girl-girl thing that’s crimpin’ your dick?”

Nick glared at Reggie’s ghostly right hand. “Reg! You know Shelby and I-”

“Nick Anderson!” It was Jackie’s voice, yelling for him outside the room.

“See ya, boss. Got things to do.” Reggie vanished into the floor before Nick could reply.

Jackie stormed in a moment later. “What the hell are you doing? I heard Shelby’s name. Who were you talking to?”

“Just a call to the office, Ms. Rutledge.”

She walked right up to him, her finger stabbing him in the chest. “Where is Shelby? What is she doing with Laurel?”

Nick stepped back, raising his hands defensively. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“She sucked three pints of blood out of that guy in there. Sliced him open with a razor and bled him out.” Jackie’s trembling hand hovered over the grip of her Glock. “She’s the killer, isn’t she, Nick? Isn’t she!”

“No,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “She’s not.” Nick decided against informing her that her partner might be making out with her new number-one suspect.

“You knew she did this, didn’t you?” Nick’s silence appeared to confirm her suspicion. “You are so fucking under arrest.” Her voice shook with terrified rage. “If she’s done anything to Laurel, so help me, I will bleed you out myself.”

Nick raised his hands behind his head, keeping a careful eye on the hand that now clenched around the holstered pistol. It looked like nobody would be catching Drake today.

“We’re back!” Shelby yelled at Laurel over the rumble of her motorcycle.

Laurel peeled herself away from Shelby’s back and looked around. Her car was there in front of them, parked across from the Jade Dragon, where Shelby had picked up Chinese for their lunch. She licked her windblown lips, still tasting the faint sting of the chili peppers that had been in Shelby’s food and hot upon her tongue.

The icy-cold wind of the dead had still not left her bones. Shelby had let down her guard and let Laurel see, let her be witness to what Shelby was, a woman sitting on the border between life and death, drawing energy from the blood of others to keep herself on this side of the doorway, able to draw upon the spiritual energy of the dead lingering on the other side. Shocking did not even approach how Laurel felt at the discovery, though it came pretty close to the feeling of Shelby’s lips on her own after the fact. She felt sixteen at the moment, returning from her first real date. It was completely absurd, and though she was still overwhelmed by the events, a certain giddy elation kept her body tingling.

“Damn. I was just beginning to enjoy the ride.” Laurel swung her leg over and stepped off the back of the BMW.

“You can ride with me any time you like, Laurel.” Shelby grinned and pulled Laurel’s purse out of the storage compartment. “It was nice having your arms around me.” She handed the purse over to her. “Here.”

Laurel felt the warmth rush to her cheeks yet again. Shelby had no qualms about saying exactly what was on her mind, a refreshing and certainly attractive attribute, especially when it was her that appeared to be occupying Shelby’s mind. “Thanks. It’s been an… enlightening trip, to say the least.”

“I was worried you’d freak and want to arrest me on the spot.”

“Oh, no,” Laurel said, shaking her head. “I knew all along you had nothing to do with killing those boys. “Your aura is all wrong for it.”