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To Tyler’s disbelief, the police captain winced. “No need to do anything rash.”
“Twenty-four hours.” Anabel looked him right in the eye. “I want you to investigate the disappearance of several young women in the area around Leaning Tree over the past few months. I’d like to know what you’ve learned by this time tomorrow. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll consider that notice that you want me to take matters into my own hands.”
From the tight set of Captain Harper’s jaw, he wasn’t happy at all about her proclamation, but he nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
“You do that.” With that, she turned to go.
Following her out the door, Tyler marveled at the powerful energy radiating from her. How was it possible she didn’t realize her own strength? It wasn’t. Therefore, he had to believe she simply didn’t want him to know.
She sailed through the outer room and past the startled receptionist without a word. Outside, she rushed over to her little car, opening the door and climbing inside.
Only once she was there did Tyler realize her hands were shaking too hard to fit the key in the ignition.
“Deep breaths,” he told her as he folded himself up into the small passenger seat. He wasn’t sure what he could do to help. “Do you want to talk about it?” In his admittedly limited experience, most women welcomed the opportunity to discuss their feelings.
But Anabel was not most women. “No,” she said, averting her profile. “I’m fine.” A moment later, she managed to start the car and put it in Drive.
“What was that, back there?”
Not looking at him, she lifted one delicate shoulder in a shrug. “I already told you, people in this town think I’m crazy.”
“But you didn’t tell me why.”
She shot him a sideways glance, her eyes shuttered. “Does it really matter?”
“I guess not. But I’d still like to know.”
“I talk to ghosts. Think about it.”
He couldn’t help laughing at the sour note in her voice. “They see you walking around talking to air. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Exactly. And I dress the part. Plus, I did something I shouldn’t have and almost cost a really sweet woman her life. I don’t think anyone will ever forgive me for that.”
Thus the captain’s reference to the McGraws. He, like just about everyone in Leaning Tree, knew the family. Since they’d declined to press charges, whatever Anabel had done couldn’t have been too bad. Tyler wondered if he should ask, but the raw agony in her expression made him decide not to. Whatever she’d done, it seemed clear she felt bad about that now.
Neither spoke as she drove slowly down Main Street. He took his time admiring the huge leafy oak and maple trees, the restored old buildings and the bustling shops. “It still looks the same,” he mused. “I see the small Dutch Reform church is now fully restored. And the shops and restaurants appear to be doing a booming business.”
“We get a lot more tourists than we used to,” she grudgingly admitted. “It’s really busy in the fall when all the city people take drives to see the foliage.” Again she looked sideways at him, almost as if it hurt her eyes to meet his gaze dead-on.
“I remember,” he said.
“How long have you been gone from here, anyway?”
“That’s a good question.” He tried to calculate, failing miserably.
“A reply like that means you aren’t really going to answer.”
He laughed. “Give me a minute. I’m trying. Like I said, time passes differently in the hereafter.”
“What’s the last year you remember? Let’s start with your last tour of duty in Afghanistan.”
Flashes of light, an explosion, red and yellow and orange. Screams of pain. Wincing, he tried to block the random sights and sounds from his memory.
When he finally found his voice again, he sounded hoarse. “Not there. Too intense. Let’s start with something better, more pleasant.”
“Okay. When did you graduate from high school?”
Now, that he could answer. “Nineteen ninety-seven.” Thinking about that, he couldn’t help smiling. “Leaning Tree High. Did you go there?”
“I did, but I graduated in 2001. I was just starting high school the year you finished.”
“Which would explain why we never met,” he said.
“How do you know we didn’t?” Though her question was casual, for some reason it sent a chill up his spine.
He decided to keep his answer light. “Because I’d remember.” The rest of it, what he didn’t say, was that she, with her long midnight hair and exotic bronze eyes, was the loveliest woman he’d ever seen. He had to believe his younger self would have recognized that too, even back then.
Chapter 3 (#ulink_c2cd9339-a1e3-5c04-bafc-e95bd45eb8db)
Apparently oblivious of his chaotic thoughts, Anabel continued to question him. “And then after high school, what did you do? Did you enlist right away?”
His head had begun to hurt. “My turn. I get to ask you something next.”
“Really? I had no idea we were playing some sort of game.” Since her dry tone contained a thread of amusement, he decided to take that as encouragement.
“What did you do after high school?” he asked.
“I went to college. Columbia, to be exact. Three months in, I loved life and the city. Then I met David Lee. From Tennessee. He was in New York on leave.”
Though he hated the dark sadness that crept over her lovely face, he wanted to know more. Before he could speak, she forestalled him by making a chopping motion with her hand.
“My turn,” she said, earning a reluctant smile from him.
“Go ahead.”
“Remember, we’re trying to get a rough idea of how long you’ve been a ghost,” she said.
Though he didn’t know why that mattered, he decided to play along. “Okay.”
“When did you enlist?”
He sighed. “About two months after graduating from high school.”
“No college?”
“Nope. Not only did I not have the money or the grades, but I didn’t have the inclination. I was working a dead-end job, learning how to do bodywork at a Chevy dealership. I woke up one morning, decided I wanted to be a soldier and drove to the army recruiter’s office.”
“And then—”
“My turn.” He softened his tone to lessen the sting. “How long were you married?”
“Nope,” she said, turning away, but not before he saw the hurt flash across her face. “My marriage is off-limits. Ask something else.”
Thinking quickly, he spoke. “What about friends? Surely you must have some friends in this town.”
She gave him a look designed to stop a charging leopard in its tracks. “You’re going to keep pushing this, are you?”
“I’m just trying to figure out what makes you tick, that’s all.”
“Well, don’t. There’s not a reason in the world you would need to know.”
“Actually, there is.” He gave her what he hoped was an unguarded smile. “If we’re going to be working together, I should at least learn a few things about you.”
“I talk to ghosts,” she said, her voice curt. “Isn’t that enough?”
“Not really.” Equally blunt, he rubbed the back of his neck. One thing that always startled him was how he occasionally still had human aches and pains and itches, even in ethereal form.
“What?” Staring at him, she frowned. “Explain yourself.”
“You talk to ghosts. I get that. It’s great, and that particular talent is what enabled me to get you to see and hear me. But how is the ability to view spirits going to assist you in freeing my sister?”
She looked thoroughly annoyed. “Maybe I should remind you that you asked me to help you with this, not the other way around.”
“I did. But I was under the impression you had some form of magical ability, as well.”
Now. Now he expected she would finally admit the truth.
“Well, you were wrong.”
His heart sank. “It’s more likely you just don’t know your own powers.”
“Really?” Shaking her head, she snorted. “I know myself better than you think. And to answer your other question, I do have a few friends. They’re all sort of fringe people like me.”
“Fringe people?”
“Yeah.” Expression carefully blank, she smiled at him. “As a matter of fact, you need to meet one of them. My friend Juliet. She owns the yoga studio and metaphysical bookstore downtown and calls herself a medium.”
“And you don’t believe her?”
“I have no opinion either way. She’s my friend and whatever she wants to accept as true is fine with me.” A hint of mischief sparked in her amazing eyes as she widened her smile, which made him catch his breath. “That’s why I want you to meet her. I’m curious to see if she senses your presence.”
“Has she ever sensed one of your other ghostly visitors?”
“No, but I’ve never brought one into her studio. I usually get rid of them as soon as they appear.”
Curious, he nodded. “Do they appear often?”
Instantly, her smile vanished. “Too much,” she said grimly. “There are an awful lot of dead people trying to communicate with the living.”
“You know, you could make money if you had a TV show and traveled around the country like the Long Island Medium. Why don’t you?”
Clearly, his attempt at a joke fell flat. She looked at him as if he’d grown two ghostly heads. “That’s not for me. All I want is for the specters to leave me alone. Which, thanks to you, they are.”
When he was in the afterlife, Anabel’s energy had pulled him to her. He’d been seeking, and then the blaze of energy she gave off shone like a beacon, cutting through gray. The fact that she’d been able to see and hear him had been a welcome bonus.
“You draw them to you,” he said slowly.
“How? And why? Surely there must be a way to turn it off.”
He debated the best way to tell her. Finally, he decided to just say it. “Anabel, I believe you have magic inside you. Untapped, but powerful. We’re going to need to figure out how to bring it to the surface.”
“Bring it to...” They stopped at a red light and she turned to face him. “Why would I want to do something like that?”
If her crossed arms were any indication, she definitely wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. “Because whoever has my sister is a warlock. And you’re going to need your magic to defeat him.”
* * *
“A warlock?” Repeating Tyler’s words, Anabel sucked in her breath. As a shape-shifter, she knew there were all kinds of other supernatural beings out there, like vampires and mer-people, but as far as she knew, no one had any special powers, except for the fae. Even as a child in school, when they’d learned the history of the Pack along with all the other supernatural, witches and warlocks had never been mentioned. Not once.
While she—and others of her kind—could change form, as far as she knew, no one could fly. Or start fires with a look or a wave of their hand. Magic didn’t exist.
Yet Tyler talked as if it did. There were certainly insane living people; therefore, it followed that there could be crazy dead people, as well. “Look, Tyler. I agreed to help try and find your sister. You didn’t say anything about having to defeat some sort of magical being.”
“I believed—believe you have magic too.”
She waited, in case there was more, but he didn’t elaborate.
“Well, if you need somebody who can fight magic with magic, you’ve picked the wrong person,” she said. “I’ll assist in every way I can, but you’ll need to find another witch or warlock to help get her out once we find her.”
“Deal,” he said promptly, which sort of annoyed her. “Do you know any witches?”
Fine. He wanted a witch, she’d get him one. “My friend the yoga instructor is not only a medium but a witch.” Okay, technically Juliet was Wiccan, but Tyler was a ghost and Juliet wouldn’t be able to see him.
Tyler’s ghostly form briefly solidified, which she was beginning to realize meant excitement. “Do you think she’ll help us?”
Immediately, she regretted saying anything. “Tyler, she’s Wiccan. She runs a yoga studio and metaphysical bookstore, like I said. If she practices any magic, which I doubt, it’s not powerful.”
“How do you know?” His husky voice vibrated with enthusiasm. “She might hide it from you. Most magical beings don’t go around advertising their power, you know.”
“No, I don’t know.” Apparently, he was serious. She sighed. Maybe new insights into the world were learned in the afterlife.
“When can we meet her?” Tyler asked, his hazel eyes glowing.
Fine. She gave in. “How about now? We’re already in town.”
Again his form appeared solid. “Sounds great.”
Mentally shaking her head, she took the next left onto Third Street. Juliet’s bright green VW bug was parked in front of the small white-frame corner building, with a bookstore on one side and a yoga studio on the other.
