Chapter Twenty-eight
Kylie opened her mouth to speak, but didn't have a clue what to say. Or do, for that matter.
"Hi, Cara," Derek spoke up, glancing at Burnett as if making sure it was okay to take the lead. Burnett nodded and Derek continued. "We wanted information on a Cara M."
She pointed to her name tag. "I'm Cara M. M for Muller."
Kylie studied the waitress's face and tried to compare it to the spirit. It wasn't her. Was it? Kylie played emergency recall in her memory but could only envision her long blond hair and blue eyes. Which this girl had, but ...
"I'm sorry," Derek said. "We were under the impression that Cara M. no longer worked here."
"Well, I'm still here. Been here since I was fifteen, over two years. Why?"
"Is there another Cara M. who worked here?" Kylie tried not to stare, but feeling desperate to discover the truth, she couldn't stop herself.
"No." The girl looked at Kylie. "What's this about?"
Kylie noticed that the waitress's name tag had come unpinned and barely clung on the uniform. "What happens if you lose your name tag?"
Cara cut her eyes toward the back of the restaurant. "The manager has a freaking cow."
"And what would you do to prevent him from having a cow?" Kylie leaned forward.
"What do you mean?" Cara asked.
"She means, do you ever loan your name tag to one of the other girls?" Derek asked.
The waitress leaned closer as if afraid someone might hear. "The boss hardly notices. But I don't understand why you want to know this." She smiled at Derek as if ... well, as if he was some cute guy and she was some cute blonde. Which she was. Which he was. A frown pulled at Kylie's lips.
Holiday touched the girl's arm. No doubt to send her some calming emotion in hopes of encouraging her to answer. "Have any of your waitresses just ... disappeared?"
Kylie saw Burnett tilt his head, listening for a lie, and Kylie did it as well.
"They quit all the time. The owner can be a real jerk." Cara spoke the truth.
"Has anyone just left? Never officially quit?" Holiday asked.
Cara paused. "Yeah, there was a girl like that. A Cindy something. Can't remember her last name."
"Did Cindy ever borrow your name tag?" Burnett added his voice to the conversation.
"Was Cindy a blonde?" Kylie tossed out her own question.
"Yes," Cara said to Burnett, and then focused on Kylie. "And yes. Why?"
Between Holiday's casual touches on the girl's wrist and Derek's flirty smiles, the girl answered all their questions about Cindy. Before she walked off, Burnett asked if her manager or the owner of the restaurant was here.
Cara grew nervous. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Burnett assured her. "But can you let her know I need to talk to her?" He pulled out his wallet and flashed his badge. Kylie wasn't even sure what the badge meant to humans, but it didn't seem to matter.
Cara's color paled. "Oh, shit. Did something happen to Cindy?"
Yeah, Kylie thought. Something happened. Something really bad, too.
* * *
Before leaving, Burnett had the name Cindy Shaffer and a copy of the resume she'd filled out with her emergency contacts. When he sent the info to FRU via his phone and asked for the driver's license, they answered within a few minutes. When he showed Kylie the image of a smiling young blonde, tears filled Kylie's eyes. It was her. And Cindy Shaffer would never smile like that again.
While Burnett spouted orders over the phone for someone at the FRU to contact the Shaffer family, Holiday ordered some cinnamon rolls. They arrived, hot and covered with gooey white icing. Derek ate two, Holiday nibbled on one. Kylie and Burnett picked at their pastries with even less enthusiasm. Even with Kylie's stomach grumbling, she couldn't stomach the taste. That, and she kept seeing the image of the smiling Cindy.
"Are you drinking your meals?" Holiday asked Kylie in a low voice.
"Not regularly, but I'll start." She didn't look forward to it.
Burnett paid for the breakfast. As they walked toward the car, Kylie got the feeling again that someone was watching her. She swung around and saw a male figure disappear inside one of the stores. She'd barely gotten a glimpse of a shoulder and arm, but she recognized those appendages.
Kylie shot across the street.
"What is it?" Burnett's feet ate up the pavement right beside her.
Kylie stopped in front of the store. Her gaze flew to the large carved wooden sign that read PALM READER. She reached for the door. "I thought I saw someone."
Burnett grabbed her, his eyes now green in protective mode. "Who?"
Kylie heard Derek call her name from the other side of the street. "Let me find out." She rushed inside the store.
Burnett rushed in with her.
The first thing Kylie noticed was a voodoo doll hanging from the ceiling with pins in it. The second was a foul odor. She slapped her hand over her mouth and nose. Even while wanting to gag, she searched the room for the man she'd seen enter the building. When the place looked empty, she glanced back at Burnett.
"Garlic." He frowned. "Just breathe it in; the reaction will fade. It doesn't kill us."
"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind a counter in the corner of the room.
Kylie forced herself to pull her hand from her mouth and looked at the woman dressed in a brightly colored, loose-fitting dress that had con-artist-pretending-to-be-a-clairvoyant written all over it. But just to confirm her assessment, Kylie checked her brain pattern. Human-but shady looking. Definitely a con artist.
Kylie tilted her head to the side to hear if anyone else was in the old house. Not a sound. No one breathed inside these walls but the three of them, and Kylie still wished she didn't have to breathe. The smell crawled down her throat. She focused on the door. Where had the man gone that she'd spotted rushing inside? Noting that the backdoor stood slightly ajar, she tuned her ears to listen for anything outside. If he'd left out the backdoor, he was gone now.
"Uh..." Kylie pushed words around her gag reflex, but before the words spilled out, she noted the hand-painted sign hanging over the register.
NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO SERVICE. AND UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, NO COLD-HEARTED VAMPIRES.
She glanced at Burnett and back at the sign.
He frowned.
"You need a reading?" the woman asked.
"No." Kylie ignored her desire to heave. "A man just walked in. I thought I knew him."
"Yeah. The bell rang, but I was in the back; when I got here the person had vanished. Probably a spirit. I get them all the time."
Kylie put out her feelers for ghosts. No deadly cold filled the space. And who could blame them? The stench of garlic probably scared them off, too. She eyed the woman again, who Kylie now had down as a complete nutcase. A stupid nutcase if she thought a sign and some garlic would actually keep vampires away.
The woman noticed Kylie's attention to the sign. "Don't be too quick to judge. I see them around here all the time. They have a different smell about them."
"Seriously?" Burnett asked in mock disbelief. "You believe in vampires?"
"You aren't the only non-believers," she said. "But I have proof. The Native Americans drew pictures of them on the cave walls on my grandmother's property."
"Interesting stuff for fairy tales." Burnett glanced at Kylie. "You ready?"
As soon as they walked out, he bit out, "Who the hell did you think you saw?"
She didn't consider keeping it from him. She'd been going to tell him, she just hadn't had the time. "What do you know about Hayden Yates?"
"The new teacher?"
She nodded.
"I personally did an extensive check on all the new employees. Why? Do you think I missed something?"
"I think he gives me bad vibes."
"Bad vibes?" Burnett asked.
Kylie nodded. "And this morning before the sun came up, Della walked me to Holiday's office and we caught him following us." She stopped talking, realizing that wasn't altogether true. "Maybe not exactly following us, but he was walking around. And Hannah insists whoever killed her is close to the camp."
"And that's who you think you saw?"
She nodded.
He frowned. "But Blake, Holiday's ex, has been in the area, too. Hannah could have meant him."
Burnett wanted Blake to be guilty, and Kylie wasn't sure he wasn't, but ... "I know, but I'm just ... Maybe I'm making more out of it than I should."
"Or not." Burnett snatched his phone from his pocket and dialed. "Della," he said into his phone. "Find Hayden Yates at the camp."
"Can I whup his ass, too?" Della's voice echoed from the phone.
"No, don't let him know you're checking on him. I just want to know if he's there. And do it now!"
"I'm already on my way," she smarted back.
The line went silent for a second. "Okay ... I'm at his place, peering though his window. He's reading the paper, sitting on the sofa. You sure you don't want me to kick his ass? Did Kylie tell you we think he was following us?"
"Yes."
"Is that an affirmative on whupping his ass?" Della chuckled.
"No," Burnett said, missing the humor. "Thanks." He hung up and met Kylie's gaze.
"I don't think he could have made it back to the camp in that time," Burnett said.
"I know," Kylie said. "So maybe it wasn't him."
Burnett frowned. "But to be safe, I'll do another rundown on him."
Kylie appreciated that.
"Where the hell did you guys go?" Derek stopped beside them.
"I thought I saw someone." Kylie spotted Holiday moving across the street.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Kylie thought she recognized someone." Burnett motioned for them to cross the street. "We should get back to the camp before the parents start showing up."
Oh, great! Now Kylie had the whole parent issue to deal with.
Holiday looked at her watch. "We'd better hurry."
They moved across the street to get in the car. All five of them.
Yes, five.
Burnett hit the clicker to unlock the doors. Holiday popped in the front seat. Kylie stood by the back door when Hannah leaned in and whispered, "I call window seat."
Hannah, Derek, and Kylie climbed in. As soon as Burnett got settled behind the wheel, his shoulders stiffened and he swung around. The look, the sheer panic in his gaze, told Kylie she wasn't the only one hearing and, more than likely, seeing Hannah.
* * *
Burnett drove in silence, but kept looking back in the rearview mirror. Kylie shivered from the chill of Hannah's presence.
Have you figured out anything else? Kylie spoke in her mind.
Hannah ignored Kylie's question. Instead, she stared at Derek. "He's cute."
"Damn, it's cold in this car." Derek draped his arm around Kylie. The warmth of his arm did feel good, and being this close, close enough to get a good whiff of his natural scent to chase away the scent of garlic, didn't feel so bad, either. And for that reason, she shifted away and cut him a warning look that said, "Don't push your luck."
Sometimes she thought he forgot she wasn't really with him anymore. Not that it wasn't easy for him to forget, with Lucas never hanging around her ...
"You should definitely choose him." Hannah leaned into Kylie's shoulder. The icy feel of her touch caused Kylie's spine to stiffen. "And speaking of romance, the bozo in the front seat better watch himself. If he hurts my sister-"
"I won't," Burnett muttered.
"Won't what?" Holiday and Derek asked at the same time.
"Nothing." Burnett slammed his jaw so tight he had to have cracked a few teeth.
Hannah leaned forward and stared at Burnett in the rearview mirror. The mirror frosted over. "If you break her heart, I swear, I'll neuter you in your sleep."
Burnett's jaw tightened some more. Holiday gaped at the rearview mirror and then stared wide-eyed at Burnett. A second later, she swung around and gave Kylie the befuddled look. "Is it her? Is Hannah here?"
Kylie froze, literally from Hannah's icy presence, but also from not knowing what to say.
When Kylie didn't answer, Holiday stared back at Burnett. "Can you see her? Can you see ghosts? How can you do that?"
"We've got a ghost in the car?" Derek's voice rang a bit high-pitched.
"Had a ghost in the car," Hannah said. Her teary-eyed gaze stared at Holiday, and then she vanished, leaving the saddest of sad moods to fill the car like smoke.
* * *
The moment Kylie spied her mom and John, her mom's creepy new boyfriend, walking into the dining hall, holding on to each other like a couple of horny teenagers, Kylie found herself envying Hannah's ability to vanish. Why did her mom think bringing John was a good idea? And if she had to bring him, couldn't she keep her hands off his butt while she was here?
Yup, Kylie's mom had her right hand tucked into the back of John's jeans pocket. And frankly, the man didn't even have a nice ass!
Surely her mom wasn't getting serious about him and felt these visits were needed for Kylie to get to know him-before ... before they did something stupid, like get married.
The thought scared the crap out of Kylie. Inhaling, she told herself she was overreacting; as Nana would have said, she was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Then again, her mom hadn't answered Kylie's question about them having sex. And chances were, her mom wasn't about to answer that inquiry today, either.
Kylie's mom turned around and spotted her on the other side of the dining hall and smiled. Kylie waved, hoping her mom would do the same, freeing her hand from John's ass, but nope.
Taking a deep breath, Kylie faked a smile.
Her mom grinned up at John, and the man swooped down and kissed her. Kissed her ... with tongue, and right there in front of all of Kylie's campmates.
"Just shoot me," Kylie muttered.
"I think they're cute." Holiday leaned into Kylie as if reading her emotional overload.
"And I think I'm going to puke." Kylie swore she was going to have a sit-down, serious chat with her mom and find out exactly what was going on. When the kiss kept going, Kylie decided again that yup, she'd love to vanish. Just up and disappear.
"Take some deep breaths and calm down," Holiday said. "You're exploding with panic."
Kylie looked at Holiday. "My mom's French-kissing a guy in front of everyone," she muttered. "Of course I'm panicking!"
"Shit!" Holiday snapped.
"Shit, what?" Kylie asked, alarmed at the panic in Holiday's voice.
"Oh, Kylie," Holiday murmured. And then she looked across the room and waved down Burnett, her arm motions serious.
"What is it?" Kylie looked to the door, thinking someone unwanted, possibly Mario, had walked in.
No Mario.
"Damn it to hell and back!" Holiday whispered. "Kylie, where did you go?"
"What do you mean? I'm right here. Standing right next to you." Kylie looked down at her feet, but she saw only the floor. No sneakers, no legs. No Kylie.
"Oh, shit!" she muttered, and while she hadn't thought about it in quite a while, she remembered her dad telling her that they would work things out together. Was this it? Was this what dying felt like?