He seemed troubled by her question, and he gave it some thought. “Um, Libby Marston was closing up her shop, but the streets were pretty quiet.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry if I scared you, though,” he said. “Ro, especially after everything that’s happened, why would you climb over the wall to get into the cemetery at night?”
“I didn’t climb the wall. I went through the gate. It was open.”
He lowered his head, but she saw his brow arch skeptically before he did so. He didn’t believe that the gate had been left open. They didn’t like graveyard ghouls around here—people who thought it was cool to hang around with the dead at night.
This was just Adam, she told herself. Her good friend’s husband, her own friend.
And now, with him standing there, the two of them chatting, cars passing in the background, pedestrians going by, the whole night felt surreal.
And yet, like the books at the museum, something to think about.
“Never mind,” she said. “I just thought I saw…someone.”
“In the graveyard? At night?”
“Why were you following me? Do you need something from me?” she asked. “Because you scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Ro, if you think you’re being chased, running into a dark cemetery is not a good idea. Especially not when Mary Johnstone disappeared from that same cemetery.”
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. How could she possibly explain that she knew it had been a stupid thing to do, but she had been chased here, given nowhere else to go?
She would never be able to explain it. She didn’t understand it herself.
“Whatever. Hey, I need to go meet Jeremy. Walk with me?” She hated the tremor in her voice as she asked, but she couldn’t help it. She was spooked.
“Sure,” he told her.
“Wait—where’s Eve?”
“At the store, unpacking a box of Thanksgiving stuff. Interested in a gravy ladle shaped like a Pilgrim?” When she shook her head and laughed, he added, “How about an Indian?”
“Just don’t let her leave there alone, okay?” Rowenna said, suddenly sober.
“Don’t worry. I won’t. Now come on, I’ll walk with you,” he said.
She was glad of his company. “So why were you following me?” she inquired as they headed toward the hotel.
“I’m worried about Eve,” he admitted.
“What?” she asked, shocked. Eve was worried about Adam, and now he was worried about her? “Why?”
“I don’t know what’s up with her lately. Just because I think Eric Rolfe’s masks are incredible and thought we should carry books about Alistair Crowley and Satanism, she thinks I’ve become something evil. I don’t understand her. Eve and I always shared our thoughts, talked about everything that interested us. And now…it’s as if she’s turned into a little old lady with a mind-set straight from the sixteen hundreds.” Adam frowned as he spoke, looking truly mystified. “She keeps on saying how worried she is about me.”
“Have you given her anything to worry about?”
“No,” Adam said firmly. “But all we do now is argue. And sometimes she looks at me as if I’m not a person anymore. The other night, when I touched her, she flinched. I don’t know. I love my wife, I really do. I’ve loved her since we were kids.”
Rowenna grinned. “And I care about both of you, you know that. But it sounds as if maybe you two should see a marriage counselor.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “But if she comes to you about me, please, let her know how much I love her.”
“Of course,” she promised.
Adam had stopped walking. They were at the corner and the hotel was just across the street.
“I’ll watch you go in, then go back for Eve,” he said.
“Thanks,” she told him. “It’s—it’s okay. There’s a doorman outside. I’ll be fine. You go on.”
“I’m watching till you’re inside,” he told her. “So don’t waste time arguing with me.”
The light changed, and a car stopped right in front of her, with another car stopping behind it. Suddenly there seemed to be people everywhere.
Some were even gathered around one of the hotel’s front windows, reading the same missing persons poster that was up all over town.
The murmur of life was all around her.
She felt embarrassed. The fear that had sent her racing through the dark earlier seemed foolish, the curse of having too much imagination.
She squared her shoulders, smoothed back her hair and crossed the street. Just as she reached for the door to the bar, Jeremy came bursting out, a frown deeply etched between his brows. It eased the second he saw her.
He gripped her shoulders and pulled her close for a moment. She smelled the rich leather of his jacket, sensed the vibrant tension in his body, and she felt a bit like melting. It was too good. Too good to be true…
No, it was horrible. He was only here because his friend had disappeared and another woman was dead.