Kill the Fed before he could wake up.
New scenario number two. Hannah woke up first, went to the attic to investigate the noise, opened her mouth to scream...
And he had to kill her to silence her. By then the Fed might have heard anyway, and he would follow her up. Machete would have to try to kill the Fed before the Fed could kill him.
Back to scenario number one. Just kill the Fed first.
No matter what he did, chances were that he would have to kill someone, and that would blow everything all to hell. Crime scene tape would cover the whole house. They wouldn’t get back in for weeks.
“Watch them. They’ll have to leave again at some point. The second they’re out of that house, get your ass back in there. Keep searching. If the attic doesn’t pan out, try her room. I want that key—and I want the Santa Elinora treasure. They’re both in that house somewhere—they have to be—and you’re going to find them.”
Machete let out a sigh he hoped the Wolf didn’t hear.
Reprieved! Tonight, he wouldn’t have to kill.
Or be killed.
7
Somehow Hannah managed to set the tray on the table without spilling or breaking anything. Somehow she managed to sit before her knees buckled and she fell flat.
He saw them! Agent Hardass saw ghosts.
“I’m so sorry,” she managed to murmur after a moment. “I, uh, hadn’t seen you all at the same time yet. There was no way to introduce you.”
Melody looked at Hannah. “Agent Samson is quite gifted. He spoke to us when we had no idea he could even see us—caught us a bit unaware.”
“Really?” Hannah said. She stared at Dallas Samson. “I must say, he’s caught me a bit unaware, too.”
“Hmm, I don’t think I was surprised by any of you,” Dallas said, but there was something warm in his eyes when he looked at her.
She still felt stunned. Although she wasn’t at all sure why. Her cousin Kelsey was one of the most dedicated law-enforcement officers she’d ever met. Kelsey had the intelligence to be scared at times—but she was steadfast when she was solving a case. And though Hannah hadn’t met Kelsey’s team members yet, she’d talked to her cousin often enough to know they were intelligent, savvy people—who also happened to see ghosts...like Dallas, apparently.
“What disturbs me,” Hagen said, looking gravely at Dallas and Melody from where he stood by the mantel, “is that Melody and I cannot help you. We were not here when it happened. We did not see anything.”
“You’re wrong. You can be of tremendous help,” Dallas told them.
“How?” Melody asked.
“You can watch over the house,” Dallas said.
Melody looked at Hagen. “We should have thought of that and returned earlier. I am so sorry. We were just very...upset, you know.”
“I deserved it,” Hannah admitted. “I know you two, and I should have realized you would never play such a cruel joke.”
Dallas stared at Hannah incredulously. “Seriously, you accused these two of playing a trick? Still...” He turned to Hagen and Melody. “She was upset and obviously not thinking clearly. So how about you all just forgive each other now, okay?”
“Absolutely,” Hagen said. “And we will do everything we can to help now.”
“I am so, so sorry,” Hannah said to the ghostly couple. She felt a soft touch on the back of her hand, as if a breeze were passing over her skin. Melody was trying to pat Hannah’s hand in comfort.
“We love you, Hannah. You know that,” Melody said.
“Good, then. We’re all settled,” Dallas said. “I’ll have that cup of tea now.”
“I so wish I could join you,” Melody said, and she sighed wistfully. “I used to love tea.”
“And I used to love a good whiskey,” Hagen said with a grin.
Hannah wasn’t surprised that Dallas took his tea clear. She topped off her own cup with milk and two teaspoons of sugar. As she sipped, Hagen asked Dallas, “What else? There has to be more that we can do. We are always overhearing people, and we have heard vague rumors about this Los Lobos organization you were telling us about, but honestly, we have not seen anything.”
“You don’t know how important it is for you to keep an eye on this house,” Dallas said. “And on Hannah,” he added quietly.
Hannah wanted to protest. She had a hard time believing she was really in danger. But he was giving Melody and Hagen a chance to feel needed, so she kept quiet.
“Of course we will keep an eye on the house,” Hagen said. “We would never have left you if we had thought you were in danger.”
“I know, and I appreciate that,” Hannah said. She was suddenly exhausted. She’d been up since the wee hours, and it had been a day of extremes. It had begun with screaming and chaos, and segued into the pain of finding the dead man, followed by the shock of meeting his ghost, and now she had a Federal agent staying in her house.
And at that moment, she realized, she was glad he was there.