She loaded the gun just as Kelsey had instructed her. She wasn’t sure whether she was glad it was so easy—or disturbed.
“That’s it—you’re ready to shoot,” Kelsey told her. “In fact, we should go to a range soon so you can learn.”
“We should?” Hannah said. “Already?”
Kelsey said, “Okay, let’s have you do the whole thing first. Take the clip out, check that the barrel is empty and there isn’t a round remaining. There won’t be, of course, because you saw me take it out, but you need to learn to check it. Then slide the magazine back in again.”
Hannah did as she was told.
Kelsey nodded approvingly. “Good. I bet you won’t have any trouble learning to aim, either. When we were kids, you were great at those carnival shooting games.”
“Hey, don’t forget. I’m good at darts.”
“Always an important talent,” Kelsey said. She picked up her gun and slid it back into her waistband. “I usually have this on me. Logan carries a Glock plus a little Smith & Wesson, and I think Dallas carries the same model Glock I do. Not that it matters. They all load the same. The number of rounds in the mag is always on the back end and the notch always goes forward. Got that?”
“Got it,” Hannah promised.
Kelsey seemed tense, she thought. She realized that her cousin had seemed jittery ever since she’d run upstairs in answer to Hannah’s call, only to find that the watcher—if indeed there had been a watcher—was gone. “Are you okay?” Hannah asked.
Kelsey nodded. “Of course I’m okay. I wish I could have seen what you saw, that’s all. I’m not surprised. I figured someone was watching the house round the clock, and I don’t mean the officer out front. You didn’t catch any details at all?”
“Not of his face,” Hannah said.
“But it was a him?”
“Or a big her.”
“What about Melody and Hagen? Where are they? And Jose and Yerby?” Kelsey shook her head. “We’re in a very lucky position to have them, but it would be nice if they showed up more often.”
“They’re probably watching the grounds,” Hannah said, and smiled. “But I know they’re somewhere nearby. We can ask if they saw anyone next time they materialize.”
Kelsey nodded. She walked to the front door and looked out. Then she moved through the house to look out back to the pool and patio. “It’s so beautiful back there,” she said.
“Want to go sit outside for a while?” Hannah asked.
Kelsey lifted a brow at her.
“Oh, yeah. I’m supposed to stay in the house,” Hannah said. “Out there we’d be sitting ducks for a sharpshooter or a bush vaulter or whatever.”
“Cabin fever already?” Kelsey asked her. “You’ll get out tonight for your ghost tour.”
“Please, Key West History and Legends Tour,” Hannah corrected with a smile. “In deference to Melody and Hagen. They don’t like being called ghosts.”
Kelsey smiled. “I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“Seriously, sometimes we’re all so politically correct we don’t know what we’re talking about. But in my experience, most ghosts prefer the term spirit.”
Almost as if the word had summoned them, Hagen and Melody materialized, entering hand in hand from the backyard.
“Did you find out anything?” Hannah asked them.
“No, but Hagen and I have been walking the trail from where Jose entered your yard, met Shelly and Stuart, and then staggered out to the alley to die,” Melody said.
“And?” Hannah asked.
“The killer must have followed him,” Hagen said.
“We’d figured as much,” Kelsey said. “But where is Jose’s knife?”
Hannah shook her head. “The crime scene techs searched everywhere. They even went through bins of garbage. The killer must have taken it with him.”
“All right, that makes sense. But what about the blood? The only reason for the killer to take the knife is if he was cut, and that means his blood has to be somewhere,” Kelsey said.
“But unless the lab found his blood, we can’t even test the DNA,” Hannah said.
“The knife was dripping blood—that’s what Shelly Nicholson said, right?” Kelsey asked.
“Right, but she was pretty freaked out, I don’t know whether it was really dripping. There might just have been blood on the blade,” Hannah admitted.
“And there’s another problem with DNA evidence,” Kelsey said. “Even if we find the killer’s blood, we need something to compare it to. If he’s not in the system, we’re screwed.”
“On another topic, have you two seen anyone watching the house?” Hannah asked.
Melody looked questioningly at Hagen. “I haven’t seen anyone,” she said. “And at night Hagen takes the front and I take the back. It’s odd, though.”
“What?” Hannah asked her.
“I feel something. I feel that we’re being watched, that someone is always out there all the time. And I don’t know why I can’t see him.”
*
Billie Garcia wasn’t as easy to break as his cousin.