“I wish we could stay with you, just in case, but we can’t do that,” Martino told her. “We can only see that the house is secure and then patrol frequently. We’ll be close by if you need us, though.”
“Do you have an alarm?” Dewey asked.
“Yes, but only for the house, not the yard.”
They all stood uncomfortably for a moment. She knew they were genuinely concerned, but with no real threat against her, they had done what they could.
“At any rate, no one is here now,” Dewey said. “If you’re uncomfortable, perhaps you could spend the night with a friend.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I’ll just head back to work. A few of our staff members live on the premises. I can stay with one of them.”
“We’ll cruise by here a few times, and we’ll ask the next shift to do the same,” Martino told her.
She wasn’t sure if they thought she’d imagined the whole thing or were certain that she had a stalker and he had somehow gotten hold of her keys.
“Will you give me a minute to get a few things together?” she asked.
“Of course,” they said in unison.
As she packed, she called Adrianna and told her about the man in her yard. Adrianna found Grady, who checked and still had the unmarked backup keys to her car and apartment in his desk drawer. He told her that she was free to stay at Sea Life until they got the matter settled, and she thanked him. She was definitely going to feel better knowing that Rick and Adrianna were sleeping down the hall.
The officers waited until she was ready to go, then saw her safely into her car. As she drove, she asked her built-in Bluetooth to call Meg, and the minute her best friend’s voice came on the line, she immediately felt better.
“I was about to call you. So another zombie attack in your area, huh?” Meg asked.
“Yeah, the FBI is all over it—arranging to have the so-called zombie dug out of his grave,” Lara said. “But that’s not why I called you.”
She described the day and the man to her, admitting that she might be paranoid, but it seemed she was being stalked. “Maybe it’s just my past history,” she admitted, a bit embarrassed.
“We’re coming down,” Meg said.
“Oh, please, your bosses will think you’re my personal babysitter,” Lara said.
“Last time we looked for you, you actually helped catch a serial killer,” Meg said. “Besides, Adam is friends with Grady. He’ll insist we head down after what happened today anyway. We’ll be there by late tonight.”
Lara glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was nearly six. “You’ll never get a flight down here tonight. And I’m heading to Sea Life. It’s alarm city, and Rick and Adrianna and Grady will be there to look out for me. Listen—if Adam wants you to come anyway, that’s okay, but give it up for tonight. The city is full of cops, and the FBI is already on the case.”
“Agents Cody and McCullough. I know. We checked. Matt knows Cody and says he’s one of the best. He doesn’t know McCullough, but if he’s with Cody, he’s got to be good.”
“See? I’ll be fine.”
“But they aren’t Krewe! Or two of your best friends in the world who should just be helping you get through this. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Listen for your phone,” Meg told her.
Lara laughed. “Adam can control the airlines’ flight schedules?” she asked.
“Adam can arrange for a private jet.”
“Wow. Well, tell him thank you.”
“Of course,” Meg said. She was quiet for a minute. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot, and I just know I need to be there.”
Lara hesitated. She and Meg shared a strange telepathy; Meg swore that she had found Lara when she’d been trapped in the old mill because she’d been helped by a ghost, a ghost who had become real for Lara because Meg had made him so.
A chill suddenly swept through Lara.
Was the existence of ghosts the answer to tonight’s mystery?
Meg had always seen ghosts, and she herself had seen that spectral Confederate soldier. And how could a man be there and then not there, unless...?
Unless he was a dead man.
“Lara, are you okay?” Meg asked.
“Yes, yes, I’m driving, that’s all.”
“We’ll be there tonight,” Meg swore.
“Just don’t worry about me. I’ll be with my friends, and I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. Just promise me you’ll stay with them until we get there.”
“I promise,” Lara told her.
She hung up and told herself to stop freaking herself out. Even so, chills continued to sweep her until she finally came up with the right argument.
If a dead man was after her, she would be all right. Meg had always told her that the dead stayed around to help, to rectify injustice.
The sky was still bright when she finally reached Sea Life, and a lot of the staff was still there, despite the hour.
She almost felt silly.
Grady, Rick and Adrianna were about to head out to a nearby restaurant for dinner. She agreed to join them and finally began to feel better.