The Hidden

The thing was, Scarlet realized, she had no death wish. But neither did she wish to leave. She was in this up to the gills. The ghosts had come to her.

She poured iced tea into a glass and looked at Diego. “Let’s discuss this,” she said. “The thing is, the ghosts come to me. If I leave, they might leave, too, and you need them. Plus, when I’m here, I’m with you and the rest of the Krewe, and you can keep me safe. If I leave, I’ll be a walking target, because we don’t know that the killer’s limiting his murders to Estes Park.” She met Diego’s eyes with all the firmness she could muster. “You need me here.”

Brett looked at Lara, who shook her head stubbornly. “I’ve already been through the wringer. If you’re here, if Diego and the others are here, I need to be here, too.”

“The killer has been targeting Nathan Kendall’s descendants,” Diego said flatly. “And that puts you in the line of fire.”

“And we both want the killer stopped,” Scarlet said, an edge to her tone. “So I’m not going anywhere.”

Tension hung in the air.

“Love the pizza,” Jane said enthusiastically, and everyone turned to stare. “Who knew Colorado had such great pizza?”

Scarlet knew Jane was just trying to lighten the mood—not to mention change the subject—but she wouldn’t let herself be distracted and continued to stare at Diego across the table.

“We can discuss it after the séance,” he finally said, then excused himself and headed down the hall toward Scarlet’s bedroom.

She excused herself, too, and followed him.

She burst into her room to find Diego standing by the window, looking out on the stables. He turned to face her.

“You’re not being logical,” he told her. “This killer is after descendants of Nathan Kendall. You or Ben or Gray or Terry could be next.”

“But you’re here,” she said.

“This is what I do, Scarlet.”

“But that doesn’t make you immune to danger. And it doesn’t mean that you can protect the rest of the world from everything that could go wrong. Things happen. Bad things. But I can’t hide from who I am and, even more important, don’t want to hide from it. I know this place, Diego. I know its history. Yes, I’m afraid, but I still believe I have to be here.”

He shook his head. “Jane told me that you felt you were being watched today. And it’s likely that someone was watching you. Watching to see if you left—and if you left alone.”

“I wish she hadn’t told you. It was probably nothing.”

“We’re Krewe and this is a murder investigation. She had to tell me,” he said.

“I understand that. I really do. But I don’t care. I still wish she hadn’t said anything.”

He let out a soft groan of aggravation and walked over to her, taking her by the shoulders. His eyes were dark and intense as he looked down at her. “Scarlet, I didn’t want what happened between us, but I’m okay as long as I know you’re out there in the world somewhere, alive and happy.”

She looked up at him. “What if the alive-and-happy part included you?”

He froze, startled. “Scarlet,” he said finally, “you were the one who filed for the divorce.”

“I never really wanted to. I know you thought it was your work, but it wasn’t. It was the fact that you never shared your life, not really. I didn’t want to be protected from it, I wanted to be part of it. So please don’t push me away now—especially since this situation includes me.”

“I don’t want you to become one of the ghosts of Estes Park!” Diego said.

There was a tap at the door. “Yes?” Diego said, still staring at her.

She heard Brett clear his throat before he said, “It’s time. We need to head over.”

Scarlet realized that the sun was rapidly falling.

“All right, we’re ready,” Diego said.