Second Grave on the Left

just couldn’t tell you. But I did. Your turn.”

“Oh, man, that was totally a setup.”

Uncle Bob snorted.

“He’s right. You gotta give us something.”

Holy macaroni, if they knew I was the grim reaper … No. No way was I going there.

“For starters,” Dad said, “how did you do that thing the other night?”

“Do what?” I asked as Donnie, Dad’s Native American bartender, brought us our food. I took a moment to gaze at his chest; then I snickered when I caught Gemma doing the same. We high-fived under the table. “Hey, Donnie.”

He looked up and frowned. “Hey,” he said, his tone wary. He’d never taken to me.

“That thing,” Dad said when Donnie left. “The way you moved.” He leaned in close and said under his breath, “Charley, there was nothing human about the way you moved.”

Gemma’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “What? How did she move?”

Even Denise suddenly became very interested as she mashed her eggs and red chili together.

As Dad explained what I did, how I moved to everyone, I looked over at Strawberry Shortcake. She had appeared at my side. I scooted Gemma over with my hip and made room for her.

“Hey, pumpkin,” I said as she climbed onto the bench seat with me. When Dad stopped and the whole table stared, I rolled my eyes. “Okay, really, everyone here knows I can talk to the departed.”

“We know,” Gemma said. “We just want to eavesdrop.”

“Oh. Well, okay, then.”

Denise feigned an extreme interest in her food. I half expected her to snort or throw a fit, but I think she was realizing she was outnumbered. For once in her life.

“What’s up?” I asked Strawberry. “Is your brother dating ho’s again?”

“Charley,” Gemma admonished.

“No, he really does,” I explained. “He might need an intervention.”

“I don’t know.” Strawberry shrugged, her blond hair spilling over her shoulders. “I’ve been at Blue’s house. That old building. It’s really fun. And Rocket’s so funny.”

My heart kick-started when she mentioned Rocket. “So he’s okay?”

“Yep. Says he’s good as gold.”

With a sigh of relief, I wondered if Blue might have found Reyes’s body. I hated to say it out loud, but … “Did she find him? Did she find Reyes?”

Uncle Bob stilled. He was the only one at the table who knew anything about Reyes and the fact that he had escaped from prison, so to speak.

Strawberry shrugged. “No, she said only you can find him. But you’re looking with the wrong body part.”

My gaze darted to my crotch before I caught myself. “What does that mean?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, did she tell you—” I leaned in and whispered. “—which body part I should use?”

Everyone at the table had leaned in as well.

“She just said to listen.”

“Oh.” I sat back, confused. “Did she tell you what I should be listening for?”

“I don’t know. She talks funny.”

“Okay, well, tell me exactly what she said.”

“She said to listen for what only you can hear.”

“Oh,” I said again, my brows furrowing.

“We’re going to play hopscotch.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, yeah, she said to hurry.”

“Wait!” But Strawberry was already gone. “Freaking dead people.”

“What?” Gemma asked, her interest utterly piqued.

It was kind of nice to be so open. I glanced at Uncle Bob knowingly. “She said that if I was going to find Reyes, I had to listen for what only I could hear. I don’t know what that means.”

“Charley,” Gemma said, “I know what you are.”

My jaw started to drop open before I caught myself. I glanced around self-consciously. “Gemma, nobody at this table knows what I am.”

“And why is that?” Dad asked.

Gemma grinned. “I know you’re in love with someone,” she said. Then she offered a conspiratorial wink, and I realized she was covering. She did know what I was. When the hell did that happen? “And I know you have abilities you’ve never told us about.”

Dad leaned back and eyed us both. He wanted answers I simply wasn’t willing to give. Not just yet.

“Would it help to know I use my powers only for good?”

His mouth slid into a thin line.

“What does your heart tell you to do?” Gemma asked.

I plopped my chin into a cupped palm and started stabbing my side of hash browns with a fork. “My heart is too in love with him to think clearly.”

“Then stop and listen,” she said. “I’ve seen you do it. When we were little. You would close your eyes and listen.”

I would. My shoulders straightened with the memory. She was right. Sometimes when I would see Big Bad in the distance — who later turned out to be Reyes — I would stop and listen to his heartbeat. But he was near me at the time. That was why I could hear it. Or was it?

Gemma chastised me with a frown. “Close your eyes and listen.” She leaned in and whispered into my ear. “You’re the grim reaper, for heaven’s sake.”

I kept my surprise hidden behind a mask of reluctance. “How did you know that?” I whispered.

“I heard you tell that kid Angel when you first met him.”

Holy cow, I’d totally forgotten.

“Now concentrate,” she said, eyeing me like she had all the faith in the world.

Drawing in a long breath, I let it out slowly and closed my eyes. It came to me almost immediately. A faint heartbeat in the distance. I focused on it, centered everything else around the sound. It grew louder the harder I concentrated, the rhythm so familiar, the cadence so comforting. Was it really Reyes’s? Was he still alive?

“Reyes, where are you?” I whispered.

I felt a warmth, a rush of fire and heat; then I felt a mouth at my ear and heard a voice so deep, so husky, the low vibration curled over me in sensual waves. “The last place you will ever look,” he said almost teasingly.

I opened my eyes with a gasp. “Oh, my god, I know where he is.”

I scanned the faces around me. They all sat waiting expectantly. “Uncle Bob, can you come with me?” I asked as I jumped up. He slammed another bite into his mouth and got up to follow. So did Dad. “Dad, you don’t have to come.”

He offered a sardonic gaze. “Try to stop me.”

“But this might be nothing, really.”

“Okay.”

“Fine, but your food’s going to get cold.”

He grinned. I looked back at Gemma, unable to believe that she knew what I was. But the thought of Dad knowing crushed my chest. I was his little girl. And I wanted to remain that way for as long as possible. I leaned toward her just before I ran out the door. “Please, don’t tell Dad what I am,” I whispered.

“Never.” She leaned back and smiled at me reassuringly.

Wow, this was nice. In an Addams Family kind of way.

* * *

Where was the one place I would never look for Reyes? In my own house, naturally.

I raced across the parking lot as fast as my killer boots would carry me, not waiting for Dad or Uncle Bob, and practically stumbled down the basement stairs. It was the only logical explanation. All the apartments were