“Warren.” I glance at the computer, wondering if and when Kaz is going to pop back out into the room and scare this poor woman a second time.
“Warren…” she mumbles, thumbing through the files. “Rafe?”
My heart, or whatever still exists inside of me, leaps. “That’s him.”
Karen pulls out a manilla folder and sets it on the smaller desk, thumbing through the pages. Her hazel eyes sharpen up, brightened, it seems, either by being able to help, or by having a manageable task in the middle of a freaky situation.
She mumbles a little and then lifts a finger. “Ah, I remember the Warrens now. Fox shifter family. His father, Todd Warren, had him cremated and took him home not too long ago.”
Part of me wants to groan. If he’d taken it home, that means we might’ve been mere feet from it and left before we found out. The muscles along the back of my neck cramp with worry. Then again, what if his dad had like, scattered his ashes somewhere? This could actually be an okay thing. No way the Xers could find them and work their fancy little spells.
I lean forward to look at the records Karen is pointing to, just to confirm what she’s told me. It’s entirely possible that she’s a lying Xer trying to throw us off the scent while her crew hunts down his remains. Especially based on her initial reactions. After our encounter in the woods I’m more than a little suspicious. But sure enough, the notes in that folder match up with her story.
“Thank you so much for your help,” I say. “He didn’t happen to tell you what he planned to do with them?”
She smiles, but it’s sad, her brows wrinkled. “Not exactly. Only that he was going to keep them in a safe place. Said he wanted to honor him.” Her face twists into a grimace. “His wife didn’t even want to pay for an urn.”
I grit my teeth, but breathe slow and concentrate on not breaking any glass the way Rafe did when we visited his house. “Shocker.”
“Yeah, she was a treat.” Karen rolls her eyes. “It didn’t matter though. Mr. Warren brought his own. One he made himself, I think.”
My spirits lift a little at that thought. At least one of Rafe’s parents cared about him. “Thank you again. That was much easier than our complicated plan.”
At that moment, Kaz pops out of the computer, shaking his head and eliciting a sharp cry from our new helpful friend. Karen crashes back into the file cabinet. This poor woman’s going to need a long vacation to recover from this.
Kaz’s eyes widen when he realizes she can see him. Before he can freak out too, I hold up a hand. “Already talked her down. She told me what happened to Rafe’s body.”
As I explain the situation, Kaz nods slowly. “In that case, we need to get back to Locklear and tell him. He’ll need to try and speak to his father.”
“Why can’t we just go get it now?” I curl my toes in my boots. Though Karen now appears to believe me, there’s still a distinct possibility that this is just a stalling tactic. If they beat us to Rafe’s parent’s house...
“Because this could be something Rafe has to take care of himself,” Kaz says. “Remember what I said about interfering?”
“Psh, stupid rules. I guess we must follow them.” I fake an annoyed eye roll, though I definitely understand.
Even if I’m antsy to get Rafe’s remains to a safe place, the last thing I want is to risk messing up his unfinished business somehow. If it’s better for him to deal with it, I’m game to do exactly what Kaz says. We thank Karen, warn her to keep quiet about ghosts showing up, then blink out of the funeral home before anyone else walks in on us.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Apprehension tumbles in my stomach when we arrive back at Locklear. I’m excited to tell Rafe about how his dad cared for his body after he died, but I’m dreading the other conversation I know we need to have. Again, in the grand scheme of things, breaking up with him is miniscule, but it still crushes my silent heart.
Resistant or not, I go with Kaz to try and hunt Rafe down. “Good job back there.”
I lift my brows. “Hey thanks. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do when she saw me. Especially since she could’ve been an Xer.” Worry tosses inside of me. “You don’t think she was just playing a part, do you? Pretending to be a friend? What if she was lying? I mean, I saw the notes in that folder, but she could’ve made those up.”
“I doubt it,” Kaz says. “I found almost the exact same information in the digital files. It could be an elaborate ruse, but it’s not very likely. Either way, as soon as we tell Rafe what we’ve found out, we can head straight back to Blacksburg and talk to his father.”
We find Rafe in the rec center kicking a soccer ball around. He bumps it into the air, allowing it to roll across his shoulders, before catching it again on the top of one of his feet. Every muscle ripples under the thin material of his gray shirt and the selfish part of my brain tells the rational side to shut up.
Rafe grins when he sees us, but doesn’t stop playing around with the ball, impressing me a ridiculous amount with his mad skills and multitasking. “Hey, where’ve you two been?”
I glance at Kaz, who gives me a nod, then look back at Rafe. “We went to a funeral home in Blacksburg.”
That soccer ball hits the ground and rolls away as Rafe freezes. “What did you find out?” His
