“If we put this one to bed before nightfall, I’ll feed you ten s’mores,” he promised. “Just ... stay safe. You are my Heart after all.”
“Right back at you.”
MEL KELSEY, JARED’S PARTNER, PICKED up on the third ring.
“Do you miss me already?”
Jared wanted to be annoyed by the greeting, but he found he was actually happy to hear the other man’s voice. The past few days had been surreal — to say the least — and Mel always served as an anchor in a sea of crazy ... well, mostly.
“Every single day without you is hell,” Jared drawled.
“And here I was thinking how quiet and nice it’s been since you left town,” Mel shot back. “That might have a little something to do with the people you have with you, though. How is my nephew?”
Jared didn’t have time for niceties, and yet Mel was always a welcoming sounding board for complaints regarding Zander. Since Mel helped raise his nephew, he knew better than most how obnoxious the man could be. “He’s convinced that living without a hair dryer is barbaric.”
“I can see that.”
“He’s also considering wearing white for his wedding ... although not a dress. He made sure to stress that to Harper. I wasn’t supposed to be listening, and yet I know all about it because he has a voice that carries ... and carries ... and carries.”
Mel chuckled. “It sounds like a normal trip to me, although something tells me if things were going as planned, you wouldn’t be calling.”
“We’ve had a situation pop up,” Jared conceded. He launched into the tale, not leaving anything out but being as concise as possible. When he was finished, Mel let out a low whistle.
“It sounds to me as if your supporting crew has managed to find trouble ... again.”
“I don’t know that I believe that’s fair,” Jared hedged. “It’s not as if they asked for this to happen. Harper was just minding her own business.”
“I notice you’re not taking up for Zander in this equation.”
“He’s a pain.”
“Well, he’s just as innocent as Harper this go-round,” Mel pointed out. “As for the rest ... what do you want me to do?”
“I need you to see if you can find this Holly Horton.”
“The woman from Harper’s dream?”
“Harper doesn’t believe it’s a dream.”
“And what do you believe?”
Jared hesitated and then let out a sigh. “I believe in her.” The answer seemed too simple, and yet it was an honest response. “She’s learned important stuff from dreams before. I don’t think this is any different from that. There’s no harm in trying, right?”
“No harm,” Mel agreed. “I can run that name. It might take me a bit of time. It would help if you could give me some details on her.”
Jared provided what he had, taking his time so Mel could jot down the information.
“That’s it?” Mel queried when he was finished.
“That’s it on Holly. There’s something else I need you to do, though.”
“And that is?”
“I need to know if there have been any bodies found up here, perhaps ones that haven’t been identified.”
“I take it you’re looking for a female, one about forty to fifty years of age.”
“You’ve got it. Of course, if there have been other bodies found in this area, it can’t hurt to know that either.”
“Fair enough.” Mel was silent for a beat and then pushed forward. “What do you expect to find up there?”
“I’m honestly not sure.” Jared blew out a sigh, considering. “Harper believes the current murder and whatever happened to Holly are connected.”
“Do you think the same?”
“I believe the population up here doesn’t allow for many coincidences. It’s obviously possible these deaths have nothing in common. The victims don’t look alike, and we have no idea how long ago Holly died, although Harper believes it was within the past few months.”
“I’m not big on coincidences either,” Mel admitted. “I’ll check on this information for you. It might take me a little bit. Can you sit tight and wait for me to call you back?”
Jared wanted to say no, but he knew better than putting unnecessary pressure on his partner. Mel had his own duties to perform, as well as Jared’s favor. “Sooner is better, but I’ll wait until you call. If, for some reason I don’t pick up, just leave the information in my voicemail.”
“I can do that. What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“Think,” Jared replied simply. “Harper, Zander, and Shawn are out looking for a ghost. Somehow this all fits together. I need to figure out how.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”
SHAWN TOOK HIS JOB AS PROTECTOR SERIOUSLY. He allowed Harper and Zander to wander around the clearing where the first fake body was found while he kept his attention focused firmly on the periphery. He was determined to make Jared proud.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t tune out the conversation Harper and Zander were mired in.
“Maybe she came up here to see her daughter,” Zander suggested as Harper used a stick to shove ferns and various foliage out of the way. “Maybe that’s why she sounds so snotty when talking about her daughter. She could blame her or something.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Harper countered. “I mean ... what sort of mother blames her daughter? My mother is an absolute pill, and even she wouldn’t blame me for something like this.”
Zander made a face. “I think you’re selling your mother short. I think she would totally hang around if murdered, and if she didn’t blame you, she would totally blame your father. That’s simply who she is.”
“I think she’d be more likely to blame Dad than me,” Harper admitted. “You’re right about her hanging around, though. She’ll have to be booted from this world. She won’t go to the next world willingly.”
“She’s like my mother that way,” Zander agreed. “They’ll haunt us together.”
“Except you can’t see ghosts, so they’ll really be haunting me.”
“Yes, but my mother is insistent. She’ll torture
