She nodded knowingly. “The answer is right in front of you people,” she said. Even though she was haughty, I was interested in what she had to say. “Wesley showed up in that building because there’s a door nearby, one he could be pushed through but the vampires and other evildoers can’t traverse. Perhaps he could cross because he shares some of the same blood with Hadley.”
I felt like an idiot as what she said fell into place. “Oh, geez.” I rubbed my forehead. “Of course there’s a door in the cemetery. That makes perfect sense.”
“Tell me how,” Galen argued, “because none of this makes sense to me.”
Booker responded. “The hunch we’re working on is that Emma Hunter found Wesley and got him to this side. She could do that only if a door already existed.”
“Why not send Wesley back through the same door Hadley used to get back?” Galen countered.
“The shadow, or Declan, is watching the door. He might have even blocked it off. It’s folly to think there’s only one entry to come back through.”
“So Emma got Wesley back through a different door while Declan was focused on the one Hadley used.” Galen stroked his chin. “Perhaps that’s a door we can use if we need to.”
“We could check it out tonight,” an eager Lucinda suggested. “I wouldn’t mind checking out this other plane.”
I was interested in doing that myself but to nobody’s surprise, especially mine, Galen shook his head.
“We can’t go into the cemetery at night. It’s too dangerous.”
“Why?” Taylor asked.
“A cadre of zombies climb out of their graves every night to walk around the cemetery,” Flip replied. “I’ve seen the phenomenon in action. It’s creepy.”
“They’ll bite,” Galen said. “That’s why the cemetery is walled off. We can’t go in to look around until they’ve gone to sleep for the day.”
“Tomorrow?” Lucinda asked hopefully.
“Yes,” Galen replied, his eyes moving to me. “Before anybody tries to cross over, we’re going to have a long talk.”
I didn’t argue — what would be the point? — and instead went back to my margarita. “I can’t wait to look for the door,” I said, knowing it would irritate Galen. When I looked up, I saw Julian watching me with unreadable eyes. “What?” I asked.
“Machismo,” was his only response.
That made me smirk. “Machismo,” I agreed.
And because he’d never met an evening he didn’t want to somehow make worse, Carlos chose that moment to coast overhead.
“That’s one stinky Twinkie,” he screeched.
Silence descended over the table, then everybody burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh. Deep down, though, I knew laughs would be in short supply the next day.
24
TWENTY-FOUR
We separated from the others after dinner. Galen suggested a walk to digest the huge amounts of food we’d eaten. I assumed he was going to take me to the cemetery so we could look for the door. Instead, he took me to the beach.
“This is nice,” I said after a few minutes.
He held my hand, easily swinging our arms. The rolling surf and balmy breeze eased some of the tension.
“Do you want to talk about what you’re thinking?” Galen asked after several minutes of silence.
“I’m thinking too many things,” I admitted. “One second I have an idea I’m committed to. The next I have an entirely different one.”
“Tell me your ideas.”
“Won’t that just confuse the situation?”
