Okay, maybe I was, but not tonight. Not when it came to this. I couldn’t be.
After about five minutes Blount’s head appeared through a house window. I curled my fingers around the handle to open the door for him, anticipating what he had to tell me. But Blount drifted slowly, floating at a leisurely pace back to my truck.
I nearly jumped from the Cruiser to harass Blount about what had happened, but then I realized I’d look like an insane woman arguing with the air.
Kency Blount would be called to haul me in for sure.
When Captain Blount was safely tucked inside, I couldn’t wait any longer for an answer. “Well?”
“Ma’am, the device you described is not in that house.”
“What? It has to be.”
“It doesn’t have to be because it wasn’t.”
I slumped into the seat. “Maybe you searched too quickly.” But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true.
“I can feel the presence of other spirits through objects. I would’ve known if it was inside. It was not.”
I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “What about the woman? Was she in there?”
“The home was also empty of a warm-blooded woman.”
I nibbled my bottom lip. Okay, so maybe Fannie had taken the tube out. Out? Where could she be? Most elderly people were home in bed by this time. After all, didn’t they have medicine to take, sleep to catch up on?
I curled my fingers around the steering wheel. The cool leather felt good against my skin. Flexing my fingers helped me to think, and boy, did I need to think.
I turned my attention to the Jarvis house. Inside were two adults and one young girl. If for some reason Fannie freed that spirit, it would return to the home and possibly hurt one of those innocents.
Or me. It might hurt me.
I was innocent, too.
Okay, that wasn’t a lie I tell myself. I was innocent. I’d never done anything to hurt this spirit. All I wanted was to send him on to whatever other side he needed to be sent to.
A sudden streak of color across the Jarvis’s lawn caught my attention.
“What was that?”
“That, madam, appears to be a person perusing the grounds of that home.”
“Thank you, Captain Blount.”
“You are most welcome.”
I slipped from the truck and crept toward the house. Something flashed in the corner of my eye.
“Now I’ve got you,” I whispered.
I plastered my back to the side of the house and slowly slid to the edge.
Whoever was there was only a few feet away in a bush. All I had to do was jump out and scare them.
Wait. What if they had a gun? The neighborhood wasn’t in the best shape, and I was absolutely weaponless.
I motioned to Captain Blount, who appeared to be picking daisies, only he couldn’t quite grab ahold of them.
And he’s the person who offered to retrieve the tube for me?
