Tart and Owen exchanged another look. A shiver raced down my spine. As much as I wanted to think that Francine had been lying, I suddenly had the feeling that she was very much telling me the truth.
Very much so.
“How’s Roan doing?” I directed to Owen.
He smiled proudly. “Wonderful. He’s beginning to get the hang of it.”
“That’s great.” I nabbed a roll from a breadbasket and ripped it open. “But you didn’t think I could see him.”
“Not yet,” Owen said. “You still need more time.”
“Blissful,” Tart said sweetly, “your father and I were thinking you might want to come away with us. Just for a little while.”
I hiked my brow. “Why?”
“Because we want to get to know you, and while you’re working here, in Haunted Hollow, you’re distracted,” Owen explained. He thumbed toward Tart and then himself. “We’re distracted, too.”
I pretended to think about it for a moment. “I’m afraid I can’t. You want to get to know me, talk to me here. Learn about me here.”
“But there are people,” Owen argued, “bad people who may want to hurt you. Especially since this article came out.”
Francine popped into view behind Owen and Tart. She smiled widely and moved with the stealth of a snake. A moment later she produced two ID cards.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom.”
Francine vanished.
I met her in the ladies room. There she handed me the cards. My heart broke when I read the names on them. Tart wasn’t Tart at all; she was Mary Fletcher, and Owen was Henry Fletcher. They were married, obviously working together.
I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Francine said.
I nodded and escaped into a stall. I opened my phone and dialed a number. It only rang once before there was an answer.
“Hey,” I said. “I need you to pull information on two names for me. Can you do that?”
The person on the other line said yes.
I gave the names and waited until the information came back. When it did, I listened carefully. My heart was in my throat, and my blood pounded in my ears.
It was worse than I thought.
After a couple of minutes I pulled myself together and left the bathroom.
I sank back into the chair across from my parents, smiled widely and said, “You know what? I’ve changed my mind. I’d love to go with y’all. When do we leave?”
After lunchI headed back to the house to get ready for the night. My phone rang as soon as I entered.
Roan’s name flashed across the screen. I couldn’t answer fast enough.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, yourself,” he said in that sexy Southern drawl of his. “I’ve been missing you.”
“I miss you. I had lunch with Owen today. He says you’re learning quickly.”
Roan chuckled. “If you call almost raising an army of the dead learning quickly, then I’m a natural.”
