by Dana Davis
Bridgette couldn’t help but laugh. “It does sound a bit nuts when you put it like that. But you’re hardly a simple paranormal, Kali. And if you think it’s your fault the hitchhiker got loose, you better get in line. You’ll have to duke over that guilt with Daisy and Scarlet. And me. I can sense a ghostly presence. So why didn’t I sense the hitchhiker?”
“Okay, maybe we’re all at fault. Or maybe none of us. But when I shelved my necro powers all those years ago, I never planned to use them again. And I seriously never expected to get involved in anything so—”
“Paranormal?”
Kali chuckled but she sounded anxious. “Yeah.”
Bridgette took a right at the next light as silence filled the car now. A few blocks later, she took another right into Liam’s old neighborhood, just fifteen minutes from Daisy’s house. If it weren’t for a few porch lights that lit the darkness, the area would seem deserted. No kids, no cars, no one taking a dog on that last walk before bed.
She slowed the car and opened her senses. Nothing unusual. Just the typical shit she normally heard from strangers. She couldn’t sense Kali, of course. And the one that bothered her most? No Liam. At least not nearby. “Keep your eyes peeled, Kali. In case he’s here somewhere.”
“What’s your telepathy range?”
“A square block or so. Give or take.”
“Seriously? Shit. On the rare occasions when I use mine, I’m lucky to hear anyone outside whatever room I’m in. Well, not lucky. You know what I mean.” Kali’s weak telepathy abilities caused her immediate pain.
“I know.” Two blocks later, Bridgette made a left onto Liam’s old street. She parked and killed the engine.
“Which one is it?”
Bridgette lifted her chin to indicate the house. “The corner one.” With a streetlight next to it, she had little trouble seeing. The wrought iron driveway gate was closed and no lights were on inside. “I don’t sense anyone inside. But I’d rather be sure.”
She got out. Kali followed her up the walkway and along the circular drive toward the front of the house. Another wrought iron gate secured a large porch and sitting area around a small fountain. The fountain wasn’t running.
Bridgette tried the gate. “Locked.” Someone had forgotten to close the shutters and she motioned Kali to come with her. The two peered in through the bay window. “Empty.” Where the hell is he? She called the hospital again but Hattie told her he still hadn’t been found. “Damnit.”
Kali studied her. “Now what? Where else would Liam go?”
Bridgette let out a sigh and thought a moment. The last place he remembers before coming back to his senses is the carnival. She brought up the wireless network list on her phone, found one that wasn’t locked, and connected to it.
“What’re you doing?”
“Checking something.” She found what she was looking for and turned to Kali. “The state fair is still going on. Maybe he went to the fairgrounds. He could be confused and think it’s the carnival where—” Her throat threatened to close up and she cleared it.
Kali rested a brief hand on her arm. “You think we can make it before they close?”
Bridgette smile at the Asian woman, who stood nearly as tall as she. “For a belly dancing, reverse empath, telepathic necro, you’re very naïve, Kali Lau. I’m a witch, remember? I think we can make it, but even if we don’t, a little thing like locked gates won’t stop me.”
Kali planted hands on her hips. She still wore her sequined purse across her chest and it sparkled in the glow of the streetlight. “Well, my family didn’t encourage me to be a badass like you.”
Bridgette chuckled. “Now’s your chance. You can influence anyone we might run into. Up for a little outing to the fairgrounds?” And last time I checked, they didn’t have Madam Zenar employed. Or any mediums, for that matter. The proverbial light bulb went off in her head that told her it couldn’t hurt to check that too.
“Breaking and entering?” Kali said. “I don’t have to work tomorrow, so sure.”
They started back to Bridgette’s car. “See, you are a badass.”
“No, just a friend. You want to call Daisy and let her know? Or your mom?”
“Hell no. Daisy needs to rest. And my mom’s going to make my life miserable tomorrow, anyway. She doesn’t need more ammo.”
“I can sympathize.” Kali climbed into the passenger seat.
Bridgette got in and started the motor. “You can?”
“Oh, you poor, poor white girls. So ignorant about the Chinese grandmother syndrome.” Kali buckled her seatbelt then faced Bridgette, who chuckled. “See it’s like this. Single Chinese women get atrophied ovaries when they reach my age. So I need to marry right away and start popping out babies to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Bridgette pressed the button to put the top up on the convertible and smiled. “Your grandmother sounds a lot like my mom.” Once the top was secure, she did a u-turn and headed in the direction of the freeway.
“When I turned eighteen, Nainai started setting me up with eligible Chinese men. Now that I’m in my thirties, she hits up any paranormal guy who’ll talk to her. As long as he’s not married and has a decent job, he’s game. Her gaydar sucks so I can’t tell you how many times she set me up with a guy who just wanted to be friends. Either they don’t want to hurt her feelings or they’re scared of her, so they let me break that news. And do you know she once tried to hook me up with a guy in his sixties?”
“That doesn’t seem too bad. Some older paranormal men have a lot of life in them.” Most paranormals lived well past one hundred so sixty was still middle-age.
“I was twenty-one at the time.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Even a paranormal in his sixties seems ancient when you’re that young. I’ve begged my mother to talk to her, but she’s afraid Nainai will start in on how she failed to raise a proper daughter.”
“What about your dad?”
Kali laughed. “He’s more afraid of confronting Nainai than my mother is. But he was born in this country so he’s cool with me just being happy.”
“At least your parents aren’t pushing you to get a ball-and-chain husband.” Bridgette reached the 101 onramp and took it.
“True. But Nainai’s the matriarch so she has a lot of influence. Especially when it comes to relationships. How about your grandmothers? They still around?’
“No. But now that Daisy’s a medium, they’ll probably start visiting and telling me exactly where I’ve gone wrong with my love life.”
Kali laughed. Bridgette sped down the freeway, silently praying to the universe to keep Liam safe.
* * * *
When they reached the fairgrounds, the parking lot was emptying out and security lights allowed Bridgette to see two guards at the entrance. Several rides inside the park had lights on but none were moving that she could see. She looked at Kali and saw worry on that exotic face. “Look, you don’t have to come with me. You can stay here. Just keep the doors locked.”
The necro shook her head, black hair swaying. “No way. Daisy would never forgive me if I let you go in there alone at night. Besides, I could use a little excitement. The dead I work with are pretty damn dull.”
“Mortuary humor. Nice.” Bridgette chuckled as they got out. She hit the button on her key fob to lock the car and it chirped. As she and Kali walked toward the entrance, one of the guards started toward them.
“What’re you going to do to him?” Kali said, motioning to the guard.
“First, I’m going to ask him if there’s still time to get in. If not, maybe he’s seen Liam.”
“Oh.” A nervous chuckle. “Guess that makes sense. Don’t want to go all badass witch on him just yet.”
Bridgette shook her head. “Am I going to regret not leaving you in the car?”
“Hey, I don’t get out of the mortuary that often, except for dance performances and very bad dates. This recent thing with Daisy is the most excitement I�
�ve had in a long time.”
“Sorry, ladies,” the guard said as they approached. “We stop letting people in a half hour before closing.” He was a stout, older man of at least sixty and shorter than Bridgette. “You’ll have to come back tomorrow to get tickets.”
She stopped a few feet from him. “We’re not here for the fair.”
“Oh? Then what can I help you ladies with?”
“We’re looking for a friend. He’s been in the hospital and is a little disoriented. The police have been notified but we’re checking all the places he’s been recently.” That’s mostly true. From Liam’s point of view, he was here with me less than a week ago.
“Oh.” He glanced at his watch. “Well, there shouldn’t be too many people in the park now.” He looked over his shoulder. “Hey, Larry? Can you get on the radio and see if there’s a guy wandering around.” He turned back to Bridgette. “Come on up to the gate. What’s he look like?” He led them toward the entrance.
“Tall, skinny, graying blonde hair, looks close to fifty. He’s probably wearing sweat pants and a tee-shirt.” That’s what he had on the last time I saw him, anyway.
“Got that, Larry?” He sauntered over to the other guard.
“Yeah.” Larry pulled out his radio and started talking to someone.
As they waited, Bridgette let part of her mental wall down and opened her senses.
Kali glanced at her and leaned close. “You listening?”
She nodded. “Yeah, but nothing from Liam.”
“Wish I could do that without my head feeling like it’ll explode.”
The one time Kali had opened her senses to Bridgette, it had been under threat from Daisy. They hadn’t known Kali’s telepathic powers were so weak it hurt her to use them. Daisy had apologized numerous times after they realized this paranormal woman was on their side.
And I have to admit I felt a little guilty about it myself. “It’s not all that exciting. Usually.” Bridgette gave Kali a sly grin. “I do like hearing a man’s thoughts before he asks me out.” Maybe I should’ve brought Jay along.
“Bet it saves you a lot of crappy first dates.”
“You have no idea.”
The guard stepped to them again. “Sorry, ladies. No one’s seen him.”
Bridgette took in a long breath. Where the hell is he? “Okay, thanks for checking. Can I give you a number to call if you do see or hear anything?”
“Sure.” He pulled a small notebook and a pen from his pocket.
Bridgette smirked. “Old school, huh?”
The guard laughed. “I hate those damn cell phones. Here.”
Bridgette wrote down the hospital’s number then handed back the pad and pen. “Hey? Do you know if there are any mediums or psychics working here? I’ve got a friend I’d love to drag in for the fun of it.”
“Naw. Just the usual rides and games.” When Bridgette frowned, the man said, “You might try a psychic fair.” He shrugged, looking embarrassed. “The wife goes in for that stuff.”
“Good idea. I’ll look into it.” But she doubted a paranormal would join such a public event. Then again, she never expected a necro at a carnival. Can’t hurt to check, I guess. “Thanks again.”
He smiled. “No problem. You ladies have a nice night.”
When she started toward her car, Kali paced her. “That’s it? We’re not going to sneak in?”
“I didn’t sense Liam. And if those guys didn’t see him, I seriously doubt he’s here.”
“He could be hiding in a funhouse or something.”
“You watch too many detective shows, Kali.”
“Well, yeah. I like those. And forensics shows. Those are the best.”
Dead TV bodies. “Figures.” Bridgette got in, shut her door and faced Kali. “Can you sense another necro?”
“Sure. If I’m looking. And if she’s active. Wait. You want me to check the psychic fairs, right?”
Bridgette put on her seatbelt and started the engine. “See, you don’t need your telepathic powers to read people.”
Kali smiled as she snapped her seatbelt into place. “I’ll look into it but those are usually small events in hotels and bookstores. I doubt your carnie necro would show her face there. Too intimate.”
“Yeah, but I’d like to cover all the options.”
“I’ll get on it tomorrow then.”
“Thanks.” Bridgette started the engine. “Okay, so he’s not here. He wasn’t at his old home. Where else would he have gone?” Then it hit her. “Oh, shit. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.”
“What?”
“The cemetery. Where his grandparents’ ashes are interred.”
Kali let out a rude noise. “Great. Just where I want to go on my time off. A cemetery. Wait. They’re not interred in my cemetery, are they?”
Bridgette smirked and arched a brow.
Kali sighed. “Just when I thought I’d get away from work for a while.”
* * * *
By the time they reached Desert Oasis Cemetery, traffic in North Scottsdale had bled down to a slow trickle. Only the occasional car or delivery truck drove past on the nearby streets. Headstones of various sizes dotted the grassy lawn. Light from the nearby streets illuminated the area enough that Bridgette could make out headstones, desert trees, the two large buildings that housed the mortuary and mausoleum, and the fountain that sat in-between. But they were barely more than shadows.
“What’re their names?”
She glanced at Kali as she slowed to turn into the mortuary entrance. “What?”
“Liam’s grandparents.”
Bridgette realized she didn’t know that. Liam had only mentioned his grandparents’ ashes being interred here as they drove past the night they ended up at the carnival. He said that he had recently visited them. After twenty-two years, if it hadn’t been for what happened to Liam, and the fact that Daisy’s grandparents had plots in this very cemetery, she never would’ve remembered that.
“Shit. I don’t know their names.” She sniffed back frustration and turned into the vacant parking lot. “Hattie might know. But she’s not at the hospital this late and I don’t have her home number. His parents’ ashes are being sent to another state, where his siblings live, so that’s no help.”
Kali hissed. “I remember Hattie telling you that. So they left Liam here in that hospital. Alone. Nice family.”
“Yeah.” Bastards. To a witch, family was everything. Evidently, for some necros too. Bridgette parked the convertible beneath a pruned palo verde tree, hoping to stay in the shadows, and killed the engine. “Hey, where’s your car?” They had picked Kali up here this morning on the way to Apache Junction. She got out and waited for Kali before locking the car.
“My aunt has it. Hers is in the shop.”
“Oh.” The cool night encouraged crickets to chirrup all around as Bridgette started up the long sidewalk that meandered through the grass, cutting the cemetery in two. The grass smelled fresh, like it had just been watered, and she guessed the sprinklers probably ran recently. After a recent heat wave, the chilly air made her shiver, despite the sweater she wore.
“Do you know if they’re his maternal or paternal grandparents?”
I don’t have any fucking idea. “’Fraid not.” All these years and I haven’t really learned as much about Liam as I thought.
“Well, it’s not like he did much talking, right?”
She eyed the lean, Asian woman. “Using your telepathy on me?” No one could get into her mind without her feeling it, so she knew that wasn’t true. Besides, Kali avoided her telepathic abilities like a plague. As they approached the first stucco building, the water was fountain quiet this time of night. “Damnit, I don’t sense him here, either.”
“What’s his last name? I can check the database and see if I get a match.” Keys jingled as Kali pulled them from her purse. “Then you can do another spell.”
“His last name is Collins. But spells aren’t miracles,
Kali.”
“Yeah, I know. But you’ll try one anyway.”
“Smart-ass.” Damn right I’ll try one. I need to find Liam and I’ve run out of places to look. Bridgette waited until Kali opened the door and flipped on a light then she followed the woman inside. The last time she’d been in this building, she and Daisy cornered Kali in her office, thinking the necro had soulnapped Aunt Penny. Now, no music played over the speakers. Good. I hate that fucking musac shit.
Kali locked the door behind them and led Bridgette to the reception counter, where she turned on one of the computers. “It’ll be just a minute. We really need to upgrade our system.”
“No problem. At least you don’t keep them in the mausoleum.”
Kali smirked and pushed her black hair behind one ear. “You got something against dead people, Bridgette?”
“Just the ones I can’t see.” Which is all of them, except family.
Kali turned back to the computer as they both waited.
After a couple of minutes, she said, “Okay, we’re up.” The keys clacked as she typed, with an occasional respite as she moved the mouse. It echoed in the quiet building. “Cabrera, Calvin, Cheeney, Cochran – Here we are – Collins. Hmm, looks like two different families with that name. One at each end of the mausoleum. I don’t see Liam’s name associated with either but it can’t hurt to look. Do you know when they died?”
“Not exactly. But twenty-two years ago is when Liam told me they were here, so it was before that. Hey, mind if I use the ladies room?”
“Oh, sure.” Kali offered her keys over the counter. “It’s the larger square one.”
“Thanks.” The sound of clicking monitor keys followed Bridgette down the hallway. She passed one of the memorial rooms on the way. Thankfully no casket sat inside. Oh right, like they’d leave a dead body just lying out in the open this late at night. Get a fucking grip, Bridgette. You’re supposed to be the tough one, remember?
She unlocked the women’s bathroom door, pressed the handle down, and pushed it open. The switch was on the left and she squinted as the fluorescent lights flickered on. The tidy bathroom had two stalls and looked recently renovated with neutral tile, granite counters, and brushed nickel faucets. Subdued, like most everything about Kali when she wasn’t dancing.