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Her chest gripped, and she felt pain behind her rib cage. Goose bumps tripled and chased each other on Della’s skin. She looked at her elderly neighbor, remembering that when she’d been turned and Mrs. Chi had heard she’d been sick, she’d brought Della egg drop soup. Was the woman…?
Mrs. Chi glanced up at Della. “Have you seen my cat?” Then panic entered her dark Asian eyes. “What happened? I brought hamburgers and then…” She faded, turning into nothing more than a smear of wispy fog in the night. Or was that smear the mist in Della’s own eyes?
“No,” Della said. “Talk to me. Who did this to you?”
“Who did what?” Lucas asked, now standing next to her.
Della ignored him and pushed her way through the crowd, wanting nothing more than to prove herself wrong. Right before she went to jump over the yellow tape that an officer had just rolled out, Lucas caught her.
“You can’t go in there.” He leaned in. “Della? What’s going on? You’re acting freaky. Kylie freaky. Ghost freaky.”
Della ignored Lucas and listened to the cops’ dialogue. “How many?” asked one of the paramedics.
“Two,” someone answered. “I’m told it was their store. Someone pumping gas saw the old man on the floor through the window.”
* * *
Chase had taken his car down some back roads where he could drive fast. He’d even taken the top down, hoping the frigid air would help him think of how to get his ass out of the sling he’d gotten himself into.
As his motor roared he recalled something his dad had told him years ago. Chase had thrown a ball and accidentally broken his next door neighbor’s window. The old man who lived there had been a grumpy ol’ ass. Chase hadn’t wanted to face him. His mom had agreed to do it, but when his dad found out their plan, he hit the roof.
When you make a mistake, son, you face it.
He’s gonna yell at me, Dad.
Well, yeah. You broke his window. He has the right to yell.
Chase turned his car around and headed back to Shadow Falls.
He parked his car. The lights were off in the office. Burnett was probably at the cabin he and Holiday shared. He walked through the gate, knowing the alarm rang.
When he stepped up on their porch he heard Holiday talking, no doubt trying to calm her husband down. It seemed that was the woman’s mission in life.
He knocked.
“Be smart and leave!” Burnett’s words and anger carried through the door.
“I’m not leaving,” Chase said.
The door swung open. A bright-eyed Burnett stood there.
“Can I come in?” Chase asked.
“I’d prefer you didn’t,” he said, but shifted back.
Chase stepped inside. Holiday rushed in from the hall with Hannah, her dark-haired little girl, in her arms and placed the baby in Burnett’s arms.
“What are you doing?” Burnett asked.
“You asked me to not let you kill him. I figure you won’t kill him if you’re holding Hannah.” The woman’s green eyes looked determined. “Plus, she needs changing and it’s your turn.”
Burnett cradled the small sleepy body against him. “I still have one free hand.” He looked at Chase. “Why are you back?”
Chase swallowed the lump in his throat. It wasn’t fear, it was pride. “Because I remembered something my dad told me. When you make a mistake, you face it. I made a mistake, sir.”
“If you mean coming back here, I agree.”
“No. I made a mistake trying to force your hand. You demand respect, and believe it or not, I do respect you. What I did was probably the most disrespectful thing I could have done. I’m asking you to overlook my stupidity. Let me stay here.”
