Page 78 of Grave Danger

Lucia gave him a cold look. “No.”

“That’s settled then. I’m coming with you.” Agatha looked at Zenona. “Can I leave my number with you, and if anything changes with Jugs you’ll call me?”

“As long as he signs a release form for you to be given information about this condition,” Zenona said.

“Let’s go do that.” Agatha pointed at Cody. “Don’t leave. I’m coming back in a few minutes.”

Demetrius watched her and Zenona walk quickly across the lobby toward the elevators. When they were lost to sight, he looked at Lucia, who sat slumped in one corner of the bench she had dragged over. She appeared exhausted, and Demetrius could not blame her one bit. She’d been having a really shitty week.

“Did you get any updates on Ryan’s condition?” Demetrius asked.

Lucia lifted her gaze from the floor, seeming almost surprised to see him standing there. She was quiet a moment, as if processing his question, then shook her head. “No. The doctors and nurses had swarmed him by the time I got back there. I’m going to encourage them to talk with Zenona when I go back, have them work together on Jugs and Zellmer’s cases.”

“Will you keep us updated?” Demetrius asked. “I know we can’t know specifics, but he did try to protect us.”

“I’ll tell you as much as I’m able to.” Lucia sat on the edge of the bench and put her hands between her knees. Demetrius sat down across from her and leaned in as well, Cody copying his position in the seat beside him.

“You go out there and figure out what the fuck is going on at that cemetery,” Lucia said. “Pennsylvania State Police will be there by now, but I’ll tell Wisher to be open with you about anything they’ve learned.”

“Which one’s Wisher?” Cody asked. “I get all your deputies mixed up.”

“Glasses, comb-over, pot belly,” Lucia said. “His looks are deceiving. He’s as sharp as they come, and he doesn’t miss a detail.”

Her mention of the PSP brought back memories of Hap Blanchard, and Demetrius sat back as a surprisingly strong wave of grief swept through him. They’d met Hap and his partner, Rufus, while on their honeymoon at a secluded cabin in the middle of Heaversford Lake. Rufus had died during that week, a victim of the desperate lake monster, Esther, and Hap had been killed by Nicolae, the alpha werewolf.

So many people gone. Sometimes if felt as if someone was stacking the bodies up inside him, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Agatha returned, panting slightly and jingling her keys in one hand. She exuded an aura of hectic energy, and it snapped Demetrius back to the moment and crisis at hand.

“Okay, who’s ready to cruise a cemetery for zombies?” Agatha said.

Demetrius, Cody, and Lucia shushed her simultaneously. They all looked around the lobby, but no one seemed to have heard her.

“Sorry,” Agatha whispered. “I just really want to get some answers to all this craziness.”

“We’re going to make a Critter Catcher out of you, yet,” Cody said with a big smile. “Let’s go creature hunting.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Cody rode shotgun and Demetrius sat on the bench seat behind in Agatha’s truck as she drove them out Route 118 toward Eternal Rest. The seat was covered in dog hair, therefore, his shorts and shirt were as well. All three of them were quiet, and Cody figured they were all trying to process everything that had happened since the funeral. Or, really, since he’d hit the mayor.

Hell, he was still trying to process all the shit that had happened since they opened Critter Catchers. Who had been taking care of monsters before they’d started catching critters? Someone had to have been doing it, hadn’t they? Otherwise the town would have been overrun ages ago. Then again, several of their monster cases had happened outside of town, so really there had only been three in Parson’s Hollow. Two if he was to get technical about it, since Nicolae had come there seeking revenge for the death of one of his werewolves.

“Think they’ll have cleaned up the bodies by the time we get out there?” Agatha said.

“Probably not yet,” Demmy said. “They’ll have to write up reports and get the state police crime scene lab out there and figure out what graves they came from. It’s going to be a long day for them.”

A distant rumble of thunder made them all look up. Dark clouds were moving in from the southwest, looking like some kind of ocean freighter from the gods, about to bring mass destruction to the human race. Or at least their county.

“Perfect,” Cody muttered. “Thunderstorm just in time for zombie hunting.”

“Story of our lives,” Demmy said.

“We’ve still got some time,” Agatha said. “It’s a little ways off.”

The entrance to the cemetery was blocked by two state police cruisers, and Cody grunted. “I bet the manager loves this.”

“I’m sure Buford Heights will be posting about this,” Demmy said.