“Chuch can do it. He won’t want to,” Eva added, as her husband backed toward the door. “But he can. His don deals with the dead. His tia Rosario totally possessed him one night after he had too much tequila because she wanted to yell at his cousin Ramon for giving her such a cheap funeral.”
I stifled a laugh.
“I’m trying to forget that, woman. You think that was easy to live down?”
Chance appeared to be considering the idea. “We’d need something that belonged to Maris to guide us. It’s almost impossible to summon the right spirit otherwise.”
I couldn’t believe I was about to suggest this. “Jesse used to date her, so he might have something of hers. That would mean bringing him in, though.”
It would be a test, I decided. If he was working against us, there was no way he’d agree to help with something that could give us vital information. And I needed to know which side he was on.
“Jesse,” Chance repeated. “The cop, you mean?”
“Yeah. Officer Saldana.”
If I called him tonight, that would make three times in one day I’d seen or spoken to him. He was going to think I was crazy about him. Or just plain crazy. It didn’t matter what he thought, though, just what he said in response to this admittedly bizarre request.
“It’s worth a shot.” By Eva’s expression, she knew Chuch hated the idea, but she enjoyed stirring the pot.
“I’m not doing it,” Chuch muttered. “I wouldn’t know how to do it on purpose. Tia Rosario was just—”
I said, “I bet I know some people who can help us with the ritual aspects of it. Can I borrow your computer?”
The mechanic glared at me. “Not helping.” Then he relented, “Yeah, I guess.”
Leaving them to bicker, I headed for his home office and sat down at the desk. He didn’t have a password, so the screensaver kicked right off. First I dug into my bag for the Area 51 log-in info, and then I brought up the browser.
The site didn’t show so much as a picture before I entered the code, and then it took me to a bulletin board of all things, a plain gray bulletin board. As I surfed down some of the subject headings, though, it became obvious this was the real deal.
Need help in Dallas, looking for exorcist.
Have work for clairvoyant.
Fifth down, I saw medium for hire and opened that one up. Since I type about four words a minute, it took me a good while to compose and send the private message. I didn’t know how soon we’d hear back, though.
As I spun in the office chair, Chance gave me a start, standing silently in the doorway. Just watching me. I couldn’t read his expression, but then I never could. In the beginning his beauty had distracted me, but he always possessed a good poker face.
He pushed away from the doorjamb. “You really think it’s a good idea, trusting him all the way?”
I didn’t confide my private doubts; he’d enjoy it too much. Instead I hedged. “I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to trust someone all the way.”
As he knelt beside me, I saw the gold flecks in his amber eyes. “You never get tired of turning the knife, do you?”
“Maybe you just have a guilty conscience where I’m concerned.”
Chance ignored that. “So are you going to call him?”
“Did Chuch agree to give it a try? It’s pointless if he’s not willing. Though I don’t imagine he actually wanted to be possessed by his aunt Rosario, so maybe we just need to ply him with tequila.”
“Eva wants him to. Do you think he ever tells her no?”
I thought about it. “Probably not. I need some of what she’s got.”
“You’re great the way you are,” he said with some heat. “I was wondering . . .” Chance trailed off, as if deciding now wasn’t the time.
“What?”
“Would you ever consider starting over? Us, I mean.” At my stunned look, he added quietly, “I’m never going to find anyone like you.”
Once I would’ve been certain he meant my gift. Now I didn’t know what to believe or whether I could trust my own judgment.
“I don’t know.” From the way his face fell, he wanted to hear something else, but I don’t make promises if I’m not sure I can keep them. “I need to think and I can’t do that right now. There’s too much other stuff going on. I don’t want to make a mistake.”
He reached for my hand. The same sweet thrill went through me as the first night he did that over dinner. “I want you to do something for me,” he said quietly.
Another favor? He had some nerve, I decided.
“I already am. You want something else?”
Chance lifted my scarred palm to his mouth and sealed my fingers over the kiss. “Go home, Corine. This is uglier than I knew. I don’t think they’ll bother you if you back off, so just go. Please.”
I yanked my hand away. “One minute you’re asking me to be with you, and the next you’re telling me to go. Hot and cold, Chance. I swear you do it to keep me off balance. Some crazy power game and I—”
His eyes blazed as he flattened a palm over my mouth. By his expression he wanted it to be his lips, which used to be his favorite method of shutting me up.
“You’re so clueless it’s ridiculous,” he growled. “Remember what I said to Chuch? It applies to you. It doesn’t matter if I want you with me—and of course I do. Christ. You’re sunshine to me, Corine.” Apparently distracted, he traced the softness of my lips with his fingertips, like a kiss.
I couldn’t get my breath, let alone speak.
He went on. “But if something happens to you here, now, there won’t be anything I can do to bring you back.” By the darkness in his tiger’s eyes, I saw that he’d realized what his luck could do to me, what it had already done. “No revenge in the world will offer help for that. I need to know you’re safe, that’s all.”
My heart gave a wayward lurch. I tugged his hand away from my mouth before I succumbed to the urge to kiss his palm. “You want to send me away because you’re worried about me?”
“Yeah.” His voice came out husky. “I should’ve known better than to drag you into this. I just keep making the same stupid mistakes. I still don’t deserve you.”
“Nobody deserves me.” I half smiled to show I meant something different.
“Come here,” he whispered.
I slid from the chair to my knees, let myself lean into him. His arms came around me but I didn’t want to hurt his back. Chance brushed his lips against my temple and I lifted my face, craving the heat of his mouth.
“Aw, man,” Chuch said from the doorway. “Don’t even think about doing it on my office floor. That’s a new rug.”
Making Connections
I scrambled to my feet, feeling heat in my cheeks. “So are we doing this?”
Chuch threw himself into his plaid recliner. “Yeah, I guess. How bad could it be?”
Hm, I wish he hadn’t put it like that.
“I’ll call Jesse then.” Though I wasn’t exactly eager, I wanted to do something. Up until now, it seemed like our unknown enemy had all the advantages. I felt like Jodi Foster in The Silence of the Lambs, with a killer watching through night-vision goggles while I fumbled around in the dark.
Chance offered his hand and I hesitated only a second before I took it. He didn’t need my support, though, as he eased to his feet with a grace I’d never possess. I didn’t know where we stood, but his hand in the small of my back said he had some ideas. I just wasn’t sure whether they correlated with mine. That didn’t stop me from leaning back against him, however.
With a sigh, I dialed Jesse’s cell. He answered on the third ring. “Saldana.”
“This is going to sound strange. . . .”
“I expect that of you. What’s up?”
“Do you have anything that belonged to Maris?”
“You think I’m a serial killer or something, keeping trophies? Look, I may have a lot of exes but—”
“No, that’s not it.” How weird that he immediately leaped to that conclusion, though. Just how far did his range stretch? Could he sense my mistrust? “We’re going to try to contact her. Just because she’s crossed over, it doesn’t mean we can’t find out what she knew.” Put that way, it sounded callous. If he was innocent, he might get mad.
“It doesn’t always work,” he said, his voice subdued. “And when they come back, sometimes they’re . . . not right. You better be sure you know what you’re doing.”
I ignored that. “Can you help or not?”
He sighed. “Hold on. Let me take a look around.”
That must mean he was home. Well, I didn’t know what to make of his reaction. He sounded sad and resigned, not angry or unwilling. But maybe he was a consummate actor.
I glanced at the clock. After six. No wonder dinner smelled so good. I’d taken only a few bites of my parrillada before the Camry blew up. Man, I didn’t envy Chance the conversation with the rental company. Customer service people make cops look benign.
When he came back on the line, Saldana sounded odd. “She left something in my medicine cabinet. I never go in there or I’d have sent it back to her.”
“Come on over then.” I gave him Chuch’s address. “We’re having chicken noodle casserole and then we’re raising the dead. We’d love it if you came.”
At this Chance tightened his arms around me and gave me a little squeeze. I didn’t know if it was meant to be a warning or what, but I just grinned at him over my shoulder. Even if I let him hold me for a minute, it didn’t mean he had me.
“Sadly,” Saldana said, “that’s the most interesting invitation I’ve received all week. Give me half an hour?”
“Excellent. See you soon.” I hit the off button on my cell and noticed the way Chuch was looking at us. I really hate a man who smirks.