Page 62

“So there would have to have been some sort of injury, right?”

I blew out a breath. “Yeah.”

“Which means…?”

“The coroner either didn’t do a very thorough job at all, or the bastard lied.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you tell Elliot?”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

I poked more at a pecan. “Because I’m really dreading having to tell him we might have to dig his father back up.”

“Oh,shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to?”

“I’m gonna have to at some point,” I replied. “But I’d like to get through the office first. Just in case there’s other stuff I have to work on.”

“Is that what you’re doing?”

“I was, yeah.”

“Should I help you or Elliot?”

God, I loved him. Because he was so impossibly selfless that he was willing to do whatever needed to be done without so much as a grimace. I put down my sundae and walked over to wrap him in my arms. He hugged me back with the arm not holding his custard.

“Is that an answer?” he asked me, his cheek against my chest.

“Elliot,” I replied. “I just love you.”

He leaned back a little to look up at me. “Te amo tambien,” he answered. “You okay?”

“Not really, but I’m working on it.”

He stood on his toes to kiss me, and I bent so that I could meet his lips with mine. He tasted like custard and peanut butter. Then he leaned back. “I should go be useful,” he told me.

“And I’ve got some evidence to keep combing through.” I retrieved my sundae and took another bite. “Just as soon as I finish this.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked me. “About the coroner’s report?”

I kept eating and answered him around a mouthful. “Not sure yet. I’m hoping to get something more that will give me a reason I can take to the Shawano PD that will force action. Right now, the word of a ghost isn’t enough, clearly.” Because nobody had contacted Elliot about reopening or taking another look at his dad’s case, despite Ward’s tip. “So I need something more than just that.”

Taavi nodded. “Do you think you’ll find it?”

I scooped the last of my slightly melty custard and a final pecan out of the dish. “I fucking hope so.”

* * *

I was halfwaythrough the room when the doorbell rang, scaring the shit out of me. “Jesus! Fuck.”