Page 24 of Dead Serious: Case 3 Mr Bruce Reyes

“What? It’s a valid point.” She holds up her hands innocently. “If you’re gonna pitch up rocking the sexy CEO look, you can’t expect the poor humans to not want to bang you.”

Before my mind can process everything going on in my kitchen, Death disappears from his chair in a swirl of black smoke and reappears in front of Chan, crowding her against the counter. Although she has those ridiculously tall heels on, he towers over her.

“You interest me,” he states, his voice a deep rumble as he stares down at her.

“Whoa, back up there, big fella.” Chan pats his chest and shifts, forcing him to step back a pace. “I’ve been cornered by a six-foot bear wearing only a harness and leather mask at a sex convention in Brighton. You don’t scare me.”

“What were you doing at a sex convention in Brighton?” I ask curiously.

“We lost a bet,” Chan replies and Dusty sniggers.

“That was an eye-watering experience,” Dusty says.

“I think we’re getting slightly offtrack,” Danny interjects. Always the voice of reason. “Death, why are you here?”

For a moment, I don’t think he’s going to answer. He stares at Chan for several long seconds before dissipating into smoke again and reappearing in his chair.

“You’ve got to admit the smoke thing is cool,” Sam mutters to Harrison, who rolls his eyes.

Instead of answering Danny, Death fixes those blue eyes on me. “You’ve run out of time, Tristan,” he says.

“What?”

“The bones have been uncovered, and the clock is now ticking.”

“Bones!” Danny exclaims. Seeing me startle, he rushes to explain. “Right before the accident, Maddie and I were called to an abandoned rugby ground in Surbiton because someone had discovered human bones buried beneath the pitch. Oh my god, how could I have forgotten?”

“Probably because you got hit in the head with a tree,” Chan mutters.

I ignore Chan and catch Dusty’s gaze. Her brow is wrinkled and her mouth is pinched in worry at Danny’s sudden exclamation. At the mention of bones being uncovered, especially at an old rugby ground, I know both of us are thinking exactly the same thing.

“You found bones?” I turn to Danny. “Human bones?”

He nods. “I don’t have any details. Honestly, the whole crime scene was strange. The bones were laid out weirdly, all neatly stacked on top of each other. And there weren’t any signs of digging at all. It looked like the ground just burst open and spit the bones out. Dr O’Hara said he wouldn’t be able to tell the age or gender of the victim until he’d got the bones back to his lab and examined them properly. But that was a couple of days ago, so maybe he has some answers by now.”

“O’Hara?” I repeat, remembering the conversation I’d had with Death in my dream. “Roger O’Hara?”

Danny nods. “That’s him. Odd bloke with a comb-over. Do you know him?”

“He works in the forensic anthropology department.” I chew my lip worriedly and glance back at Death. “It’s just like you told me.”

“What’s going on?” Danny asks. “Do you know something about the bones?”

“Um.” I glance up at Dusty and see she’s gone pale. “I think I know who the bones belong to.”

“What?” Danny frowns. “Who?”

“Bruce Reyes. He’s one of the ghosts at the bookshop in Whitechapel I told you about,” I reply. “He’s Dusty’s–” I see her brows fold into a frown. “Never mind. Anyway, he nearly always appears in a rugby kit. We think he died sometime in the eighties.”

“The eighties?” Danny scratches his jaw thoughtfully. “Can you narrow it down any further?”

I shake my head. “Bruce doesn’t remember anything about his death and his body was never recovered, so he’s never solved his unfinished business and moved on. Instead, he guards the magic doo–” I glance at Death as he raises a brow. “I mean, the portal,” I amend with an eye roll. “He guards the portal.”

“Portal?” Harrison interrupts. “What portal?”

“You might as well tell them, Tristan,” Death says as he leans back comfortably in his chair. “You’re going to need their help.”

“There’s a portal in the back room of the bookshop,” I explain. “It’s a… what did Bruce call it?” I ask Dusty.