Page 25 of Girl Between

“I’d say she’s more than okay,” George answered. “You saw the selfie.”

“Thanks for proof of life.”

“Shepard, I’m not gonna lie to ya. I ran into your girl in the Quarter last night. She can take care of herself. Something it seems you should know considering she’s your partner.”

“Yeah,” Jake grumbled.

George chuckled. “Neither of you are well-versed in articulating your relationship, huh?”

“Why? What did she say?” Jake asked.

George could hear the worry in his friend’s voice. He respected his former brother in arms too much to tease him. “She said it’s complicated.”

A grunt of frustration came from Jake.

“Look, Shepard. I’m not trying to get in the middle of whatever is or isn’t going on between you two, but I’ve gotta ask you something.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you trust her?”

“With my life,” Jake said without hesitation. “Why?”

“Something I saw at her office today. It might be involved in a case I’m working.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure yet. I don’t want to get ahead of myself but tell me more about the work Dr. Gray does.”

“She’s an occult specialist. She oversees one of the world’s largest collections of rare books and artifacts at the Smithsonian. You should see the place. It’s a subterranean labyrinth of everything that goes bump in the night. I used to think it was all a bunch of hocus pocus, but since the first case we worked together, she’s done nothing but prove me wrong.”

“How do you mean?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Shepard said. “But the world the Army had us living in isn’t the only one out there.”

George felt his skin prickle. “Are you talking about cults?”

“More like lost practices. Things that exist alongside modern lifeyet hide in the gray space between what we’re taught is fact and fantasy.”

George couldn’t help his grin. “It sounds like you’re describing Nawlins.”

“I guess it isn’t any wonder why Dana feels at home there.”

“I saw an artifact at her office today when I went to check on her for you. She said it’s her field of expertise. If she’s as good as you say she is, I think she might be able to shed some light on my current case. Do you think she’d be open to assisting with my investigation?”

Jake hesitated, filling the dead air with tension. Finally, he spoke. “You’d have to ask her.”

“You’d be okay with me doing that?”

“I’m not one to stand in the way of justice.”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” George said, solemnly.

“Dana’s life is her own,” Jake answered.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to get in the middle of something.”

“There’s nothing to get in the middle of,” Shepard replied.