Della smiled at her, even though it hurt to see her with such dark circles under her eyes and her cheekbones so pronounced.
Natasha smiled back and sat up a little.
“Would you like to rest now? I can come back.”
“No, please come in.” Natasha motioned her in then checked on Liam, who was still asleep.
Della inched in. “I have doctor’s orders not to stay long.”
Natasha nodded. “I hear you and that guy who was with you are the ones responsible for finding us.”
Indecision flipped around her head. Should she tell Natasha the whole truth about the ghost? Yes, Della realized. Natasha deserved to know. Della moved in and sat down in a chair beside the bed.
“Actually, we had a lot of help.”
“The police, or … what do you call them? F something?”
“The FRU,” Della said. “They’re like the police to all the supernaturals.”
Della saw Natasha squint to check out her pattern. “So you’re vampire, too?”
Della nodded and remembered what she needed to tell the girl. “The FRU helped, but…” Oh, hell, how did she say it? “Actually, Natasha, your mom is the one who gets most of the credit.”
“My mom?” Natasha’s eyes grew wide. “But I thought … I was told she thought I was dead.”
“No, not your adoptive mom. Your birth mother, Bao Yu Tsang.”
Now tears filled her eyes and she touched her trembling lips. “I thought she was dead.”
Shit! Della was screwing this up. “Yeah, well, she is. I’m sorry. But … she sort of hung around all these years, probably to look after you.”
Natasha stared at Della as if she might need a shrink.
Della hesitated and then added, “I know it sounds crazy. Believe me, it kind of is.” All of a sudden, cold filled the small bedroom, and Della knew her aunt was there.
“You’re saying my real mom’s ghost helped you find me?”
Della nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it in a nutshell.” Except that I was in your body when you and sleepyhead over there were doing the deed. Maybe she shouldn’t tell Natasha that part.
The girl looked down at her hands as if trying to come to grips with what Della had said.
Della let her take all the time she needed.
Finally, she looked up. “My first impulse is to say you’re nuts. I don’t believe in ghosts, but then … I’m a vampire, and I didn’t believe in them, either, until I was turned.”
“Yeah,” Della said. “It kind of messes with your head, doesn’t it?”
Natasha just nodded. “So, she told you where to find me?”
“Well, yeah, I mean … there’s more to it than just that.”
“What’s more?” Natasha asked.
Della inhaled. “Can this part be just between us for a while?”
“What part?”
“I won’t tell,” a male voice said.
Della shifted her focus to Liam, whose eyes were open, and from the look on his face, he’d heard the ghost comment, too.
“Yeah, you can’t tell, either,” Della said.
“What is it?” Natasha asked, sounding leery.
“You and I … we’re cousins,” Della said in a low voice. “Bao Yu Tsang is … was my father’s sister.”
Natasha’s eyes widened again. “You’re Della? I should have recognized you. Your … I mean, our aunt, Miao, showed me pictures of you.”
“Not the one where I was naked in the bathtub when I was three, I hope,” Della said.
Natasha chuckled and tears filled her eyes at the same time. “Yeah, she showed me that one.” She inhaled. “I can’t believe I’m meeting you.”
Della felt emotion tug on her heart. “I feel the same way. And it’s not that I don’t want people to know, but I’m trying to figure a few things out about our family, and until then, I just wanted to keep it between us.”
“Is something wrong?” Natasha asked.
“Not anything you need to worry about now.” Della felt the temperature dropping even lower.
Natasha pulled the sheet up higher and nodded. Then she looked like she was going to cry again. “When Chan died, I … I was devastated. We hung out sometimes. Went bowling. But his mom, Miao, was so crushed, and I felt bad going to see her because I felt like I reminded her of him.”
Della started to tell her about Chan not being dead, and then dying, but it would take too much time and emotion. Later, she would tell her everything, just not now.
“The doctor said to keep it short. Obviously, I have a lot to tell you. But we’ll have plenty of time.”
Tell her I loved her.
Della fought the chill in the room. “Your mom, she loved you.” Suddenly, Della felt Natasha needed to hear more. “She wanted to keep you, but her parents were old-school and she didn’t have a choice.”
Natasha brushed a tear from her cheek. “I know. Will you see her again? My mom?”
“I hear her more than I see her. But I’ve seen her a couple of times.”
“Can you tell her that I understand, and that I had a good mother and father? Tell her that I don’t blame her. Miao told me what happened. How her parents and my father’s parents wouldn’t accept me. They wanted her to abort me, but she refused. Tell her thank you for giving me life. Oh, and for saving me now.”
Della heard the ghost softly crying. “She can hear you.”
“She’s here?”
Della nodded.
“Thank you,” Natasha said.
“Yeah, from me, too,” Liam added and reached over and took Natasha’s hand.
Chapter Forty-four
Della had no sooner walked out of Natasha’s room, when her phone rang.
“Hey,” Chase said, and Della’s chest filled with warmth and wanting. “How are they?”
“Good,” Della said though she heard some tension in his voice. “You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t think I’m going to make it back there tonight. The council wants reports and all that stuff. Can you get away tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Della said, deciding to make it happen. She didn’t care if she had to go against Burnett’s wishes. “What time?”
“Nine in the morning? Or eight. I’ll take as much time with you as I can get.”
“Nine,” Della said. “I’ll want to check on Natasha and Liam again.”
“Sure. And when we come back, maybe I can visit with them. It’s weird, isn’t it? I kind of feel like I know them.”
“Me, too,” Della said, thinking it would be nice having Natasha in her life.
Chase said good-bye and they hung up, hoping that tomorrow would end as well as today.
An hour later, Shawn, the agent who’d helped them with the case, showed up just to check in. Della, Holiday, and Shawn talked for a while, and then he and Holiday left.
After making sure Natasha and Liam didn’t need anything and giving them her and Holiday’s and Burnett’s numbers, she left for her cabin. Miranda and Kylie were at the table again, with Diet Cokes.
Miranda had tears in her eyes. Oh, crap.
“What’s up?”
Kylie appeared to wait to see if Miranda was going to answer, and when she didn’t, Kylie did it for her. “Shawn dropped by and saw her.”
“And?” Della asked and looked at the witch.
“I think he likes me and I don’t know what to do.”
Della dropped down at the table beside her friends. “You do what you want to do,” she said.
Miranda shook her head and looked at Della. “Don’t you feel at least a little bit guilty? You cared about Steve, and then bam, you just moved on to Chase.”
Della swallowed. “Yeah, sometimes I feel guilty, but then I remember he left, I didn’t. And he told me to find out what was between Chase and me.” She looked at Kylie. “It’s just like Kylie. Derek pulled away from Kylie, and she realized Derek wasn’t the one. Lucas was.” Della inhaled. “I don’t want to hurt Stev
e, but whatever it is between Chase and me is bigger.”
“But I can’t say that,” Miranda said. “And both of you said Perry felt like the right one for me.”
Kylie nodded. “Maybe he was the right one for you then. I don’t regret what I had with Derek. He was there for me when I needed him. I’ll always care about him. And I think people come into our lives like that. Della needed Steve to help her move past her jerk of an ex-boyfriend, and you needed Perry to help you adjust to everything you were going through.”
As much as Della normally hated Kylie’s psychoanalytical crap, this made sense. She would probably always care about Steve.
Miranda turned the can in her hands. “I tried calling him, and he won’t even answer. I mean, if he’d just call, I’d come out and ask if he was seeing other people, and if so … I’d hate him. And I’d probably eat ice cream for a week.” She gave Della a you-won’t-stop-me-this-time look. “But then I might give Shawn a chance.”
The witch’s expression almost got teary again. “Have you heard from Steve at all?”
Della recalled the one text, but afraid that would hurt Miranda, she lied. “No.”
“How are Natasha and Liam?” Kylie asked, changing the subject.
“They’re good,” Della said.
“You should feel great,” Kylie said. “You did it. Did you get to see the ghost cross over yet?”
Della shook her head. “No.”
“That’s odd,” Kylie said.
“Not really,” Della said. “I don’t think she’s through with me yet.”
“What else does she want?” Miranda asked.
“To figure out who killed her.” Just saying it made Della more certain. The ghost needed to know.
“I hate having to do that,” Kylie said.
“Yeah, me, too,” Della said, and got a flash of the vision and the man who looked just like her father standing over her with a bloody knife. “I think I’ll go to bed.”
Della fell asleep staring at the Smurfette. She thought about Chase. Then she heard Miranda’s question: Don’t you feel at least a little bit guilty? You cared about Steve, and then bam, you just moved on to Chase.
She shouldn’t feel guilty, she told herself. Steve had known he was probably going to be leaving when he’d pushed his way into her heart. That was wrong.
Just wrong.
* * *
At six thirty the next morning, Della woke up to her phone ringing. Lordy, had she rolled over during the night? She didn’t think so. She really must have needed the rest.
As she reached for her phone, she spotted the silly Smurf and smiled. When she saw the call was from Chase, her smiled widened.
“Hello,” she said.
“Were you still sleeping?” he asked and his voice sounded raspy as if he’d just woken up, too.
“Yes,” she said.
“Sorry, I just woke up and … I missed you. You want to meet me at seven instead of nine?”
She grinned. “No. I’ve gotta visit with Natasha and Liam, and then go tell Burnett and Holiday I’m going to meet you.” And she wanted to call Marla, too. Just to make sure things at home hadn’t gotten crazier.
He must have picked up on something in her voice. “Do you think they’ll have a problem with it?”
“I’m not asking them, I’m telling them,” she said.
“Because you don’t think they’ll let you come?” he asked.
“Let’s talk about that later,” she said. But they were going to have to. She closed her eyes. Would Chase decide to come work for the FRU? Dread spilled over her and her early morning good mood faded.
“Okay. Then nine,” he said. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
She felt a tiny little tremble run through her. What did she want to do? Was she ready to let this thing between them go to the next level?
“Why don’t we just play it by ear?”
“Sounds good.” He got quiet. “I do miss you,” he said.
She looked at the Smurfette. “Me, too.”
* * *
Della got up to shower. She washed her hair, shaved her legs, and even put on a little makeup. Towel wrapped around her chest, she hurried through the living area to her room. Kylie and Miranda were still asleep and she preferred to leave before they woke up. Face it, she didn’t want to fill them in on her plans, because she didn’t know what those plans were.
Opening her underwear drawer, she found a black bra beneath her everyday white ones.
She pulled it out. The lacy piece of fabric dangled from her finger and she exhaled. Was she planning on Chase seeing that bra? Was she planning on Chase taking off that bra?
Oh, hell! She didn’t know. But just because she wore it, didn’t mean she would get naked. She slipped the bra on and then found a matching pair of black panties.
Out the door in fifteen minutes, she turned the corner in the path toward Natasha’s cabin when her phone rang.
Thinking it would be Chase again, she eagerly grabbed the phone, but a quick check showed Burnett’s number. “What now?” she muttered and prayed it wasn’t bad news. Prayed it wasn’t him reminding her that her time with Chase had ended.
“You up?” Burnett asked.
“On my way to see Natasha and Liam. Why?”
“Can you come to the office instead?”
“Why?” she asked.
“See you in a minute,” he said, not answering her question.
Damn, damn, damn! Her gut said this wasn’t going to be good.
* * *
Burnett waited inside Holiday’s office. Holiday wasn’t here, so maybe that meant it wasn’t too bad. She’d noticed when things were gonna be bad, he had Holiday around to magically make bad news more tolerable.
Della had no more stepped into the room when she got Holiday’s scent and she came stepping out of the bathroom. And she didn’t look happy.
Della inhaled and sat on the sofa before they insisted she do just that. Holiday came and sat beside her.
“What is it?” Della asked.
Burnett picked up a big brown envelope and came and sat on the arm of the sofa.
“I told you I had my concerns about Chase.”
So this was about her and Chase not seeing each other. But damn they weren’t wasting any time.
“I know.” Della looked from Burnett to Holiday and back to Burnett. “But we did this job and it went great. And I think … at least, I hope, I can talk him into maybe considering coming to work for the FRU.”
Burnett stared at the envelope in his hands. “I had Hayden go invisible and hide out at Chase’s cabin to see if he was up to anything.”
Della frowned. “That wasn’t nice.”
“Be mad at me if you want. But I did it because I knew you weren’t going to stop seeing him. And if I was going to let you continue this relationship, I had to be sure.”
Della got a bad feeling. Why was Burnett telling her this? Did he think he’d caught Chase up to no good?
She looked at the envelope he held and knew it contained something bad. Something Burnett was going to try and use to keep her away from Chase. She wasn’t sure what was in there, and she wasn’t sure it would work.
“So what do you have?” she asked.
“Honestly,” Burnett said, “I don’t know, but it puzzles me.”
“What puzzles you?”
When he didn’t immediately start talking or hand over the evidence, she got a little pissy. She snagged the envelope.
He frowned, but she frowned right back.
“Della,” Holiday said as if to try to calm her.
Della rolled her eyes at the fae. “He’s going to show it to me sooner or later, right? Let’s just get it over with.”
Chapter Forty-five
They were photographs. Large eight-by-ten images. The first one was of Chase standing outside on his porch.
No incriminating evidence there.
Her hands shook slightly with fury at Burnett interfering
with her life. She flipped to the next photo. Chase sitting on his porch with binoculars in his hands. Bird-watching. Oh, yeah, that made him a terrible person.
She moved to the next picture. Chase standing on his porch talking to someone. A man with his back to the camera, moving, so he was nothing more than a blur.
She flipped to the image behind that one. Her hands stopped shaking. Her heart stopped beating.
“I’m not sure what this means,” Burnett said. “Does Chase know your father?”
“I … I…” She couldn’t answer.
Della felt her chest grow heavy, and her sinuses stung, but not one tear dared to crawl up her nose and appear in her eyes. She was too busy studying the picture. Studying the man standing on Chase’s porch. Staring at the look in Chase’s eyes. He was angry.
Then she shifted her focus to the man. The same face as her father. The same height, but it wasn’t him. Her father didn’t have muscled arms; her father’s gut, though not fat, was just a little paunchy.
This wasn’t her father.
This was her uncle.
Emotion washed over her in waves of pain. Chase had lied. Had been lying to her from the start.
Anger.
Fury.
Betrayal.
And to think she’d worn her black bra. Had even considered taking off her black bra. She’d practically fallen …
No, she had not fallen. But, by God, he was going to fall. Hard. On his ass. And she was the one who was going to put him there.
“Are you okay?” Holiday asked.
“No,” she said. Why lie? Burnett would know. But she said it in a low, quiet voice. “Can I have this?” She held up the photo and tried her best to sound pleasant.
Burnett nodded. “You’re going to confront him?”
Or kill him. “I think that’s a good idea.” She stood.
“I don’t think so.” Holiday popped up and caught her arm. “You’re too angry.”
“She seems fine to me,” Burnett said. “Let her go and get her answers. She deserves to know what kind of game he’s playing. For all we know, her father wants Chase to find something bad to discredit the school.”