"You mean the garden, don't you?" someone said.
"Have you heard voices?" another voice asked. "Or seen anything?"
Angelique stumbled through an answer. The kid was just too young to give a full improv performance. She'd been kept out of the loop on all this, and now microphones were being shoved in her face. As much as I wanted to find Jeremy, I felt guilty.
"Hey, guys," I said as I walked into the living room. "Are you boys pouncing on this poor girl? We just found a body in the garden. She's a wee bit shaken up, aren't you, hon?"
I put my arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. Angelique shot me a grateful look.
"I've never seen a dead body before," she said, her honeyed southern accent pitch-perfect again. She shivered. "I only hope that poor child has gone to a better place. She'll be in my prayers-"
"Jaime," a hook-nosed man cut in, motioning for his cameraman to swing the camera to focus on me. "You led Bradford Grady to that body. What did you sense?"
I tugged Angelique on camera with me. "We've all sensed things in this house, for days now-"
"But you helped discover the body. What was your experience?"
I kept trying to steer the questions back to include Angelique, but they were having none of it, and it soon became apparent that I was only hogging any camera time she might have received. So I made my excuses and fled.
I found Jeremy in the kitchen, where he'd cornered Becky. Being Jeremy, he didn't make it obvious-none of that werewolf posturing. Instead, he'd taken a spot a few feet away, out of her personal space, as she fixed a coffee. To leave, though, she'd need to shoulder past him.
"I presume you don't expect Jaime out of the house by tonight," he was saying. "Under the circumstances, packing has been the last thing on her mind. And, in speaking to the officers outside, they made it clear they'd prefer everyone to stay where they are."
"We haven't made any decisions yet."
"No? Perhaps the staff is receiving inaccurate information, then. They've apparently been told they're staying on for another day or two."
"They are, but the actors-"
"You told Jaime she had to be out tonight because the staff wouldn't be here. If they're staying on, I see no reason to hurry her departure, particularly under the circumstances. I'll tell her we're here for the night."
He turned to go.
"We?" Becky said.
"Jaime has just discovered a murder victim. I'm concerned for her safety, so I will be spending the night. I believe there's a pullout sofa in the living room. That will suit me fine."
He walked out before she could answer. I followed him
WE WATCHED the six o'clock news with Grady, Claudia and the guards. Even the cleaning woman joined us after hearing the commotion. It took me awhile to realize Angelique wasn't there but, after seeing her fumbling on screen, I decided maybe it was better if I didn't drag her in to join the party.
And a party it was. A victory celebration. We were splashed all over the news, Grady and I both finding opportunities to plug the "Death of Innocence" special and dropping teasers about the material we'd taped so far.
As for the discovery of the crime, it played out just the way we'd spun it. Yes, Grady had found the body. Yes, he claimed to have sensed the "poor child" calling to him. But in every newscast, it was clear that I'd been the one to lead him there, based on my own experiences in the house-experiences I was less eager to share. When the group heard the story, the person they'd think who was most likely to know more than she was saying-perhaps something that could expose them-would be me.
As I watched myself on television, imagining the group watching too, I had to admit that I hadn't really thought it all through. Finding the corpse would, we hope, draw out the killers. Being of a scientific bent, they'd leave nothing to chance, so they'd get closer, maybe even try to beat the police to other bodies in the gardens.
I'd already hinted I knew more. Having unlocked magical secrets themselves, they'd know it wasn't impossible that I did know more, that my ability to communicate with the dead wasn't a put-on. They'd want to know how much more I knew.
Jeremy would do everything in his power to keep me safe. Hope had promised her help, as had Eve.
But had I really considered the danger I was now in?
No.
Would I have backed out because of it?
No.
RISKS AND REWARDS
AT EIGHT O'CLOCK AS WE WERE FINISHING DINNER, the door swung open, in strode a man-no more than thirty with blond-streaked hair, a cultivated five-o'clock shadow and a shark's grin. Two assistants flanked him, each a decade or more his senior.
"Todd Simon," he said. "I know you were probably hoping to catch a flight home tomorrow, but in light of recent developments, I see grand new possibilities for this little show of ours, and I'm personally taking the helm to guide us there."
Claudia pushed back her chair. "I presume this new direction means a renegotiated contract? With a renegotiated salary?"
Simon flashed a smile. "Absolutely. My lawyers are on their way here to handle that. This show has just climbed to the top of the network's specials list, and we have you all and your amazing talents to thank for it. I intend to make every member of this team a very happy camper."
BETWEEN THE reporters, cameras, cops and Todd Simon's crew roaming the house and garden, Jeremy and I couldn't steal a moment of privacy. So I'll admit it was with no small disappointment that I realized he had every intention of sleeping on the pullout sofa.
Old-fashioned, yes, but kind of sweet. I returned to the kitchen for an aspirin after the others had retired, giving him a chance to slip upstairs with me. But the living room remained dark and silent.
At some level, this was what I expected from Jeremy. Responsible and controlled to the core. As passionate as he'd been the night before, and despite his teasing today, he'd be wrapped up in the case and presume I'd feel the same.
Damn.
I trudged upstairs. Eve was in my room, keeping watch, slung sideways over a chair by the balcony door, reading a book. A textbook, of course. I couldn't imagine Eve picking up a novel. Reading was for learning, for research, and even then, only as a last resort, when there wasn't a more active way of finding out what she wanted.
I glanced at the title. Abarazzi's Complete Genealogy of Demons, Demi-Demons and Associated Subtypes.
"A little light reading?" I said.
"Catching up on some family history. Dull enough I won't get caught up in it. Not so dull that I'll fall asleep." She looked over the edge at me. "So…" She glanced behind me. "I see you didn't find the aspirin."
"Ha-ha." I kicked off my shoes and dropped onto the bed. "It's been a long day, and definitely not the time to make any-"
A rap at the balcony door. Jeremy stood there, shielding his eyes to see past the light reflecting off the glass.
"You were saying?…" Eve began.
"Scoot."
"Leave? Weren't you just saying-?"
I mouthed an obscenity. She grinned and closed her book.
"I'll be on patrol. You need me back, just shout. But something tells me you won't."
She left. Jeremy was leaning against the railing now, confident in his welcome. He looked as sexy as he had last night-hair slightly mussed, feet bare, lips curved in a smile, long fingers tapping the railing with just a touch of impatience, eager to get inside.
A spark of heat flickered. I remembered the night before, him leaning into the gap, that hunger, that desire-and the spark exploded into a flame that licked through me, burning all the hotter as I remembered what had brought him here last night. This time, there was no adrenaline intoxication to blame. He'd made his decision. He was ready to take a chance. After four years of waiting and hoping, he was here, at my door. And just seeing him was enough to make me dizzy with lust.