“He was. Is. Whichever tense is appropriate for one who was a person, but is now a zombie. Man, that’s confusing. Is there a nonmortal grammar book I can read about how to refer to zombies?”
“So you walked into Dalton’s motel room with Dalton behind you, and stumbled over his body?”
I stopped wondering about grammar, and paused to consider what he said. “Yes.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit odd?”
“Well…I just assumed that when you’re a zombie, your original body is stuffed somewhere,” I said lamely. “That’s not how it works?”
“No.”
“How am I supposed to know these things!” I wanted to wail, but knew my head wasn’t up to it. “A couple of days ago, I thought I was a perfectly normal person.”
“One who has been struck by lightning twice, and not only survived, but bears the physical marks exclusive to Travellers.”
“Yeah, well, that was a bit odd, but I didn’t realize just how odd until I met you.”
“Are you sure it was Dalton who was dead?”
“Fairly so, yes. Oh, Peter, I’m sorry, I didn’t even break that to you nicely. In all that zombie scare business, I forgot that he was your boss. Did you know him well?”
“Yes.” There was silence as Peter obviously chewed over the sad news. “One of the two Daltons you saw was not real. The question is, which one?”
“I don’t know, but I am very sorry that he’s dead. He seemed like a nice guy, even as swollen with hives as he was.”
“Mmm. Where are you now?”
I told him.
“And you don’t see any Travellers around town?”
“Not that I can see, no.” Sweat was snaking its way down my back from the building heat in the car. I gave in and rolled down the windows, alert to any sudden attempt on my brain by a rogue zombie. “I was going to go visit the lake that I take the pugs to, since I have a few hours before I have to pick them up, but maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe you need me to show you where I saw the body.”
“I think it’s better if you were out of this, Kiya,” Peter said after another few seconds’ silence. “If one of my cousins actually committed physical assault on you, then I don’t want you anywhere around them.”
“That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, but you know, I’m not some shy, delicate little flower who can’t defend herself. I took a self-defense class. I have pepper spray in my purse, and I know how to bring down an attacker with nothing more than a set of keys.”
“I’m sure you are well able to take care of yourself, but you will allow me to be an expert on the lengths my family can and will go to in order to protect themselves.” His voice went from its normal deliciously deep, sexy tones to hard and flinty. “Go to the lake and enjoy your afternoon. I will see you this evening.”
My toes curled with happiness. “You will?”
“Yes. I was calling to tell you that I’d reconsidered your offer of help accessing Lenore Faa’s camp, and will meet you at your tent when the sun sets.”
The idea of him in my tent had my full approval. “What are you going to do about Dalton’s body? The inert one, not the zombie one? Are you going to call the police?”
“There is only one Dalton, Kiya. I don’t know which one is real, but there is only one of him. And as for the body, I am the police. I will head back to Rose Hill and check out the motel room.”
“Should I meet you there?”
“No. I want you well away from there. I’d prefer you were well out of the area, period, but I gather you don’t want to do that.”
I squashed down the little pang of pain at the thought that he wanted me gone, telling my id and egos that he was just concerned for my safety, in a very manly-man sort of way that had me simultaneously sighing in happiness, and the tiniest bit irritated that he didn’t think I could take care of myself. “I have a job to do, and I intend to do it.”
“As do I. I will see you this evening. Call me if anything else occurs. Oh, and Kiya…”
“Yes?” I held my breath, hoping he’d say something romantic about the thought of spending the night in the tent with me.
“Don’t mention this to Lenore Faa.”
“Why? Are you ashamed of the fact that you’re going to spend the night with me?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“What? No, I meant don’t mention Dalton’s body. I don’t give a damn what she thinks about you and me.”
I didn’t quite know how to feel about that statement, so rather than respond with a flip comment, I simply said I’d be at my tent by nine that night, and hung up. Part of me wanted to go to the motel and help him investigate what happened to Dalton, but the other part of me, the one that was still silently screaming in my head that it had touched a zombie, and stepped on a corpse, was too wigged out to do anything but want a strong bath in a tub filled with disinfectant.
Instead, I drove back to the camp, smiling to myself the whole way with thoughts of the evening to come.
TWELVE
“Peter.”
“Dalton.” Peter considered the man in front of him. He looked perfectly normal, absolutely healthy, and not the least bit like a revenant. “I’m delighted to see that the reports of your death are grossly exaggerated.”
Dalton’s eyebrows rose. “As am I. Who reported me dead?”
“No one you know.” He thought for a moment. “Or rather, yes, you do know her. At least, you’ve met her.”
“Who is that?”
“Kiya Mortenson. She says she saw you at the local doctor’s office.”
“Ah, did she, now?” Dalton looked thoughtful. “Kiya? Yes, I believe I do remember her. Pretty girl with red blond hair.”
“That’s her.” Peter was a bit surprised that Dalton hadn’t recognized her as a fellow Traveller. Normally, his boss was much more prescient than that, but perhaps his illness had affected him more than he knew.
“And she reported me as dead?”
“She says she stumbled over your body at the local motel.”
“Gracious me. She was mistaken, naturally.”
“Naturally,” Peter agreed. “She appeared to think that you were a revenant, and attempted to eat her brains, as well, but I put that down to more the fact that she’s still a bit flustered over finding out she’s a Traveller than to any lack of mental cognizance.”
“Indeed.” For a moment, Dalton sounded genuinely shocked.
“Evidently, she was orphaned at an early age, and raised by mortals.”
“You have much in common with her, then.”
Peter relaxed at that statement. There was a moment when he wasn’t sure, when Kiya’s experience with the body fed him all sorts of outlandish ideas of Dalton not being what he seemed, but that moment passed. “I’ve sent Sunil off to keep a covert eye on her.”
“That sounds like a very good idea.”
“I thought so. If it wasn’t your body she stumbled over, then it must have been someone else’s. That leaves the question of whether it was you who escorted her into your motel room.”
“My motel room?” Dalton shook his head, and gestured toward the small dark rental car parked on the edge of the road. “In the local town here, you mean? It definitely wasn’t me. Not only did I not escort any young woman to my room, I don’t actually have a room here. I drove in this evening from Glenville. That’s a good hour’s drive away.”
The fact that they were parked at the entrance to the lumber camp made Peter nervous that they would be seen before he was ready to confront his family, but Dalton had suggested that spot to meet at. He’d just hurry things along so he could get back to Kiya. Er…work. Yes, work first, then Kiya. “If it wasn’t you, then there is an impostor running around pretending to be you. Could be it’s one of the family trying to throw me off the track.”
“What purpose would that serve?” Dalton asked, shaking his head and answering before Peter could respond. “They don’t know for certain that you suspect them, do they?”
?
??I imagine that after knocking me out, stabbing me, stealing the vial, and stabbing me a second time that yes, they have a pretty fair idea that I suspect one or more members of my family is responsible for the murders.”
“What would they hope to prove by such a tactic?” Dalton asked, apparently not at all surprised that the vial had been stolen, not to mention that he, Peter, had been stabbed twice. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Neither does murdering mortals, but they’ve done that enough to draw the attention of not just the Watch but the mortal police, as well.”
“And yet despite the evidence that you said was stolen, there are no other signs that this family is behind the acts.” Dalton eyed him in a way that made Peter vaguely uncomfortable. “Where is the punishment meted out on them? Where is proof of the price paid for such great thefts? Has any calamity bestruck the family?”
Peter looked out into the woods, toward where Lenore Faa’s camp was situated. He knew better than anyone just how heavy the penalty could be for stealing time, and yet, as Dalton pointed out, where was proof that someone in his family had done likewise? It was the one thing that had kept him from descending upon the camp with a small army of Watch members. “I don’t know why the punishment hasn’t manifested itself on whoever it is who’s killing the mortals, but I intend to find that out. Tonight.”
“Far be it from me to discourage you, but I think you have to ask yourself whether you are not pursuing circumstantial evidence solely to persecute the family,” Dalton replied, his voice a gentle rebuff that sat ill with Peter. “Only you can answer that, but given the lack of evidence, I will not be able to bring the full forces of the Watch down upon them.”
“You’ll have the evidence,” Peter said grimly, his fingers curling into fists. “I’ll get back not only the DNA, but I’ll find out just what they are doing to bypass being punished for the crimes they’ve committed.”
Dalton shook his head, and turned toward his car. “You do as you must. Let me know what you find out.”
“I will.” Peter watched as his supervisor got into his car. “Although it’s a hell of a lot easier if we can just talk on the phone as we did before.”
“My phone is no longer secure.”
“It’s not? In what way?”
“I lost it for a few hours. The chip could have been cloned.”
“That sounds highly unlikely, Dalton—”
“Nonetheless, I must insist that we meet in person rather than rely on a phone that might be compromised. You may call to tell me you wish to meet, but do not reveal any other information on the phone.”
Little warning bells went off in Peter’s head, but he didn’t know how to address his boss’s bizarre line of thinking. Perhaps it was related to another investigation Dalton was heading up? He mentally shook his head and simply said, “Do you want to meet at the rendezvous spot we arranged the day you came into Rose Hill, or this one?”
“This one. The other one is less convenient since it’s farther from the road,” Dalton said, starting up the car. “Call me when you know more, and good luck.”
With a wave, Dalton drove off, leaving Peter to stare moodily at nothing in particular. “Something is not right there, but I’ll be damned if I can put my finger on just what it is.”
The thought of Kiya drove that worry out of his mind: Kiya, warm and lying in his bed earlier that day. Kiya, warmer and soapy in the tub. Kiya saying outrageous things about zombies, and making him want to drop everything and rush to her side to defend her, not that he thought she’d let him do much defending. She seemed to him the type of woman who’d bash him on the head if he got too overprotective. He smiled at that thought, a smile that turned into a wolfish grin when he contemplated all those hours he’d have to spend in her tent waiting for his family to fall asleep so he could search for the vial.
He very much looked forward to those hours.
With that thought uppermost on his mind, and an accompanying tightness around the fly of his pants, he moved his car to a secure (and hidden) location, and then spent half an hour stealthily making his way through the woods to the outer fringes of the camp, where he found Sunil hiding behind a large man-sized fern.
“Where’s Kiya?” he asked in a whisper.
“They are all dining, the popsy included. She is well and not harmed. I have watched over her extremely diligently as you asked. When I first arrived here some time ago, she was in her tent doing what appeared to be calisthenics. Then she went into the gleaming metal trailer in the center, and emerged with five pug dogs. She took them for a walk in the forest. I followed with extreme stealth. After the walk, she returned to her tent briefly, then went to make use of a latrine, and—”
“That’s fine,” he interrupted. “I don’t need to hear a minute-by-minute summary. Did any of my cousins go near her?”
“Not that I saw, no, and I was concealed very definitely outside her tent opening.”
“Thanks for watching over her,” he said stiffly.
“What would you like for me to do now?” Sunil asked eagerly. “Shall I remain with you so to see that no one stabs you? I am most distraught that I was not being here earlier when you were attacked. I should not have given in to my desires to see the bats emerge from the nearby caves, which the tourist brochure calls a magnificent testament to nature.”
Peter was facing a dilemma. He had a very clear mental image of just how he planned on enjoying the next few hours with Kiya, but at the same time, he didn’t wish to hurt Sunil’s feelings by telling him he was in the way. What he needed was a job that Sunil could do while he spent those enjoyable hours with Kiya.
Guilt reminded him that he was responsible for Sunil’s happiness. Above all else, above his own pleasures, above even Kiya’s enjoyment, he was bound to ensure Sunil was at all times fulfilled. “You could remain with me,” he answered slowly, keeping any inflection of regret from his voice. “I am always grateful for your assistance. However—” He grabbed the first idea that came to him. “If you wanted to be of real help to me—”
“You know that I do!” Sunil said excitedly, his light shimmering. “I am your partner! I will investigate while you guard the popsy!”
He wished Sunil had a form other than light so he could assess his expression. “Dalton mentioned something about a magician being in the area and handing out magic without authorization. He said later that the investigation didn’t pan out, but I’ve been thinking that it’s a little too coincidental that there’s a magician in the same location as this family. If you could—”
“I will go this instant!” Sunil announced, and zipped off into the woods, returning almost the same moment to ask, “Where is it I am going?”
Peter gave what information he could recall about the magician, relieved to find a solution that would benefit both his need to be with Kiya and Sunil’s obvious desire to be helpful. Given Dalton’s comments, he didn’t expect Sunil would find anything untoward, but it wouldn’t hurt to be able to cross off the coincidence of the magician.
“I will return in the morning, then, yes?” Sunil asked before departing, a note of male comradery in his voice. “I am thinking that you and the popsy will be busy until then.”
“Morning will be fine. If you need me earlier than that, I’ll be here.” He couldn’t help but grin at Sunil when the latter sped off into the night whistling softly to himself. Peter had been aware of the background rumble of voices, but the obvious sounds of a meal in progress had kept him from worrying about Kiya’s well-being. Now, however, the sounds of forks on plates had ceased, replaced with voices. He pulled down one of the fern fronds to peer out at the clearing.
“And I’m telling you that I didn’t hit anyone on their head,” Andrew was saying loudly, his voice as obnoxious as the rest of him.
Peter frowned at his cousin, his gaze shifting along the line of people who sat at two picnic tables littered with food items and plates. He was a bit surprised to see the family dining with Kiya
present, since those who were mahrime were considered too unclean to be present at a meal. And yet, there sat Kiya at Lenore Faa’s side, two of those blasted little pugs on her lap.
“And if that gadjo says otherwise, then she is a liar!”
“Gadjo! I am so not a gadjo!” Kiya snapped, standing up and pointing a pug at Andrew. “You take that back!”
The pug growled.
“You don’t even know what a gadjo is,” Andrew sneered, slamming down a can of beer.
“I don’t have to know the meaning of the word. The way you say it makes it clear that it’s an insult,” Kiya answered, and sat back down, murmuring softly to the pugs when they continued to growl at Andrew.
“It means someone who is not a Traveller,” Gregory said wearily. “That is all. It’s not an insult per se, although to be brutally honest, I think it’s time we stop using it. That sort of mentality doesn’t work these days.”
Peter eyed his cousin at the same time that Kiya shot a startled glance across the table. What was this? Gregory speaking out against Traveller traditions? That was interesting…and perhaps should be investigated further. Assuming, of course, that he wouldn’t be arresting Gregory for the murders. “Enough of this squabbling.” With a wave of her hand, Lenore Faa addressed the table as a whole. “Piers, Arderne, take the women and children to the lake.”
One of his cousins—he thought it was Arderne—glanced worriedly at his wife. “It’s late, puridaj. The water will be cold, and the little ones might take ill there.”
“Then do not let them in the water. There are playthings there, are there not?” Lenore Faa pinned back her grandson with a look that brooked no argument. “They can play. It is not so dark that they cannot see.”
To Peter’s intense surprise, one of the women—probably Arderne’s wife—clutched her toddler to her chest and rose, declaring, “I will not go. I will not risk seeing a martiya. It would bring bad luck on my son.”
“Do as you are told,” Lenore Faa told Arderne, and without another word, he and Piers hustled their respective wives and children off to a minivan.