I frowned, thinking of what I now knew about Tod that Nash didnt. Maybe hes not as dangerous as you think. Maybe he just needscompany.
He broke into my house to find your phone number. If he were human, Id have him arrested. As it is, there isnt much I can do, short of ratting on him to his boss. Which was as good as killing Tod. I swear, if he wasnt already dead, Id kill him myself. Im sorry, Kaylee. I should never have taken you to him.
Alone in my room, I sighed and turned onto my left side, holding the phone at my right ear. He got the information for us.
Plus a little, it sounds like. Nash exhaled heavily, and seemed to be calming down.
I sat up in my bed and slid my cold feet beneath the blankets. He was trying to help.
Thats the thinghes not a bad guy. But since thechangehe only helps on his own terms, and wont do anything that doesnt benefit him. Putting yourself in debt to someone like thatespecially to a reaperis a very bad idea. We should have figured it out without his help.
I had no idea what to say. Yes, Tod had crossed a very important line. Several lines, in fact. But by Nashs own admission, the reaper wasnt a bad person. And hed come through for usin a manner of speaking.
Springs groaned as Nash shifted in his seat. So whats the plan? We still dont know who the next girl will be, or if there will even be one.
I squeezed my eyes shut, unsure how hed react to my news. I called in the cavalry.
The what?
My uncle. And my dad. Feeling mostly awake now, I touched my lamp again, and the room got brighter. Uncle Brendon said theyd find out what was going on if I promised to stay out of it.
Nash gave a gravelly chuckle that sent a bolt of heat blazing through me. I knew I liked your uncle.
I smiled. Hes not bad. All the lying aside. Ill tell them about the list in the morning.
Fill me in at the memorial?
On the drive, assuming you still want a ride. A warm feeling trickled through me at the thought of seeing him again.
I would love a ride.
CHAPTER 15
In the morning, I woke to find daylight streaming into my room between the slats of the blinds, and my bedroom door shaking and thumping beneath someones fist. Kaylee, get your lazy butt out of bed! Sophie shouted. Your dads on the phone.
I rolled over, pulling the covers askew, and glanced at the alarm clock on my nightstand. 8:45 a.m. Why would my father call when hed see me in less than an hour? To tell me hed landed? Or that he hadnt landed.
He wasnt coming. I should have known.
For a moment, I ignored my cousin and stared at the thick crown molding along the edge of the tiered ceiling, letting my temper simmer just beneath the surface. I hadnt seen my father in more than eighteen months, and now he wasnt even going to come explain why hed never told me I wasnt human.
Not that I needed him. Thanks to his cowardice, I had a perfectly good set of guardians at my disposal. But he owed me an explanation, and if I wasnt going to get it in person, I could at least demand it over the phone.
I tossed the covers back and stepped into the pajama pants pooled on the floor, and when I opened my door, there stood Sophie, completely dressed and in full makeup, looking as fresh and well-put-together as Id ever seen her. The only sign that her nights slumber had been chemically induced was the slight puffiness around her eyes, which would probably be gone within the hour.
The last time Id taken one of the zombie pills, Id woken up looking like roadkill.
Thanks. I took the home phone from Sophie, and she only nodded, then turned and plodded down the hall with none of her usual watch-me-prance energy.
I kicked my door shut and held the cordless phone to my ear. It felt huge and cumbersome after my cell, and I couldnt remember the last time Id actually held the home phone.
You could have called my cell, I said into the receiver.
I know.
My fathers voice was just like I remembereddeep, and smooth, and distant. He probably looked exactly the same too, which meant my appearance would likely come as a bit of a shock to him, despite his understanding of the passage of time. I was almost fifteen the last time hed seen me. Things had changed. I had changed.
I have this number memorized, so it was just easier, he continued. That was absentee-father-speak for Im too embarrassed to admit I dont remember your cell-phone number. Even though I pay the bill.
So let me guess. I pulled out my desk chair and plopped into it, punching the power button on my computer just to keep my hands busy. Youre not coming.
Of course Im coming. I could practically hear him frowning over the line, and thats when I realized I could also hear actual background noise. An official-sounding voice over a loudspeaker. Random snatches of conversation. Echoing footsteps.
He was at the airport.
My flights been delayed by engine trouble in Chicago. But with any luck, Ill be in this evening. I just wanted to let you know Id be late.
Oh. Okay. Soooo glad I didnt start by demanding he tell me everything over the phone. I guess Ill see you tonight.
Yeah. Silence settled over the line then, because he didnt know what to say, and I was not going to make it easier on him by speaking first. Finally, he cleared his throat. Are you okay? His voice feltheavy, as if he wanted to say more, but left the unspoken words hanging.
Fine. Not that you could fix it if I werent, I thought, jiggling my mouse to find the cursor on-screen. Its all taken some getting used to, but Im ready to have all the secrets out in the open.
Im so sorry about all this, Kaylee. I know I owe you the truthabout everythingbut some of this wont be easy for me to say, so I need you to bear with me. Please.
Like I have a choice. But as furious as I was over the massive lie that was my life, I was desperate to know why theyd all lied in the first place. Surely they had a good reason for letting me think I was crazy, rather than telling me the truth.
My father sighed. Can I take you out for dinner when I get in?
Well, Ill have to eat something. I double-clicked on my Internet browser and typed the name of a local news station into the search bar, hoping for an update.
He hesitated for another long moment, as if waiting for more, and as badly as part of me wanted to speak, wanted to spare him the awful silence Id suffered, I resisted. Birthday visits and Christmas cards werent enough to hold his place in my life. Especially since theyd stopped comingIll see you tonight, then.
Okay. I hung up and set the phone on the desktop, staring at it blankly for several seconds. Then I released the breath I hadnt realized I was holding and scrolled through the days headlines online, hoping to purge my father from my thoughts. At least until he showed up on the porch.
There was nothing new about Alyson Baker or Meredith Cole, but the coroner had officially declared a cause of death for Heidi Anderson. Heart failure. But wasnt that ultimately what everyone died of? However, in Heidis case, there was no cause listed for her heart failure. As Id known all along, shed simply died. Period.
Frustrated all over again, I turned off the computer and dropped the home phone into its cradle on my way to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, showered, blow-dried, and dressed, I sat at the bar in the kitchen with a glass of juice and a granola bar. Id just ripped open the wrapper when Aunt Val wandered in, wrapped in my uncles terry-cloth robe, rather than her usual silky one. Her hair was one big blond tangle, yesterdays styling gel spiking random strands in odd places, like a leftover punk rockers. Eyeliner was smeared below her eyes, and her skin was pale beneath lingering blotches of blush and foundation.
She shuffled straight to the coffeepot, which was already full and steaming. For several minutes, I chewed in silence as she sipped, but by the time she brought her second mug to the counter, the caffeine had kicked in.
Im sorry about last night, hon. She combed one hand over her hair, trying to smooth it. I didnt mean to embarrass you in front of your boyfriend.
Its fine. I wadded my wrapper and tossed it into the trash can on the other side of the room. There was too much else going wrong to worry about one drunk aunt.
She grimaced, then nodded. I guess I deserved that.
But watching her wince over every movementas if contact with the very air hurtmade me feel guilty. No, you dont. Im sorry.
So am I. Aunt Val forced a smile. I cant begin to explain how sorry I am. None of this is your fault. She stared down into her coffee, as if she had more to say, but the words had fallen into the mug and were now too soggy to use.
Dont worry about it. I finished my orange juice and set my glass in the sink, then headed back to my room, where I texted Emma to make sure she was still coming to the memorial.
Her mom said shed meet me there fifteen minutes earlyat a quarter to one.
The rest of the morning passed in one endless stretch of mindless television and Internet surfing. I tried twice to get my uncle alone so I could pass along Tods information, but every time I found him, he was with a very somber, clingy Sophie, who seemed to be dreading the memorial as badly as I was.
After an early lunch I could only pick at, I changed out of my T-shirt, hoping my long-sleeved black blouse was appropriate attire for the memorial service for someone Id failed to save. On my way out the door, I saw Sophie sitting on the bench in the hall, her hands folded on the skirt of a slim black dress, her head hanging so that her long blond hair fell nearly to her chest. She looked so pitiful, so lost, that as badly as I hated to spoil the drive alone with Nash, I offered her a ride to school.
Moms taking me, she said, briefly meeting my gaze with her own huge, sad eyes.
Okay. Just as well.
I pulled into Nashs driveway five minutes later and waited nervously for him to get into the car. I was afraid talking to him would be weird after his middle-of-the-night fight with Tod, and his reluctant discussion of it with me. But he leaned over to kiss me as soon as his door was closed, and from the depth of that kissand the fact that neither of us seemed willing to end itI was guessing he was over the awkwardness.