1 Broken Hearted Ghoul (22 page)

 “And after the two of you broke up?” I glanced around the diner. “He wanted you to work here?”

“Oh no. This came later. I was a notary for a long time. I was at his office so I could notarize important papers and things that came in. I guess after a while he didn’t need me to do that job anymore—like he didn’t need me in his bed.”

“I see.” I hardened my resolve. I was giving her the time she needed whether Abe liked it or not. If I were lucky, he’d never know. I had a strategy worked out. “Call me when you’re ready. Don’t try to contact Abe again. It could be very bad for both of us.”

“I won’t. I’ll call you as soon as all my kids know. I just don’t want to leave them this way. I’ve seen that too many times with the people who have served Abe. Thank you again, Skye.”

I left the diner hating the world. Abe was toying with Elaine’s life, probably for his own satisfaction. Maybe he was just trying to keep another zombie from being ripped apart. I didn’t know.

“His
lover
,” Debbie whispered, clutching my arm. “Is that what could happen to me?”

“You already told him no,” I reminded her. “You aren’t working in a diner yet. You’ll be okay.”

Across the street was a bar called O’Brian’s. I needed a few shots of whiskey to get me through this. I hurt all over, and my brain was starting to feel like wet spaghetti again.

I really needed the ghoul to hold off trying to kill me for a while. I hoped Elaine would be a nice, easy pickup with no flak from her kids when we left.

“Are you sure you want to go in there?” Lucas asked.

“Yes. I definitely want to go in there. If you don’t drink, you could get some juice or a soft drink.”

“I don’t drink,” Debbie said almost defiantly.

“That works for you too,” I told her.

Once I was seated in a dark corner of the almost empty bar, I called Abe. “I’m having some trouble finding Elaine Talos. She didn’t show up for work today. Do you have a home address for her?”

“Do you think she’s a runaway?”

“I don’t know. If her time was up today, it’s possible. I wouldn’t go in for one more day at a sleazy diner if I didn’t have to.”

“Good point.” His deep voice didn’t alter. I hoped he believed me. “Here is her home address. Let me know if you can’t find her there.”

I thanked him, and checked the text. I had an idea where her apartment was located. It was only a few blocks from the diner.

“Be careful,” Abe advised. “This could be a trap.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Step two was done. Abe didn’t sound suspicious. He hadn’t asked any unusual questions about what I was doing. Everything was going to be fine. It was a good thing to let Elaine and her family have a moment alone together. It made me feel—human.

Debbie excused herself, and went to the ladies’ room after ordering a ginger ale in a glass with a straw.

Lucas had mimicked her request, probably because he didn’t know what else to order. “You seem uneasy. Is it the task—or lying to Abe?”

“Both.”

“Perhaps you simply have a healthy fear of what could be waiting out here for you.” He smiled. “It is all right to admit when you are afraid.”

“I’m not afraid. It’s a normal pickup for someone whose time has come. I think I can handle it.” I glared at him. “Are
you
afraid?”

“All the time. I am not ashamed to admit it. Only a fool does not feel fear.”

“Is that a wise sorcerer saying?”

“Take it as you will.”

Debbie came back as the drinks arrived. When the waiter was gone, she whispered, “This place isn’t very
clean
.”

I laughed as I swallowed a gulp of whiskey. “I’m not surprised. Good thing you’re drinking through a straw.”

“Why are we here?” Lucas asked.

“We’re killing time until we can pick Elaine up. I don’t think we should leave the area, in case she decides to go sooner. I don’t want her to call Abe because we aren’t there.”

I admit that I was feeling fatalistic. That was unusual for me because I’m normally realistic about the job I do. Everyone knows what they’re getting into when they take those twenty years from Abe. I tried not to feel sorry for them. I was okay with no one feeling sorry for me either when my time came.

“It was good of you to give that woman a chance to say goodbye to her family.” Debbie peeked at her watch. “I was surprised after what you’ve told me, you know, your experiences.”

“Me too.” I took another drink. “I think I’m getting soft.”

“I knew you had a soft heart inside that tough exterior.” Lucas smiled as he examined the straw.

“A soft heart that will probably get me in trouble with Abe—and that’s saying that Elaine doesn’t make a run for it. We’d have to take her down.”

“You mean kill her.” Debbie didn’t like that idea.

“She’s already dead,” I reminded her. “I mean collecting her where she goes in through the back door of the Taxi for the Dead. Most sit on the seat.”

Lucas tasted the ginger ale and then studied the glass with an odd expression on his face. “If you thought she would become so much trouble, why give her this time?”

“I don’t know. I felt sorry for her.”

Yet even as I said it, I realized what was bothering me—something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was more than Elaine asking for extra time. I hoped I was mistaken, and it was just my brain still coping with the ghoul’s attack.

“We have to go.” I swallowed the last of my whiskey, and got to my feet.

“Elaine didn’t call yet,” Debbie reminded me.

“I know. We’re going early.”

Chapter Twenty-nine

My phone rang before we got outside. Elaine said she’d been able to get her family together faster than she’d anticipated. “I’m ready to go now. Come get me before I change my mind.”

“Her voice is . . . different,” Lucas said. “Perhaps you should call others to aid you as well, Skye. This could be a ruse.”

“I have the only available sorcerer,” I replied. “Let’s hope we can handle it.”

I had a general idea where Elaine’s apartment was. Debbie started the engine, and headed that way.

I tried to focus on what we were doing. It wasn’t easy. After encountering Mary earlier, I wasn’t sure we could handle her.

If Lucas’s magic was more certain.

If I didn’t feel like I’d been kicked in the head.

If there was any chance Debbie could cope.

None of those things was going to happen—at least I didn’t expect them.

“Are you sure about this?” Debbie pulled into a parking space in front of Elaine’s apartment building. “It reminds me a lot of what we already tried.”

“Stay out here, if you like, and I’ll call if I need help.”

“Not a good plan,” she disagreed. “What if you need help right away?”

I pulled out my Beretta. “This is my right-hand man. He’s always there when I need him.”

“Not what I had in mind.” She opened the door, and was out of the van before me.

Lucas got in front of me with the sword.

“Do you know how to use that thing?” I asked.

“I believe so, yes.” He swished it around in front of him a few times. “I shall manage.”

I wasn’t convinced. I picked up the stun gun, and tucked the tranquilizer gun into my belt. “At least stay back. I don’t want to scare this poor woman in case we’re all worked up over nothing. She’s had it hard enough.”

“I can do that. But you might be pleased at how much help I can be.”

“Surprise me later. For now, stay behind me, and be quiet.” I glanced at Debbie. “Both of you.”

We went into the apartment building, and I buzzed Elaine’s number. She told me to come up. I nodded at Lucas and Debbie. They followed me up the stairs to the second floor.

I had a strange twitching feeling inside me. Normally I didn’t have that feeling. Was it something in Elaine’s voice, as Lucas had said, or was it that she hadn’t met me downstairs?

I might not have thought twice about it. It was everything going on around me. My hand tightened on the Beretta as we approached the apartment.

I kept telling myself that everything was fine. There was no reason to think that she’d try to run at this point. Still the tension mounted as I knocked at her door.

“Just a minute,” Elaine’s voice called out. “Is that you, Skye?”

“It’s me. Let’s get going.” Even to my own ears, my voice sounded gruff and uneasy. I felt Lucas lightly squeeze my arm, and then he stepped back again. He didn’t say a word. I was grateful for his silence.

The door opened. I looked inside. It was a small apartment, but nicely furnished. I could tell Elaine took great pride in her housekeeping. Everything was just so. That’s the way the inn had been before Addie had died.

I stepped inside. “Elaine?”

The door just missed my arm as it slammed shut behind me. Something heavy knocked the gun out of my hand. It slid across the green carpet as I swore at the pain.

I looked up. Someone was standing behind the door. I knew it wasn’t Elaine before I saw her body on the floor. It was the ghoul.

There was still fresh blood from the kill. The smell permeated the room. Elaine’s chest had been opened, but only partially. She was past anything I could do to help her, but not past me ending the ghoul.

Mary’s body and face had drastically changed since the first time I’d seen her at the bar. I hadn’t been able to make out any fine details earlier when Lee was killed. Now, she was shorter, bulkier. Her face no longer looked human. There were long claws on what was left of her hands.

“Welcome, Skye. Thank you for waiting for Elaine’s family to arrive.” She smiled, her red mouth stretching into a menacing grin that showed large fangs dripping with saliva.

“I guess this is what happens when you try to be
nice
to someone.” I was stalling. We both knew it. I had no idea what to do with her.

I knew they said the Beretta wouldn’t kill her, but if I used it to stun her, maybe shoot her with tranquilizing darts after. I knew I had to try whatever I could if I had any chance of getting out of there alive.

“Nice?” she hissed. “You’d like to kill me, wouldn’t you? Yet I’ve done nothing to you. You see that as nice? You serve a demon who thrives on human life. At least I’m honest about what I plan to do to
you
.”

“And that is?” It was just chatter as I wondered how I could get the Beretta back. Lucas was in the hall with the sword. Mary was in front of the door.

She laughed, the large veins in her neck and face protruding even more. “I plan to kill you, and eat you. I’m sure you’ll be
quite
delicious.”

“It’s not too late. You could come in with me.” I paused, making it up as I went along. “Abe still loves you.”

“I’m going to eat him next, don’t worry. He’s been on my menu for some time. I just had to get strong enough to kill him. I’m sure he’ll be extra sweet because he still loves me, you know.”

She cackled, and advanced a step toward me. I pulled out the stun gun.

The door flew off its hinges, slapping her into the wall. I blinked, registering what had happened.

Lucas grinned. “This is
not
an illusion.” He held the sword out before him, and advanced into the apartment with Debbie cowering behind him.

It only took Mary a second to throw the door back at Lucas. I stepped out of the way. He took the full brunt of the heavy, metal door directed at him. I saw him go down under it, but there was nothing I could do to help. Mary was coming after me again.

I didn’t think about it. I grabbed the Beretta from the floor. Three shots rang out, hitting her dead center in the chest. She slumped to the floor with blood spurting from her heart wound.

Debbie was trying to help Lucas. I reached for the door, hoping to slide it away from him. Before I could do that, he’d pushed it off. The door sailed through the air, and went through the television.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“I am quite capable of taking care of myself,” he assured me. “What are you going to do about her?”

“I shot her. I think she’s dead.”

“She is a ghoul. Consider her now.” He nodded toward her.

“Use the sword,” Debbie advised in a trembling voice.

“Damn. How do we keep her down long enough to cut off her head?”

“If you had asked me that at another place and time, I would probably have a better answer. For now, I suggest you defend yourself vigorously.”

Mary howled in rage as she threw herself at me. I stepped aside, but one of her claws raked through my jeans, tearing the fabric—and my thigh.

I looked around the room. I could think of dozens of ways to kill a human who was attacking me. A ghoul was much tougher. I wasn’t sure what to try next and then my gaze fell on a large butcher knife near the kitchen sink.

Grabbing it, I turned and plunged it into her chest almost exactly where the first bullet had pierced her. “Do knives kill ghouls?” I asked Lucas.

“Not there. We have to cut off her head.”

“This may not kill you, but it will hurt like hell.
That
should be a distraction.” I followed through, pushing at the butcher knife until she was pinned to the wall with it. “

Lucas came closer with the sword held high. I was too busy holding Mary to the wall to notice her leg coming up at an angle no human could hold. She kicked hard at Lucas. He was thrown across the room, the sword clattering on the floor.

Debbie picked up the sword. “Skye—it’s bent. I don’t think you can use it this way. What should we do?”

I couldn’t look away from Mary. I had to trust Debbie’s judgment on it.

I knew I couldn’t hold her for much longer. She was strong. I was only managing until she got her second wind. At that point, she’d probably kick me across the room and tear me to pieces.

“I’m going to enjoy eating you, Skye. I’m sure your heart will be
quite
tasty.” Her breath was fetid with the blood snacks she’d taken from Elaine.

“Let me help!” Debbie yelled as she ran over to me. “Maybe between us, we can hold her.”

One of Mary’s arms got free, and she batted Debbie across the room like she was nothing.