The Curse Keepers Collection (84 page)

“I don’t know for sure, Ellie. I’m only guessing.” She grimaced. “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”

“You’ve been more helpful than you know.”

Myra went upstairs to pack, and I found David on the front screened-in porch with his laptop, sitting in the chair that had been Daddy’s favorite.

I stood in the doorway watching him, and my breath stuck in my chest. The morning sunlight bathed him in a warm glow. The wind blew his hair against his forehead, but his gaze was focused on his computer screen. He had on a short-sleeve button-down shirt with a pair of jeans that I recognized. They fit his backside remarkably well.

Myra has assumed there was something between us—along with everyone else—and I kept dismissing the suggestion, but as I watched him now, I found myself wondering:
What if?

He looked up at me and smiled. His eyes lit up and my heart fluttered, catching me by surprise. But how could I be with someone else if my soul belonged to Collin? Still, my stomach somersaulted as I started to consider what it would be like if David and I had more than a professional partnership.

His smile faded into something more serious, more meaningful, and a quiver of fear vibrated my insides. Could we really be together? Things had gone so badly with Collin. I had no problem admitting that I both wanted David around and needed him. What if we tried to have a relationship and it failed? Then I’d be completely alone. I wasn’t sure I could survive that.

“Myra—” My voice stuck in the back of my throat, so I looked away and tried again. “Myra is going home with Steven this weekend and the other researchers are going home Sunday night. I thought we”—I shook my head—“or I, if you don’t want to, can spend the weekend at the inn, looking for Daddy’s papers.” I dared to cast a glance at him.

He’d turned in his seat, setting his laptop down on the table next to him. “Of course I want to help you.”

I sat in the chair next to him, twisting my hands in my lap. “I just told Myra she works too hard, and so do you. You need to take a break.” I offered him a soft smile. “Maybe you want to go home for the weekend too.” I hesitated. “I never even asked if you had a girlfriend.”

“First of all, it’s the pot calling the kettle black for you to say I work too hard.” He picked up my hand and held it between his. “And how can I take a break when you’re completely defenseless?”

“I’m not your responsibility, David. You had a life—friends—before you showed up on Roanoke Island. I have no right to expect you to drop everything for me when I can’t even offer you anything in return.”

His smile was bittersweet. “Ellie, I told you the night I accepted this arrangement that I’d been searching for something, and I was sure this was it. Well, I’m even more certain of that now. You
have
given me something.” His hand squeezed mine. “You’ve given me a purpose. Don’t underestimate that.”

I looked down at my lap, overwhelmed.

He reached over and lifted my chin so that my eyes met his. “This is exactly where I want to be. With you.”

His touch sent shivers down my back, and my gaze lowered to his mouth.

“And for the record”—his lips twitched slightly—“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

I heard footsteps on the stairs, and someone called David’s name.

He grimaced and slowly lowered his hand from my face. “Duty calls.”

“I hope you have a good day.”

“I’m more looking forward to the evening.”

Butterflies danced in my insides.

“Oh, and I just found two more symbols. The plank has thirty-six symbols and I’ve now figured out twenty-two of them.”

“That’s great, David.”

“But not good enough.” He stood and pulled me to my feet. We were less than a foot apart and I shivered again. I couldn’t believe how ridiculous I was being. I’d been close to David several times over the last week without feeling anything like this.

He studied my face, looking like he wanted to say something, and then the hint of a smile appeared. “Call me if you need me.”

My gaze locked with his. “You too.”

He picked up his computer and eased past me into the house. I stood next to the chair, looking out toward the sound as I took slow, steady breaths to keep from hyperventilating.

I was in trouble.

A couple of hours later my cell phone rang while I was cleaning a bathroom. The number surprised me. It was the New Moon.

“Ellie, how are you getting along?” It was Floyd, the owner, but he’d handed all responsibility to Marlena. He rarely stepped foot in the place.

“Hey, Floyd. I’m getting by. I’ve been picking up some shifts at Darrell’s.”

“I’ve hired a new manager for the restaurant, and I’d like to reopen next week.”

I kept myself from gasping in surprise. I couldn’t imagine someone else managing the restaurant, but of course someone else would. Time moved on. “That’s great.”

“I’d already heard that you’ve been working at Darrell’s. Are you interested in coming back?”

“I’ve only been filling in there. But I do have a request.”

“Okay,” he said, his voice hesitant.

“I can’t work the night shift anymore. Only day shifts.”

“You know I can’t guarantee that, Ellie. From what I’ve seen, you used to work both.”

“Then I guess I’ll just keep working at Darrell’s.”

He groaned. “Oh, all right. You can have days only. But it’s going to piss the other waitresses off.”

I shrugged, even if he couldn’t see it. “Oh well.” After all the angry spirits I’d gone up against, pissed-off waitresses were nothing.

“I’ll see you for the lunch shift next Wednesday.”

I might have gotten my job back at the New Moon, but I still had a shift at Darrell’s to fill. The customers were all strangely subdued. I was trying to figure out what was wrong when Tom came in with the sheriff deputy he’d been dining with on my first day. I froze, hiding around the corner in case they were there to question me. The hostess seated them in my section and the muscles in my shoulders tensed. There was no evading them now.

I forced a smile and took menus over to them. “Good afternoon, Tom. Deputy Moran. Can I get you hardworking officers a drink?”

The deputy obviously liked to hold a grudge based on the scowl he shot in my direction.

Tom didn’t look much happier.

I was waiting on a table opposite theirs after I took their drink orders, and I caught snatches of their conversation.

“ . . . location isn’t similar to the previous one,” Deputy Moran said.

“But we haven’t found any pattern whatsoever other than Ellie. The dogs were found to the north and west of the island. Another one was found next to Ellie’s family home.”

They were talking about Ukinim.

“The first victim was found south of Manteo,” Tom continued.

First victim
. Had there been more? I hadn’t had a single dream since David gave me the dream catcher, so no spirits had been tormenting me in my sleep. And I sure hadn’t heard about another death.

Deputy Moran lowered his voice, and I struggled to hear. “I heard the two from last night were found in bizarre locations.”

Two? I grabbed the edge of the table.

“The locations themselves aren’t bizarre, it’s how they’re spaced. One was placed exactly a quarter of a mile north of Ellie’s apartment, and the other was a quarter mile to the west of it.”

“So somebody’s baiting her?” Deputy Moran asked.

“Not if she doesn’t know.”

I took an order back to the kitchen, sucking in big gulps of air. So I
hadn’
t sent Ukinim and Ilena back to hell. While I wasn’t surprised, it was disappointing. David still hadn’t found out what the conjurer had to do to destroy the badgers. I had no idea how to get rid of them for good.

But more importantly, the badgers were killing more people. We had to find a way to stop them.

On the way back to the dining room, I stopped in the hallway and grabbed my phone out of my pocket, texting David about what I’d heard.

He replied within seconds.
Are you okay?

Yeah.

Call me when you get off.

“Who are you texting, Ellie?” Tom asked from several feet behind me.

I shoved my phone into my pocket and whirled around to face him. “Are you my boss now? Was I supposed to get permission first?”

“Ellie.” He sounded exhausted.

I couldn’t begrudge him for pestering me after hearing how strongly all the recent strange incidents were connected to me. Why hide it? “I was texting David.”

“You’re spending a lot of time with him.” Tom leaned his shoulder into the wall. “He came to town about the time the bodies started piling up, didn’t he?”

“Are you seriously accusing David of murder? I suspect he doesn’t even kill spiders.”

“The timing is pretty coincidental, Ellie.”

I narrowed my eyes, tilting my head. “Check that time line again, Tom. David came to town after the dog was killed in my yard.”

Tom scowled.

“You must be desperate if you’re randomly accusing a renowned professor of grisly murders.”

His voice lowered. “You know I’m desperate. And you also know there have been more murders.”

My anger faded. “Two more?”

“Three.”

My eyes widened as my stomach churned. “But I heard you say—”

“That was just last night, Ellie. The third one was two nights ago.”

I leaned my back against the wall. “I heard you say the last two were a quarter mile north and west of my apartment. Where was the other body found?”

“At the lighthouse. We’ve done our damnedest to keep these under wraps.”

I closed my eyes. “Their hearts were eaten?”

Tom leaned closer. “Yeah. Whoever is doing this is baiting you, Ellie. And I don’t think it’s Marino’s men. Have you seen them since that day of the high-speed chase?”

I shook my head, feeling sick to my stomach. “No. I was hoping that you permanently scared them off.”

“There’s not much likelihood of that. Maybe they figure they don’t need you anymore.”

My back straightened. “Why do you say that?”

He ignored my question. “Tell me about the guy who showed up behind the restaurant the day of the chase. The guy with the red pickup.”

“How do you know about him?” I shook my head and frowned. “It wasn’t him. He would never do this.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I know him. He just wouldn’t.”

Tom grinned like he’d woken up on Christmas morning to a room full of presents. “What’s his name, Ellie?”

I took a deep breath.
Damn it.
He’d set me up.

Tom leaned his face close to mine, raising his eyebrows. “What’s his name?”

I gritted my teeth. Damn my mouth. “Collin.”

“Collin what?”

“Collin Dailey.”

“And how do you know Collin Dailey?”

What could I tell him? “I met him at the New Moon. We hung out a lot the week the colony reappeared.”

“What a coincidence.”

“Are you basing your entire case on coincidences?”

“It’s all I fucking have at the moment, Ellie.”

I leaned the back of my head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. What a mess.

“Where does Collin Dailey live?”

“Buxton.” That seemed far enough away to draw them away from Collin, and it helped that it was true.

“Buxton.” He looked over his shoulder and then back at me. “I’ve seen him here every day until our encounter a few days ago. That’s quite a drive to Manteo each day.”

I scowled.

“What were you doing in Wanchese last week?”

I fidgeted.

“Collin Dailey is in Wanchese, isn’t he? And if I find out you lied to me, I’ll throw your ass in jail for twenty-four hours just to prove I’m done playing around.”

I didn’t answer.

“Does Collin Dailey live in Wanchese?”

Oh, God
. Collin had admitted that he had some kind of criminal record. And although he hadn’t told me what it involved, the fact that he carried tools around in his truck to break into places was a good clue. “I don’t know.”

“
Ellie
.”

I glanced at Tom. “His boat is in Wanchese, but I don’t know where he’s living right now.”

“He has a boat?”

I nodded. The less I admitted the better.

“Were you visiting his boat the night they found the guy floating in the cove?”

“No.”

“Ellie.”

“I went to see Collin. I never saw his boat.”

“Why?”

My heart raced and I felt light-headed. “Do I need an attorney?”

Tom pressed his back into the wall next to me and leaned close to my ear. “I don’t know, Ellie. Do you?”

My head flooded with panic. I knew Tom didn’t have any evidence to press charges against either of us, but I knew I couldn’t afford to spend even one night unprotected, especially with my mark gone. But could Collin? His mark seemed to protect him more than mine did. Could I risk it?

I squeezed my eyes shut. “We had a . . . thing.”

“A relationship?”

“Well as close as Collin will probably ever have to a relationship.”

“You sure do plow through men, don’t you, Ellie?”

I cringed.

“So you went to see him because you were . . .
seeing
him?”

The closer I stuck to the truth, the better. “No. We were done. But he had something of mine I wanted.”

“And did you see him?”

“Yes, but we got into an argument and he drove off.”

“Where did you see him if you never saw his boat?”

“His truck was there. I figured he had to be out in his boat, so I waited until he came back. We had an argument, and he left.” I flushed, remembering the part I was leaving out.

“
He
left.
You
didn’t?”

Tom was perceptive. “I left afterward.”

“How did that guy end up dead in the cove?”

I was already spilling my guts, so I might as well share what I could of this to make it look like I was being cooperative. “After Collin took off, two guys showed up.” I grimaced. “There was a misunderstanding about who I was.”

“What does that mean?”

I looked up at him. “Don’t play stupid with me, Tom Helmsworth. You already think the guy who was killed tried to rape me.”