Page 2 of Down and Dirty

I stepped over to it and ran my finger through the handprint grooves before holding my palm up to the three to see whose was bigger. They were all bigger than mine, only one was a bit smaller than the other two.

“Any luck finding our missing lineage?”

Cassie let out a sigh, and I glanced over my shoulder. “You’re making it difficult to concentrate.”

“Sorry,” I said and left the plaster object behind, returning to the table.

“I’m getting closer to figuring out what happened. It shouldn’t be too long.”

“That’s great. More than we had before,” Gwen said, turning her gaze toward the plaster.

Those hands weren’t the reason we were here. Our baby sister was.

“Has anyone talked to Grams?” I asked, unable to stop myself from interrupting Cassie one more time.

Grams knew the truth, just like I did, although she’d tell you she couldn’t see ghosts and that it was her intuition whispering the universe’s secrets.

“I stopped by and saw her before I came here,” Gwen answered. “She told me that there was no way that Talia was still alive.”

“That’s because she’s right,” I whispered beneath my breath and shifted my weight to my other foot.

“Are you two done?” Cassie asked.

“Grams has no reason to lie,” I reminded them. I spoke quickly before making a zipper motion with my fingers and my mouth.

I’d attempt to keep quiet, but I was making no promises.

Our other sisters—Nina, Mercy, Rachel, and Honor—weren’t in attendance for this little session. I couldn’t blame them. This was a waste of time and a lost cause.

For ten minutes, Cassie held her crystal hovering over the map. Nothing. No movement, no arc, nada.

“It’s not working.” Cassie’s frustration seeped through her voice as she lowered the crystal and dropped it onto the map.

It totally wasn’t the time to state the obvious. “I told you so.”

Gwen speared me with her glare as Cassie headed toward the kitchen where Nathan, Cassie’s new boyfriend, and Gwen’s boyfriend, Maxwell Pierce, had been waiting for us to get done.

“You didn’t have to be here.” Cassie’s voice squeaked, and I knew I was in trouble. She was about to cry, and when that started, there’d be no stopping her.

“I’m sorry, Cassie,” I said, hurrying after them. “We can try again. We can do this all night.”

“Faith,” Veronica called out, and I ignored her.

“Faith.” She said it louder, getting me to glance back.

“Wha—” The question died on my lips as I turned and froze on the spot.

A ghost stood on the other side of the table. Not just any ghost. This one was the spitting image of what I imagined Talia would look like had she lived and aged.

“Hi,” she whispered, glancing around the room as if confused.

I forgot to breathe.

“Gwen, Cassie, get your asses back in here,” I yelled as tears welled in my eyes.

“Talia?” I asked. My voice squeaked as goosebumps from the chill climbed up my arms.

The ghost reached for the pendant on the table and moved it over the town map.

Gwen and Cassie stepped back into the room. Their feet froze as we all watched the crystal begin to move on its own. Only I could see the ghost pushing it around.

“Tell me Talia’s moving that,” Gwen demanded while knocking on my arm.

I was afraid to blink or look away in the event she’d vanish.

“She looks like Talia.” I swallowed hard as a tear slipped free. “Are you my sister?”

“Please find me,” the apparition said before vanishing without an answer.

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