Page 8 of Down and Dirty

“And he ran away like a little bitch when you told him his grandpa was hanging around.”

“He was fifteen years old,” I said again, rubbing the headache forming at my temples.

Within thirty minutes I was in Gwen’s sports car with the top down as she sped through the streets. She stopped long enough at my house to kick me out of the car with the promise to send one of our other sisters over to check on me.

Gwen was kind that way.

Since my car and keys were still at the landfill, along with my purse, I grabbed the spare key from beneath the flowerpot and used it to unlock my door.

I rested my back against the wood, taking a minute to soak in the lack of spirits and hospital noises. This was my sanctuary. Here I could control my surroundings. Everything in my house was light and airy, unlike the pain and despair in the hospital. I saged my home from negative and unwanted guests weekly. I’d be doing it again tomorrow, just in case one had decided to follow me home.

I traversed the stairs toward my bedroom. Moonlight cascaded through my sheer curtains, leaving my room in a soft moonlight glow.

I changed out of the scrubs and into yoga pants and a T-shirt, unsure which sister was going to play babysitter. Stepping out of my bathroom, I grabbed some linens and headed into the spare room to make the bed for whichever sister decided to show.

A familiar shiver of awareness produced goosebumps on my arms seconds before Veronica and Jared appeared in the hall and started following me around.

“You were right. I caught him with his hand on the plug,” Veronica announced.

Jared shrugged. “That guy only had one more day to live. I would have been doing him a favor.”

“Can we do this tomorrow? I’m tired, and one of my sisters is coming over.”

Jared grinned. “Which one?”

“You know which one,” Veronica announced. “Nina.”

That was news to me.

“She must have had a premonition,” I said as I reentered my bedroom to find Jared hovering in the air over my clothes hamper with his legs crossed like a buddha. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You never used to send us away when your sisters visited,” Jared growled, like a seven-year-old he was.

“I’m just tired, Jared.” I sighed and walked to the window to glance down at my empty driveway. Depending on how long it took Nina to arrive, she might have to let herself in.

My gaze slid over the quiet street, only pausing on the figure across the road. An outline of a man stood in the shadows.

The breath caught in my throat as I met his gaze. The same gaze that had been standing over me when I tumbled down the hill.

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