Page 20 of Immortal By Morning
Lilith was quick about her business tonight. It was a great relief to Abril since she couldn’t think of a thing to say to Delacort. He appeared to have the same problem so that they simply stood there in an uncomfortable silence until Lilith finished.
Eight
Abril could see the tent the moment they walked back around the corner to the front of the house. It was large and white. It also appeared to already be fully set up.
“It’s big,” she commented as they approached.
“It needed to cover the excavation site, and that’s big,” Detective Delacort pointed out.
“Yes, I guess.” She eyed the tent walls as they undulated slightly under the influence of the light breeze that had started. It actually looked more like something that would be used at an outdoor wedding than a shelter for skeletons.
“They were pretty much done putting it up by the time I got over here,” Roberts said, joining them.
Abril and Delacort both grunted in response and then she pointed out, “There are lights on inside the tent. Are they going to work all night or something?”
Roberts turned to peer at the tent where inner lights were making the walls appear to glow. “No,” he saidfinally. “Actually, they’re just using them to see by as they cover the half-buried skeletons inside with canvas. They are also setting up heaters in the hopes of drying the ground a bit so it will be easier for them to work with tomorrow. Then they will be heading out. I already sent Officer Peters away.”
Abril glanced around, noticing only then that the officer’s police car was missing. Despite Roberts’s comment earlier about talking to her about their guarding the site, she said, “He thought he was going to be guarding the site tonight.”
Roberts shook his head. “Delacort and I will be handling it.”
“Is it normal for detectives to perform that task?” she asked with interest. “I would have thought it more something that patrolmen would handle.”
“It normally is,” Roberts agreed. “But this is turning into a bigger case than usually comes up, and we are concerned that someone living on the street may still be friends with whichever of the previous owners are responsible for the bodies here and mention our presence. They would no doubt realize what it’s about, might worry they left some evidence behind with the bodies and come around to search the site, remove the bodies themselves, or otherwise disturb it. If so, we want to be here to prevent that. We might even catch the killer tonight.”
Abril stared at him wide-eyed. “You think the killer will comehere? Tonight?”
“It is possible,” Detective Delacort said gently. “But if so, we will be here. That is, if you do not mind us sitting in our car in the driveway all night?”
“I don’t mind,” she assured him. “But you’d probably be more comfortable inside. In fact, if you lifted the tent flap on the kitchen side, you could actually watch the bones themselves from the house, and keep an eye on the whole yard through the monitor for the security cameras at the same time.”
She was responding to Delacort, but looking at Roberts as she spoke, because she knew she just couldn’t make the offer to Delacort without blushing wildly when she added, “You’d definitely be more comfortable inside where it’s warm. You can make yourself coffee, or food if you like, and there are two guest rooms besides the one I’m using. You are welcome to use them. One of you can nap while the other keeps an eye out, then you could switch.”
Much to her surprise Roberts beamed at her as if she had said something terribly clever. “Well, that sounds just fine. Why do you two not go inside and start on the chili and chips while I see to lifting the flap on the tent?”
He didn’t wait for a response but left them and walked off toward the tent and the two men coming out of it.
“Shall we?” Delacort gestured back toward the front doors of the house.
“Yes,” Abril whispered and headed that way at once, tugging lightly on the leash to get Lilith to walk with her. She didn’t have to drag her this time. Apparently, out of sight was out of mind for Lilith. Now that the tent was up, blocking the bones from view, and possibly trapping any smell attached to them inside, the Labrador was no longer fighting to get to the excavation site.
That was something, anyway, she thought andwondered what on earth she’d been thinking to invite two gorgeous men to stay overnight in a house she was house-sitting. One of whom she’d had a passionate exchange with earlier. Abril had thought it a good idea as she’d issued the invitation, but now she was second-guessing herself and feeling as nervous as a virgin on her wedding night.
The thought made Abril give herself a mental shake as she wondered when she had turned into such a ninny. Good lord! She had been dating since she was sixteen. Okay, so she hadn’t had a ton of boyfriends, still she wasn’t inexperienced. But now, one little kiss from the sexy beast walking beside her and she’d become a ball of anxiety.
Idiot.Straighten up and fly right, she told herself as she walked up the steps to the door. It was a phrase Bob had often used on her when she was doing something silly as a teenager. As it had then, it now made her stop slouching, stand taller, and lift her chin. She was a grown-up woman and could kiss who she wanted when she wanted. She had done nothing wrong.
Well, Abril tempered with a small frown, she had done nothing wrong if Detective Delacort was single. If he wasn’t... That thought was too depressing to consider, so she pushed it away unfinished.
Abril wasn’t surprised to find that both the chili and fries were now cold. She’d been outside much longer than she’d expected.
“Take a seat,” she suggested to Delacort as she removed Lilith’s leash and hung it back in the broom closet.
“Is there nothing I can do?” Delacort asked, standing by the chair he’d occupied earlier at the island, but hesitating to sit.
“Not really,” she told him. “Everything was done earlier, now I just need to warm up the chili and put in a fresh batch of French fries.” Even as she said that, Abril was pulling the now cold cookie sheet of dried out French fries from the oven. She set it on the island and then turned the oven back on to start it warming up again while she retrieved the frozen fries from the freezer.
Once she had the fries all set up and was just waiting for the oven to warm up, she asked, “Would you like a drink? I’d offer you a glass of wine or something, but I suppose you can’t drink alcohol, being on the job and all. So, your options are ice water, orange juice, ginger ale, Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Cherry Coca-Cola,” she listed off everything she knew was in the house that was nonalcoholic, and then added, “Of course, there is coffee or tea too.”
