Page 36 of Ghosted in Arkadia
“Tried to get myself off this rock, remember?” Killian smiles tightly before putting his glasses back on.
“Looks like you almost succeeded,” I mutter.
“I found her,” Killian starts, his tone thick as he directs his gaze toward his plate. “In the bathtub. I opened the door and saw a gun on the floor. It wasn’t until I looked in the tub that I realized what she had done.”
“I thought you said your mate died in a car accident?”
Killian raises his head slowly. “I lied. People do that when it’s about the most painful day of their life.”
“Damn.” I pause, letting my mind fill in the details of Killian’s words. His soulmate chose death over a future with him.
Killian glances down to grab a fry to push around the plate. “Katherine struggled with depression her whole life. I had hoped I was enough to pull her out of it. She did well for a few years at the start. I thought she was doing better.” The fry breaks in halfand Killian tosses it down. He takes a deep breath, releasing it with a long sigh. “That’s why I wear glasses.”
I clear my throat before reaching for my glass of soda to push down the lump. I could use something stronger right about now.
“But you, princess.” My heart pounds slowly in my ears while I wait to hear the next part of the story he wants to share. “You had to live for just you. You got to decide what you wanted and why you wanted it. What do you live for Kira?”
“I’ve lived because the alternative is not living,” I say, allowing the words to pick themselves before flying from my mouth. “Not living doesn’t feel like a valid option. I don’t know what happens after I leave this world.” I pause, thinking over the belief set shared by most of the mated individuals. They believe the purpose of this life is to find your mate so you can spend the afterlife in isolated bliss with them. “Religion isn’t really my thing. But I’m here. Might as well make the best of it.”
“What’s your version of the best? Going to work and coming home to an empty house, day in and day out?” Killian scoffs and shakes his head. “Going to the clubs every weekend for a quick hookup?”
“Hey,” I object. “Just because you’re having a hard time finding your place doesn’t mean you get to judge the rest of us. The mateless are treated like outcasts because, apparently, we aren’t enough running solo. So yeah, we do what we want and who we want. Whenever it suits us. Because it’s all we have.”
“You’re free,” Killian says in a hushed tone.
“What?” The word slips through my lips despite having heard him.
Killian pushes his plate to the end of the table before getting up. “You’re free. Free to do and act and think whatever you want. Your life is yours and yours alone.”
I take a last sip from my drink before getting up and, without a word, start for the door. Killian follows, and we share a silent trip back to the station while I drive.
Killian heads to his desk and I go straight for mine, remembering the email waiting for me. I take a seat and look around at the rest of the station. James is at his desk, head bent, while he looks through something on his tablet. A quick glance Killian’s way shows me he is also busying himself with his tablet, frowning at the screen. Captain’s door is shut.
I look back at my tablet and click the notification for the email.
Officer Blackwell,
The sample submitted yielded two (2) sources of DNA. One set tested female and was not run for identification per case instructions. The second set was identified as male and was run through identification but yielded no exact match. A relative match was identified; however, the person is deceased.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath while fighting the urge to throw things.
I type a quick e-mail back to Zac asking for the information on the deceased relative. I’m not sure if it will help me find out who Ghost is, but I will take any piece to the puzzle that I can find for now.
Graveyards and Games
Calvin Ledger.
The name of Ghost’s relative is Calvin Ledger. He died twenty-three years ago in a car accident. Back before they perfected the self-driving programming. His parents were in the vehicle with him when it slammed into the side rail. Resulting in the death of everyone inside. Calvin was twenty-one.
I put my tablet down on my bed after re-reading the antiquated police report file. I was lucky to even find it in the online database or else I would have needed to bring Vicky a coffee a day for at least a week before she would consider going through records to find Calvin’s death report. Not that I learned much from it. Calvin’s dead. It’s not like I can ask him questions. Or the rest of his family, it seemed.
Just a dead end.
My thoughts wander toward the subject of Ghost. He hasn’t tried to contact me since our text exchange in the car. I’ve restrained myself from being the first to reach out by drowning myself in work and I pick my tablet back up with plans tocontinue doing just that, rather than fall into temptation now that the weekend has come. Sighing, I glance at the first report and my head pounds. I put the tablet down again.
Reaching over to my side table, I grab my phone instead. It’s not even eight o’clock on a Friday night and I am tucked into bed. I consider texting James to see where the party is for the night but decide against it. While I wouldn’t mind a trip to the club, or the bar inside one, I don’t want to deal with rejecting hopeful, mateless men all night. Sex would probably make my overworked headache dissipate, but I have a feeling if I were to go home with anyone, Ghost would make an appearance.
That is an altogether different temptation.
