Page 30 of Dead Ringer

Wanda’s cousin, Maverick, was there, too.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have anything against Maverick. He always made me a little nervous, since he’s one o’ them sarcastic types. Further, I didn’t think he liked me much, but he and Taliyah were pretty chummy, so I guessed it made sense that he’d be there.

He and Taliyah had been spending a lot of time together, actually. Ever since Christmas, I’d been seeing them around together. Heck, Maverick was even acting a bit like a bounty hunter, helping Taliyah on police cases that involved the spooky side of town. But him being here, with her kids, eating dinner, it made me start to wonder if maybe there was something else going on.

If so, well, way to go, sister. Personality aside, no one from Wanda’s family was exactly dog faced, if you catch my drift. Maverick was lean, and tall, and he might not have been as built as Cain had been in life, but he wasn’t no slouch neither. And if anyone deserved some fun in her life, it was Taliyah.

Cain, it seemed, didn’t agree.

He’d bristled up the instant we walked through the door like a cheesed off cat.What’s he doing here?

That had me stumbling on the threshold, feeling like I’d missed more than a step. I didn’t think Cain and Maverick had even met while Cain was still alive, and since then, we’d only really seen Maverick in passing and exchanged a few words. So, unless Cain knew something I didn’t, which, rude, then I wasn’t sure what the instant dislike of Maverick was all about.

I kept Cain’s question behind my teeth. If he wanted to be rude, he could be a grown up and use his own words.

What followed was one heck of an awkward dinner, with Cain growling questions to me, and me ignoring them while I complimented the food, asked the kids how they liked school, and made pleasant conversation until I thought all my smiling muscles were going to cramp up.

Taliyah was a bit tense, the boys just seemed excited to have so many people there, and Maverick was weirdly comfortable. Like he didn’t even notice Cain’s moodiness, which I would have thought he’d pick up on, with him being a warlock and all, but hey, what did I know?

Maverick leaned back in his chair, claiming his space and was utterly at ease. His hand brushed Taliyah’s arm a couple times, but she didn’t seem to mind so much, so I didn’t think anything of it.

At one point, Maverick offered her a bite of his dessert from his fork, and she gave him a look that should have frozen him on the spot, but I could see her lips twitching like she was fighting a smile, so she probably didn’t mean it.

She still didn’t take the bite though. Which was good for me, because Cain tensed his jaw so tight, I thoughtmyteeth were going to grind down into powder.

Eventually, the boys headed off to bed, and the rest of us settled in with coffee. My dogs were dragging by that point, so a cup of joe was just what the doctor ordered, and I inhaled the smell gratefully.

Taliyah spooned a surprising amount of sugar into her mug and tapped the spoon on the side. “So, you’re still not going to tell me about the case you’re working on?”

I shook my head hard enough to make my newly grown out hair swing back and forth. “Nothing doing. Sorry, Taliyah, but that’s against the rules. A private eye never squeals on their client’s business. That’s the law.”

“It isn’t, actually,” Maverick said idly, holding his mug with an amused look. “There’s no such law.”

I deflated, flopping back into my chair. “Well...” How to tell her I wanted to keep this investigation to myself so I could prove myself... hmm. “Well, I ain’t no snitch, and it’s nothing me and Cain can’t handle. We’re keeping our noses clean and staying out of trouble.”

Taliyah’s eyes narrowed, like she remembered an, as of yet, unticketed car chase, and I reached around for a distraction to throw out there.

Rescue came in the form of an icy rush of wind and a ghostly uniform as Cain manifested right there at the table, hovering over the seat next to me.

I jumped, Taliyah jerked in surprise and her coffee sloshed up over the rim. Maverick just raised an eyebrow, looking Cain over. Cain didn’t do this often—just come to visible life, especially around Taliyah. I’d had to coax him into letting her see him like I was trying to lure a little baby deer away from its ma.

Cain’s face was twisted into his most suspicious scowl. He positively glowered across the table at Maverick.

“What’s he doing here?” Cain asked.

Maverick smirked.

Taliyah’s face twisted into a scowl so much like her brother’s that it was honestly hard for me to remember that they weren’t blood related.

“Hi, Cain,” she said, more sarcastically than I’d ever heard her. “It’s so good to see you. It’s been a while. So glad you decided to show up.”

Cain just kept glaring.

Taliyah put her coffee cup down with exaggerated care. “He’s here because he’s my friend and my partner. Do you have a problem with that?”

The icy sweetness in her voice made me want to slide under the table. Maybe hide in the closet. The overprotective brother act was all well and good, ignoring that Taliyah was almost fifty and it seemed a bit late in the game, but I sure wished Cain remembered that only one of us was dead and pretty much impervious to all harm. I’d just gotten a body back, and I didn’t want anything to get messed up. Getting caught in the crossfire between a ghost and a Faerie Princess having a squabble just didn’t seem like a healthy place to be.

“What do you even know about him?” Cain was either ignorant of the danger, or completely ignoring it. “You’re bringing him around the boys. I’m allowed to be concerned.”

---