In For the Kill (McClouds & Friends #11)(146)

“Spookier, you mean,” Tam said. “So, past, present, future? Someone not yet born, someone already dead? Someone who hasn’t—”

“Someone who’s already dead,” Sveti broke in.

“Oh, great. That’s just peachy,” Tam said sourly. “A ghost. And not just any ghost. A child’s ghost. A flower-bearing, teddy-bear-carrying child’s ghost. Very cheering. Just what she needed to perk her up and put her in a party mood. Thanks so much, Edie.”

“Sorry,” Edie said meekly.

Sveti started to laugh. It took less than a second for the laughter to morph into tears. She turned to Tam and grabbed her. Tam was tense, nervy, not the hugging type, but Sveti just hung on. Tam had put herself in the line of fire, and she could take the goddamn consequences. “You crazy bitch,” Sveti whispered. “I love you.”

Tam snorted. “I take it as a badge of honor.” She added, after an awkward pause, “And, ahem. I love you, too.”

When it became evident that Sveti wasn’t letting go, Tam’s arms circled her and she patted Sveti’s back. Gingerly.

When the spasm had eased off, Edie was ready with tissues. People had filed into the room and were passing the sketchpad around. Miles and Lara were there, and Becca and Nick. Connor and Erin, too. Nina and Aaro were each holding a squirming baby girl. At the door, she heard Bruno and Lily’s rambunctious twins, Tonio and Magda, and two-year-old, Marco, having some sort of loud snit fit at the door.

“Who is this kid in the picture, anyway?” Nick asked.

“She’s one of the trafficked boat people murdered at Hazlett’s lab,” Sveti explained. “The flowers were growing up through her skeleton. She led me through the cave. I’d found her teddy bear in the dump outside the hole where they dropped the bodies. And I brought it back to her.”

Nick looked pained. “Jesus. Rip my heart out and stomp on it.”

“That’s so f*cked up,” Seth said, staring down at the sketchpad. Raine, his wife, joined him and gazed at it, her eyes shiny.

“What a beautiful smile,” she whispered.

The hug fest began, and after seeing the drawing, the hugs got very intense, but in some odd way, the comfort they offered could now find its way in. Her little ghost friend had cleared the way, with her open-hearted gift of flowers.

Tam’s sharp voice cut through the babble. “How interesting! Look who just parked out behind everyone else, carefully positioning his car for a quick getaway. Did someone invite him? I certainly didn’t.”

Sveti’s body went rigid. “Who?”

“Your cop,” Tam said. “He’s here.”

Sveti cleared her throat. “He’s not mine,” she whispered.

“You greet him,” Tam said. “I don’t have anything nice to say to him. He drags you out of the sea half-dead, then walks away and leaves you alone and bleeding in a hospital bed? Ice-cold bastard.”

“I recall someone I know doing something rather similar, long ago.” Val shot Tam a cautious sidelong glance. “Glass houses, my love.”

“That was different!” Tam snapped.

“Of course. I just had a bullet wound,” Val murmured. “It was a trifle, yes. That I will concede.”

“I was poisoned!” Tam yelled, outraged.

“Of course you were, my pet. Absolutely toxic.”

“You condescending bastard. I’m going to the game room to check on the status of our daughter’s virtue.” She flounced out of the room.

Everyone looked at Sveti, expectantly.

“Well?” Edie said.

“Well, what?” Sveti hedged. “I didn’t ask him to come.”

“He didn’t come here to see any of us,” Nina said. “Want to go out and greet him alone? Without an audience?”

She pulled her ballerina flats on, with fingers that trembled. “No, I’ll just, ah . . . go out on the terrace for a while.”

The wind was nippy, and she only had a light knit wrap. But she wasn’t getting near the entrance hall where her jacket hung. Not with Sam about to walk through it.

The terrace had two levels—the one opening off the living room, where the outdoor furniture and the barbecue were located. Wooden stairs descended from there over the rocks, leading to another landing about four meters below, smaller, but with an entirely different view. The stairway zigzagged down to the beach, which was accessible only in that way, except by sea. The cliffs, the drop-off, the smell of saltwater gave her a nauseating wave of discomfort as she remembered that awful morning. That desperate, screaming leap into the sea.

She dragged in deep, shuddering breaths and opened her heart to the stark beauty of the place. She knew how a heart felt when it was awake now. She could call the feeling forth at will. It was scary, painful. But bearable.

And full of hope. Like holding out a handful of wildflowers.



Sam stared at the parking area below Tam and Val’s house, dismayed. There were ten different vehicles parked there, and the space in front of the garage was full, too. Years back they’d engineered a parking area, after bitter complaints from the McCloud Crowd who were sick of parking on the narrow, inhospitable road. All were cars he knew. There were the massive family cars of the four McCloud guys; Nick and Becca’s sedan; Miles and Lara’s truck; Aaro and Nina’s car, with matching baby seats in the back; Bruno and Lily’s seven-seater van; Seth and Raine’s SUV. People he was specifically avoiding.