Ghostly Justice (Seven Deadly Sins, #2.5)(22)

“You do? Then how come you didn’t know that they would go after Carter? He was doing me a favor!”

“So are we!”

“Forget it. I don’t know why I came here. I’m all out of options. At least I found out what happened to Amy Carney and she’s being buried Monday. At least one good thing came out of this f*cked situation.”

Rafe said, “It’s not over.”

“For me, and you, it’s over. The cops know what they’re doing.”

“They won’t know where to look or what to do,” Rafe said. “I know what type of place they need to set up the ritual. If you want to find Tori before she’s drained of her blood and the fake Tessa is one step closer to becoming a vessel for Baphomet, you need us.”

Grant ran his hands through his hair and sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know what to do.”

“We do,” Rafe said. He looked at Moira. She was staring at him.

“How did you know?” she asked quietly.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have the answer.

Moira spread the map on the desk, taking her time because she knew that Rafe was hiding something from her. Maybe he didn’t know how he knew Tessa was preparing to become a vessel for a demon, but that he did know with such certainty scared her.

Why should it? She had unexplained visions connected to demons and Rafe didn’t back away from her. He didn’t look at her with surprise or as if she’d betrayed St. Michael’s Order. He wanted her to accept her curse—he called it a gift—and find a way to use it.

But how did she know if she actively sought out the visions that she was doing so purely, without magic, without snapping the thin spiritual line between them and the astral plane? What if she weakened the layers between her life and Hell? She was already connected to the underworld from birth, thanks to her mother. What if she only sealed her fate?

She glanced at Rafe. She had to trust him. He was the only one who truly seemed to care about her future—that she even had a future.

She extended her hand and Rafe took it, standing next to her looking at the map. “Grant,” she said, “where was Amy’s body found? That’s our starting point.”

Reluctantly, Grant walked over. He looked at the map, pointed to a place in near the Encino Reservoir.

“Was her body moved?”

“Yes, we believe her body was dumped in the woods, but very close to the time of death.”

“She died in the mountains,” Rafe said.

Moira didn’t ask how he knew, because she suspected Amy’s ghost had given him the information.

“Her body was found off Encino Avenue,” Grant said. “There’s a lot of open space, valleys and hills. She wasn’t tossed, she seemed to be positioned.”

“It’s common for rituals like this to be performed outdoors, but they can’t risk contamination of the area, and they’re not simply casting a spell,” Moira explained. “They’ll have placed her on an altar. The altar may have been flush to the ground, but she would be on something.”

“Can we go back to the morgue?” Rafe asked.

“Why?” Grant asked.

“Amy’s ghost spoke to me. Now that we know more about what happened, I can ask her questions.”

“I don’t f*cking believe this!”

Moira defended Rafe, though she didn’t want him to talk to Amy or any other ghost. “You saw your girlfriend possessed by a demon, you saw what that demon did at Grace Harvest, you believed Julie when she told you about Amy Carney in the first place—that she’d spoken to the ghost—and you’ve risked your life and your career finding out what happened to her. Why can’t you accept that Rafe can talk to ghosts?”

Both Grant and Rafe were staring at her. Then Grant asked, “Why is it so important to know where she died?”

“Because if this is the ritual Rafe thinks it is, there will be five sacrifices. One on each equinox, and the last on the anniversary of the first, the autumn equinox, which is Baphomet’s feast day. And if we don’t stop the fake Tessa Standler before tonight, she’ll be exponentially stronger, and after facing her last night, I don’t think I can fight her if she gains more power, short of shooting her in the head. And honestly, I don’t want to go to prison for murder. Last time I checked, the criminal justice system doesn’t allow psycho-bitches to be killed because they’re summoning demons from Hell.”

Grant ran both hands through his hair and closed his eyes. “I’ll call Fern Archer and have her meet us there.”



#



Fern was at the morgue by the time the three of them arrived.

“I’m not going to ask,” Fern said in greeting. “Just don’t do anything to get me fired. And put on these.” She handed them foot coverings and gloves.

Rafe didn’t know how he was going to find Amy again, or if she was still here. “Where is her body?” he asked Fern.

“She was released to her parents. The mortuary is picking her up this afternoon, so the body is probably bagged and ready for transport in the main crypt.”

Fern led the way. She checked tags on all the bagged bodies. “Here.” She gestured to the fourth body in the row.

Rafe stood next to the gurney, mindful that Moira was watching him closely. He didn’t see or feel Amy’s spirit anywhere. Maybe she’d already gone to the afterlife in peace, knowing that her parents knew what had happened to her.