Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(58)

They got in the car and Chase raised the top to make them less noticeable, and took off. As they passed the house, a man and woman were outside the house looking up at the open window. They zipped past, but Della did notice the man standing beside Natasha’s mom wasn’t the man in the family picture. Nevertheless, seeing them outside told Della just how close they’d come to being caught.

Too close.

*   *   *

“You getting anything helpful?” Chase asked fifteen minutes later, She hadn’t spoken since they’d left Natasha’s neighborhood as she read through the diary.

“No,” Della said. “It’s normal stuff, and it dates back almost two years.” She looked down at the handwritten notes from Natasha’s diary.

Another two minutes passed when he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“The diary?” she asked, but she honestly knew what “it” was. Or at least, she feared she did.

“You’re giving me the silent treatment. So let’s just talk about it.”

She hadn’t purposely not spoken to him. She’d been busy reading Natasha’s diary, and feeling guilty for doing it. And then, trying to figure out why her aunt had been calling Natasha’s mom.

There was a connection. One she’d assumed had just been Chan. But if Chan’s mom was calling Natasha’s mom, it had to be more. Della was going to have to figure out what that was. But how, without going to see her aunt? Without making her father furious at her?

“Did you hear me?” he asked.

“Yes and no.”

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Yes, I heard you, and no, I don’t want to talk about … ‘it.’”

“You can’t be pissed at me about that.”

“Sure I can,” she seethed in a low voice.

“You’re not being fair.”

“Where did you get the idea I was fair?”

He chuckled. “Hey, you had your hand on my ass and I’m not mad at you.”

“Well, that just says which of us has a better handle on this. Because you should be pissed. Fondling strangers isn’t—”

“We aren’t strangers.” He glanced back at the road, but not before she saw the laughter in his eyes. A few seconds later, with his humor gone, he added, “We’re bonded. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to accept that.”

She started to tell him she’d never accept it, but she didn’t even know if it was a lie. So she just kept her mouth shut. Oddly enough, that seemed to bother him more than anything. She tucked that info away for another day.

“Look,” he said. “It happened because of the vision. And instead of being worried about it, we should be trying to figure out if maybe we got anything from the vision to help us.”

“You’re right,” she said.

“Wow, can I have that in writing?” he asked with sarcasm.

She frowned and closed the dairy. The entries were about a boy she liked and what her girlfriends did. And it sort of broke Della’s heart because the relationship between Natasha and Amy and Jennifer seemed so special. Special like her relationship with Miranda and Kylie.

What had happened to these girls? Were they still missing Natasha?

“I don’t remember much of the vision,” Della said.

“I could see better this time,” Chase said. “I don’t know if that means there was more light in there, or if the ghost let us see.”

“I could see better, too. And I guess it could be either.” Della tried to remember details. “Liam had a cut over his brow.” She let her mind go back to the vision, trying to put the pieces back together. “He got it defending Natasha.”

“From who?” Chase asked, as if Della might hold a key to finding them.

And damn it, she wished she did. “I don’t know, I just … Natasha thought about the fight, and I saw him being hit, and her trying to stop it and her feeling guilty. What was Liam thinking about?” she asked.

He cut his eyes at her, looking almost guilty.

“Oh, hell! Why did I even ask? All you were thinking about was getting her naked, right?” She let out a low growl.

“Hey, it was him. Not me.” He looked back at the road. “And I don’t think he was the only one into it.”

Della couldn’t deny it. Natasha had wanted Liam, too. She just wished Natasha’s wanting hadn’t led to her groping Chase’s ass.

“She had a tattoo,” Chase said, shifting gears.

“She doesn’t seem the type to get a tattoo,” Della said.

“Well, she had one. On her shoulder.” Della suddenly remembered seeing one on Liam’s shoulder as well. Oddly, she recalled Natasha tracing it with her finger, knowing it was there, when Della could hardly see it.

“That’s strange,” Della said.

“What’s strange?”

A ring sounded in the car. She put their conversation on hold and pulled her cell out of her pocket. Her heart took a nosedive.

Don’t let it be Steve.

When she saw it wasn’t Steve, her heart rose back up. Then went right back down. He hadn’t called her. Probably wasn’t going to call her. Just like Perry. But damn, that hurt.