Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(78)

“You look exhausted,” Kylie said. “Have you slept any?”

“Not yet.” Della massaged her temple again. Her headache returning like a bad penny. Boy was she a mess. Her life falling apart piece by piece. Her dad hated her. She was getting clobbered on the head by either a murderer or the death angels. Steve was kissing Jessie. Her cousin was dead. And she was seeing ghosts. Could anything else happen?

Yup, it could. She found out Monday afternoon. Burnett had called and asked Della to meet him at his office. He started out telling her that Chan’s autopsy had been delayed and it would be a week before they could place Chan in the grave site that held his marker from when he faked his death.

“Why so long?” The thought of Chan’s body being in some cold morgue hurt.

“Because there were no signs of foul play, the autopsy is going to take a little longer than I’d hoped.”

Della nodded. “I want to be there.” Her chest grew heavy.

“At the autopsy?” he asked, confused.

“No, at the burial,” she said.

He exhaled as if in disagreement. “It’s going to be done in the middle of the night and quickly.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want him to be buried alone.” She hadn’t seen Chan’s ghost again, and thought maybe he’d passed on, but at the very least, she was going to be there when his body was put in the earth. She could remember the crowd that had been at Lorraine’s funeral. The people who had been there to show their love for her. Della couldn’t live with the thought that Chan would be dropped in a grave and not have anyone—not one person there to mourn for him.

Burnett stared at her with defiance and she suspected what he was about to say. “With all you have been through, don’t you think it would be wise to forgo working on the recent murder case?”

Her suspicions were on the mark. “No! And don’t use this as an excuse to stop me.”

He held up his hand, his eyes tightening. “I just think you’ve had too much on your plate.”

Of course it was too much. She felt like she was dying inside, but not doing anything would make it worse. “It doesn’t matter. Not only do I want to do this, I need something else to think about other than my cousin’s death.” Other than her father’s hatred of her and losing all hope of her and Steve. “Please. Didn’t I, with Kylie and Miranda’s help, do well at the funeral home yesterday? We caught that guy.”

“You did. But I still don’t think you three going to the funeral home alone was a good idea.”

“And yet it turned out okay,” she insisted.

She saw in the way his shoulders slumped that he’d given in. “Fine. Then you start tonight. I’ve got some information about a local gang hangout. I want you and Chase there to see if you—”

“Chase?” Della asked, panic forming in a tight ball in the pit of her stomach. “I’m working with Chase?”

Burnett nodded. “You have a problem with Chase?”

“Maybe,” she said. Hell, yes, she had a problem. She knew when Chase brought over her phone that he’d done it with the intent to start trouble. And he’d succeeded, too.

Not that it was his fault Steve had swapped spit with Jessie, but Chase’s part in the problem still irked her. She was so angry she’d even avoided eye contact with him during the two classes they shared. Oh, she felt him staring at her, but she’d never given him one glance.

And the phone issue was only part of the problem. There was her knowing she’d run across him before and then what Jenny had told her about him meeting someone at the gate. She almost told Burnett about Jenny’s discovery, but then she recalled Jenny asking her not to say anything.

“What is your problem with Chase?” Burnett asked.

She couldn’t out and out lie, but avoiding telling the truth was no sin. “Why not send Lucas?”

Burnett’s brow wrinkled. “You’d rather work with a werewolf than another vampire? That’s odd.”

“Not really. I know Lucas. I trust Lucas. Besides, isn’t that part of what Shadow Falls is all about? Getting along and playing nice with other species? I can deal with Lucas.”

Burnett leaned back in his chair, and the piece of furniture groaned with his new position. “Why don’t you like Chase?” he asked directly, as if he knew she was skipping around the truth.

Chapter Twenty-four

Della wasn’t finished skipping over the truth. “He seems to be full of secrets.”

“What kind of secrets?” Burnett asked.

“If I knew, they wouldn’t be secrets.” Yup, she could skip with the best of them.

Burnett frowned. “Chase’s already working this case.”

Della leaned forward in her seat. It was her turn to put Burnett in the hot seat. “Why do you trust Chase? He’s not here a week and you recruit him. That’s not like you. Did you know him before?”

“No,” he answered, and while Della tried to listen to his heart, she couldn’t. Her hearing was out. What the frack was wrong with her senses?

Burnett continued, “I think I mentioned that he has impressed me with his abilities.”

“What abilities?” Della had noted Chase’s speed, but …