Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(108)

"Thanks." Then she mentally pulled up her big-girl panties and walked through the gates, with Della on one side of her and Derek and Burnett on the other.

Sun and shadows danced across the graves at the same time the unnatural cold fell upon them like an invisible cloud of fog.

Derek leaned in again. "I need to talk to you ... when we can steal a minute. It's important. Please."

She nodded.

"It's her. She's back..." Kylie heard one voice and then a merge of voices, male and female, young and old.

"She said she'd come back."

"And I thought she was just bullshitting us."

"I told you she wasn't lying."

Tension pulled at her skull, forecasting a headache. But the spirit of the old man's wife manifested and the voices retreated.

"My husband got his medicines right, thanks to you."

"That's good," Kylie said out loud.

"What's good?" Derek asked.

"She not talking to you," Della said. "Freaky, isn't it?"

"It's not that bad," Derek said, but Kylie saw him cutting his green eyes from side to side, as though he wondered where the spirits were. Burnett remained silent, standing stoic. He'd hardly spoken since he'd met them at the front of the camp.

Why haven't you passed over? Kylie asked this question in her head as she ambled down the path between the tombstones.

"I decided to just wait on him," Ima said. "But Catherine passed on. That was the woman you helped. Her kids came here. I heard them say they're planning on changing her tombstone to show her real name. That was nice of you to do that."

Kylie nodded. Have you seen the other one? The one you call Berta Littlemon?

"She was just here. She's been a basket case since they took her away."

"Took her away?" Kylie asked aloud again.

The spirit just shrugged and said, "There she is. Sitting by the grave."

"I'm going to be right over there." Kylie pointed to the grave where Jane sat on the ground.

"As long as we can see you," Burnett said.

Kylie moved over to Jane. The ghost looked up and the sun hit her face. She had tears webbing her dark lashes. She didn't have on any makeup. She looked young. And pregnant.

"Are you okay?" Kylie sat down next to Jane.

The spirit looked back at the grave. "I want to remember so badly. But my brain doesn't work. Sometimes I feel as if the answers are right there, but I can't reach them. Then I remember something and it disappears. Why doesn't my brain work right?"

Kylie hesitated. But Jane deserved to know. Just like Kylie deserved to get her own answers. "I don't know everything, but I know some."

"What?" she asked.

"There's an organization called the FRU. They're like the government for supernaturals. According to the leader of our camp, several years ago, the FRU were doing tests, something about genetics. I don't know what kind of tests they ran, but from the vision I had, I think you were one of the ones they tested, and they operated on you. You had your head shaved and had stitches. In the vision, you looked paralyzed. I think something went wrong with the test they did, so ... they killed you."

Jane put her hand over her trembling lips. "I remember I showed you that. They put a pillow over my face."

"Yes," Kylie said.

"I didn't want to do the tests, but ... my husband. What was his name?" she asked Kylie.

"I don't know."

Jane shook her head. "He insisted that we do it, so they would leave us alone."

"Who would leave you alone?" Kylie asked, wanting to make sure they were still talking about the FRU.

"The organization that you said. If we didn't agree to be tested, they'd imprison us."

"Why?"

Jane paused again. "I can't remember. But I think it was because we were different." She looked at the grave. The dirt around the tombstone had been disturbed. "He took me away. He dug me out of the ground."

"Who did?" Kylie leaned closer.

"That bad man."

"What bad man?"

"The one who wanted you to be tested."

"Burnett?" Kylie asked. "He took you away?"

She nodded. "I don't like him."

Kylie stared at the grave, trying to figure out what that meant. "He's not bad," she said. But why would he dig up Jane's body? Was it to prove what the FRU had done? Or was it to protect the FRU from her accusations?

"He looks bad." Jane pointed toward the path.

Kylie looked up. Burnett stopped in front of her. "I can explain it."

Kylie stood. "I hope so."

He frowned but didn't explain, so she decided to start asking questions.

"Why did you take Jane Doe's body?"

He hesitated. "I thought you wanted to know who she was."

Kylie sensed he was speaking only half the truth. "Do you know who she is?"

He nodded. "I was going to tell you, as soon as I had a little more information." He paused again. "But I guess now is fine. Her name is Heidi Summers."

Kylie looked around for the spirit. She didn't see her, but she could still feel the cold. Whether it was from Jane or someone else, Kylie didn't know.