Scaring up a smile, she said, “Please, take Dad to the bar.”
Unwillingly he did as she asked and the men walked off together, trailing the crowd.
She realized the cemetery crew was waiting for her to leave, too, so they could lower the coffin into the ground. One of the guys seemed to get that she needed a little privacy. He moved toward the backhoe, signaling the rest to follow him.
The drizzle turned to a light rain, and finally tears pooled in her eyes. Her heart felt broken. Somehow, on shaky legs, she stepped forward, and with an outpouring of grief, at last allowed herself to touch the coffin, which had remained closed through the wake and the funeral.
If only she could see Shade one last time.
“Skye.”
For a moment, she wanted to think she was hearing her brother. She whipped around and came face-to-face with her mystery man. His face wasn’t as pale as it had appeared in the moonlight, but lightly bronzed, making him look rugged. Her pulse surged as she wondered if he had anything to do with her brother’s murder.
“Who are you? What business do you have here?”
“I want you to know how grateful I am to your brother.”
“Grateful?” she said. “You and Shade didn’t like each other.”
“Maybe we didn’t. But Elizabeth Reyes is my mother.”
The breath caught in her throat, and her heart missed a beat. Elizabeth Reyes—the reason her brother was dead. “They told me he took a bullet for her.”
He nodded. “Your brother saved her life by giving up his own. I can’t soften the pain of your loss, but know that I am in your debt.”
“Why was someone trying to shoot your mother?” Unreasonable anger filled her. It didn’t matter that Shade had been dedicated, that he’d put his life on the line most days. Why did her brother have to die for his mother, whatever her deal? “Why was Shade with her in the first place?”
“I couldn’t say.”
“Can’t or won’t? The fight the other night—why did you and Shade dislike each other?” She turned to the grave. “And then you disappeared.”
She glanced back, and once again, the nameless stranger had vanished into thin air.
How dare he do this to her? Anger churned through her, tightening her chest. How dare he fill her with questions and then disappear before she could ask them?
If she hadn’t imagined him.
Had her churning emotions, her need for answers, her soul-searing grief for the brother who had been her other half tricked her into seeing something—someone—who hadn’t even been there?
What was wrong with her?
The mystery man didn’t deserve a second thought. Not today. Today was about her brother.
She couldn’t help but feel totally alone as she said her good-bye.
“It’s always been you and me. When I said to leave me alone, I didn’t mean forever. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice breaking.
She tried tuning into his wavelength as if he would answer as usual, but as had happened the night they’d fought, she couldn’t sense him.
Nothing.
Feeling a crushing weight on her chest, she let the tears fall as they would.
She would never see her brother again.
Never.
~
It was dusk by the time Skye arrived home. Shade and she had separate apartments, separate lives, but they’d always been close when it had mattered.
Now the building felt barren and gray, like a place she didn’t want to be.
Nevertheless, she entered the foyer, all original, all wood but for the mosaic ceramic tile floor. Standing in front of the door to his first-floor apartment, she picked up the mail—hers and Shade’s—and as she stood there, frozen from simply seeing his name on the envelope, she swore she sensed him. Not that she heard or saw anything tangible. Just a feeling that made her pulse skitter and her hand shake as she unlocked the downstairs door to the stairwell.
Heavyhearted, she started up the stairs toward a framed print of a black panther. The big cat’s eyes pierced her, reminded her of her responsibilities—rescued animals all waiting for her. The cats were whining, Peach throwing herself at the door. Boomer whistled through his nose. The three cats were hers, the dog Shade’s. And they all needed to be taken care of. The thing about having animals was that she would never be completely alone.
Once their needs were met, the cats settled down, but Boomer followed her around her apartment, toenails clacking against the oak wood floors. She’d tried making the dog understand that Shade wasn’t here anymore, yet Boomer kept looking at her through his melting dark-brown eyes as if he didn’t believe her.
“He’s gone, boy, gone forever,” Skye murmured, sitting on the floor with him.
Boomer was a sweet dog with fierce protective instincts, some kind of terrier mix with tufts of wiry fur. He yawned and placed his head in her lap. She leaned back against her bed, her heart wrenching with pain. Peach hopped up on the mattress. Phantom followed. She crawled into bed as Dreamer joined them. She settled down with cats wrapped around her. The dog settled down at her feet.
Surrounded by unconditional love, she let her mind drift.
She was in the cemetery again, distracted by the man who didn’t belong. The son of the woman whose life her brother had saved by giving up his own.
She stared at him. His power called to her, confused her. Her pulse threaded unevenly, and her mouth went dry, and she felt an inexplicable pull that she couldn’t deny.
Not exactly a pleasant feeling. It tore through her, leaving her breathless and surrounded by a darkness that had a ragged, frightening pulse.
Who was he? What was their connection? She needed to know.
Her mind was rushing toward him to better see his face when exhaustion won and darkness claimed her.
Chapter Seven
When Skye awoke, Boomer made yawning sounds he normally reserved for Shade, and tore out of the kitchen to the enclosed back porch.
Sighing, she followed him and opened her back door. “All right, see for yourself.”
The dog shot down the stairs to the first-floor apartment and pranced as he waited for her to catch up. The second she opened Shade’s door, the weird sense that Boomer and she weren’t alone returned. Had someone broken into Shade’s apartment? The mysterious man from the cemetery immediately came to mind. Pulse hammering, she tried to catch the dog by the collar, but he was too fast for her. A sharp noise from the bedroom stopped the dog outside the door. He began barking hysterically.
Her heart thundered. “Who’s there?” And then she choked out a big, fat lie. “I already called 911. The police are on their way.”
Grabbing a kitchen chair as a shield, Skye swung it in front of her and moved down the hallway as a dark figure flew from the bedroom into the dining room, whipping Boomer off his feet and tossing him across the room. The dog shrieked as he slammed into the far wall. His fear and pain engulfed her. That did it. She advanced on the thief, chair swinging. His head whipped around. He was young and tough-looking, with a scar that ran down one cheek.
Stupid bitch! He reached out and easily ripped the chair from her hands. Give that to me.
He hadn’t said the words out loud, but she’d heard them. Shocked, she stopped dead in her tracks. His black eyes focused on hers and she felt like something was probing her skull. She mentally pushed back. The look he gave her, like she confused him somehow, was followed by his fast retreat. He was out the front door in seconds, the dog snarling at his heels. He slammed the door on the dog’s nose.