Kylie turned a strange shade of pale red and swallowed, then nodded slowly.
“If it’s going to bother you, just say so,” Jon offered. “It’s probably a long shot on my part anyway.”
“It’s going to bother me, yes,” she told him. She stood. “But I’d like to go with you. Maybe I can knock it all out of my head that way.”
He walked with her to the door. “Great. We’ll just see what happens.”
“What time? Or can we be a bit flexible?” She grimaced. “We’re Corrine’s wedding party, you know. I’m her maid of honor. I realize that next to horrendous murders and the work you do, a wedding must seem very minor. But it’s important to my friends. Still... I want to go with you.”
“I’m sorry this has happened, for what that’s worth,” Jon said.
“I just keep thinking about Annie. I’m truly sorry for her,” she said. “And I want to help. I wish I was kick-ass. Like Wonder Woman—we all want to be Wonder Woman these days. But I’m a historian. I probably should have at least taken kickboxing, but Pilates is pretty much it for me. I guess I’m trying to say I wish I could do more.”
“Meet me back here. We’ll go from here,” he told her. He held open the door.
She paused and turned to him. As close as she was, he noted again her exceptional eyes, green and yellow, made more luminous by the chestnut frame of her hair.
“Miss Connelly?” he said.
“Yes?”
He offered her a rueful smile. “For what it’s worth, the Pilates seems to have paid off very nicely.”
He could have kicked himself. It wasn’t a comment a professional agent should have made, not in any way.
But none of this seemed to be going by the book.
To his relief, she smiled. “Thanks,” she told him. She looked at him curiously, and then walked back out to the street.
* * *
Somehow, Kylie made it back to the hotel suite just as the others were beginning to wake; they assumed she had been there all along. She didn’t correct them.
“Did you sleep okay?” Corrine asked her anxiously.
Kylie smiled. “Like a baby,” she lied. “So, what are we up to this morning?”
“Oh, you know me. I love the Salem Witch Museum—I think they tell the story well without sensationalizing it or being, I don’t know... It’s a tourist attraction, but a really good one, in my mind.”
“We all love it, and it’s your party,” Kylie said determinedly. “Breakfast first, though.”
“And a ghost tour tonight. Touristy, but fun,” Nancy said. “Then it’ll be kind of late on a Saturday night. Latish, anyway, and we’re going to go a little wild.”
“I really, really don’t want strippers,” Corrine protested.
“And we really, really haven’t hired any,” Jenny said. “Our wild time is trying out the beer flights down at the brewery.”
“The brewery tonight—Aww, too bad, in a way. There will be no Matt, the cute bartender, or Cindy, his speedy cohort,” Nancy said regretfully. She grinned. “But we can take the ghost tour with that cute tour guide!”
“I’ll bet he is a good guide. Outgoing. And dramatic, probably,” Corrine said.
“Not as good as...” Jenny’s voice trailed.
“Not as good as what?” Nancy asked. “Oh, oh, oh! I know who you’re talking about. Tall, dark, authoritative, and mysterious. If Kylie hadn’t been in shock last night, I’d have been tempted to...well, not defend him, but add him to the group!”
“Too bad he doesn’t give ghost tours,” Jenny said. “Because that’s what we’re doing tonight.”
No, he certainly doesn’t give ghost tours, Kylie thought.
“I truly do love a good ghost tour,” Corrine said, “and just doing all these things we’ve done dozens of times is—maybe sadly and boringly—just what I want. Thank you all for understanding that I may be weird. Derrick will just be enjoying his Magic: The Gathering tournament, and we’re both going to be happy as little larks, doing our own particular geeky brand of celebrating.”
She had been smiling, but now she frowned, looking at Kylie. “Are you really...all right this morning?”
“I’m fine.”
“Did you see any news? Do they have any idea yet of what happened to that poor woman who was murdered in the graveyard?” Corrine asked.
“I don’t think there’s anything new,” Kylie replied. She hesitated just a minute. “Um, speaking of that agent, I’m going to duck out for a bit this afternoon. I’m going to go with him to the graveyard.”
“You’re going to what?” Nancy demanded.
“The graveyard? Where that poor woman was killed?” Jenny asked, horrified.
“Oh!” Corrine exclaimed. “Is that a good idea? Won’t that make you even more...confused and miserable?”
“I think I need to go,” Kylie said.
“And I think you should invite him to dinner with us,” Nancy suggested thoughtfully.
“Sure, invite him to dinner,” Jenny agreed. “But...the graveyard? Kylie, after you were so upset yesterday? Corrine, tell her she can’t do that, she’ll ruin your day. Not that we want to hurt you in any way, Kylie, but...you didn’t see how scary you were when you were still under. Whatever you saw—”
“It’s unbelievable, I know, but if I somehow saw something in my mind, I need to tell Special Agent Dickson what it was. What if it can help stop a serial killer? Please. I need to do this.”
Kylie thought she was incredibly lucky then; her friends surrounded her, and each one of them gave her an encouraging hug.
“We’re all on your speed dial, right?” Corrine asked.
“Of course.”
“And 911, of course.”
“I’m going to be with an FBI agent. I should be fine no matter what,” Kylie said. “But I’m a big girl, I know how to dial 911, my phone is charged...and as for this killer, I don’t think I’m in any danger. I don’t think he’s ready to go up against anyone strong. I mean, he took a young woman completely by surprise when she was alone. I know that. And if he’s the same guy who has killed others, it’s always been the same. He gets them alone. He has a knife—they’re defenseless.”
“Ah!” Nancy said. “Hang on!” She disappeared into the bedroom and then reappeared holding something that looked like a super-large lighter. “Pepper spray. Take it.”