Wings to the Kingdom (Eden Moore 2)

“And you don’t think Green Eyes will be any different?”

“Why would he be? If anything, he’s something more substantial than a spirit. I think he might be easier to spot in daylight than one of the battlefield pointers. ”

“Allow me to note”—Jamie flipped a thumb towards the window—“that we’ve only got a few more hours of daylight anyway. ” He was right. The sun had hit that sharp, yellow slant that means the day is closer to ending than beginning.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Wow. I didn’t realize we’d been here so long. But there’s time. Is everybody in?”

I knew Dana was, so I didn’t even give her a glance. The boys looked less sure of the project.

“I have to work,” Benny complained.

“I don’t have to work,” Jamie admitted. “But I don’t know about this. ”

Benny looked horrified by the thought that someone he called a friend might think that this wasn’t a great idea. “Why not? I’m already composing an excuse to get out of work. Do I look sick to you? Here—look down my throat. Does it look red?”

“Ew. ”

“Good. I might be coming down with strep throat. I can’t possibly drive a cab with strep throat. Eden, can I see your cell phone? I’ve got a call to make. ”

My purse was on the floor beside me. I picked it up with my foot and retrieved my phone from inside it. “Here you go. ” I tossed it to him. “Jamie, that leaves you. Except…” Something dawned on me. I knew for a fact that he wasn’t too chicken to come ghost-hunting with us, and that left only one obvious reason that he wouldn’t want to. “You’ve got a date, don’t you?”

“I do. ”

“You’re joking. ” Benny rolled his eyes. “You’d give up the chance to shake hands with one of the most famous spooks in the South for the prospect of a little action?”

“You wouldn’t?”

“No, he wouldn’t. ” I answered for him. “Probably. But if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to. ”

“Thanks, I know. But if things end early, or if she’s game for adventure, I’ll give you a call. You’ll leave your phone on?”

“Yeah,” I said out of reflex, then realized I didn’t mean it. If we ended up out on the battlefield in the dark again, he could forget it. “Give us a call if your night gets boring. But the rest of us are going to hit the Bend. Right?”

Dana and Benny both signified agreement, and we reached for our respective belongings.

“Drop me off at the ’Friar’s?” Jamie was polite enough to ask, and not assume.

I said sure, and we packed ourselves back into my car. The Nugget’s backseat isn’t the most spacious in the world, but the boys sucked it up and didn’t fight over “shotgun” out of deference to Dana. I didn’t think they would do as much for me, were the shoe on some other foot, but that was all right. I appreciated the fact they were going out of their way to be nice to her.

After leaving Jamie at the door of our favorite coffeehouse, Benny wanted to stop for drinks and I needed gas anyway, so we ran by a Favorite Market and filled up all around. Then we stopped in at the hotel where Dana was staying and loaded up enough electronic equipment to stuff a U-Haul. I wasn’t entirely sure it would all fit, but we got the bulk of it into my trunk.

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Finally, we rolled down the windows and drove out to Moccasin Bend.

By the time we got there it was after six. As I’d noticed during my midnight run to pick up Malachi, there weren’t any places to turn off or park anywhere past the entry sign, and there was a big stretch of road between the entrance and the tip of the peninsula.

We had no idea where to begin looking, so we idled beside the same sign where I’d hunted for my brother not long before.

“We can’t park here,” Dana observed. I agreed with her wholeheartedly, but I didn’t know where else to take us.

Benny squeezed himself forward between the bucket seats up front. “We could pretend we have car trouble. Throw on the hazard lights and pull over. ”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “But what if someone comes along and tries to help, and we’ve wandered off?”

“Could we leave a note?”

Dana reached for her bag and pulled out a notebook. “We could leave a note. It could say something about how we’ve walked out to the nearest gas station. We passed one back…back a while ago. Maybe a mile ago. ”