Kipp arched an eyebrow. “I can’t talk to you ever again?”
“I. Thought. I. Said. You. Couldn’t. Talk.” I stomped away and marched right out of the bar, ignoring Mark calling out my name.
Zach’s truck still waited at the curb, and when I reached it, I plopped down into the seat.
“How’d it go?” Zach asked. I glanced toward him and his eyes widened. “Not good, I’m guessing?”
r /> “Drive,” was all I said.
“Is Kipp here?”
“Yes.” He, in fact, was striding toward us, but I needed space from him. “He’s here—go.”
Zach put the truck in gear and sped away. The drive back to his house was done in silence, except for the five minutes I had to explain what happened. He didn’t offer condolences and apparently knew enough to stay quiet.
By the time we arrived back at the house, my anger had lessened, but all of that changed the second I walked through the front door.
“You didn’t think you would get rid of me that easily, did you?” Kipp said.
I scowled. “How did you get here so fast?” Then I remembered I wasn’t talking to him and I suspected he’d done one of those special tricks ghosts could do that would scare me. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“I thought you said he was with us,” Zach said, but at my scowl, he raised his hand. “I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge and you must be hungry.” He hurried to the kitchen and I heard the microwave working.
“Now, Tess…” Kipp said.
“No. I’m ignoring you.” I walked past him, dropped down onto the couch and stared at the coffee table, trying my best to calm down, but my bouncing leg and inability to sit still displayed my annoyance.
Kipp sighed, long and deep.
I had no idea how much time had passed when Zach stuck a plate under my nose. “Come on. Even anger can’t beat hunger.”
Zach placed a napkin in front of me on the table and sat on the matching loveseat, and Kipp had the gall to sit beside me. I glared the deadliest stare I could create, but it didn’t appear to faze him, since he stayed put.
“All right, I get it,” he finally said. “You’re still mad.”
Mad didn’t even cut it. I had enough of him, of the damn case and ghosts in general. I’d never once been asked if I wanted to help, I’d been told and sexually harassed to agree. No one cared that I wasn’t at work, was losing pay, tired, hungry—and yes, the pizza was delicious.
In the past two days, I’d been seduced, made a fool of, had the most erotic dream of my life, stuffed into jeans that were way too tight, been rejected and told I looked like your regular street whore.
Worst of all, none of that compared to how much I cared for the idiot ghost beside me, and the torment of emotions I’d been feeling lately left me spun around. As I took another bite of pizza, the front door flew open and I startled.
“Y’all are in so much trouble!” Caley stood with her hands on her waist, expression as tight as a person eating a sour candy. “No one called me! Y’all go off on this murder mystery, leaving me to worry, and not even one of you calls me to tell me that you’re all right! Every time I come here, no one is here. I even went to the police station and they wouldn’t tell me where you were—you all just upped and vanished.”
So Zach had told her more than I would have. I wasn’t at all surprised she had been on edge. I swallowed my food and wiped my mouth with the napkin. “You know, you aren’t our number one priority.”
Caley frowned. “Well, I should be. I couldn’t even sleep. I’ve been tossing and turning every night. Look—I have bags under my eyes.” She did, in fact, look disheveled. “And your phone is still off.”
I placed my plate on the coffee table and rubbed my hands across my face, feeling so tired. “What do you want, Caley? I’m not in the mood.” I waited for an answer, but I never received one, so I lowered my hands to find Caley studying me. I sighed. “What’s the problem now?”
“What’s wrong?” Caley’s tone sounded serious.
A thousand things, I wanted to say. Instead, I kept it simple. “I’m chasing a murderer and you’re asking me what’s wrong?”
“No, it’s not that.” She waved her hand dismissingly. “Someone has hurt you.” Her glare landed on Zach. “What have you done to her?”
Zach turned to me and glanced at me. “I haven’t done anything to her. Is something the matter?”
“I’m fine.” I hoped Caley would take the hint to shut her mouth.