Eighth Grave After Dark

“Thank you,” I said, still taken aback by the markings.

The doctor took some blood from Beep’s heel. And I thought she’d been pissed before. The minute he was finished, I wrapped her up and offered her a bottle. She’d had to be given one since I was out so long, and I didn’t feel now was the time to try to switch her to a diet of Danger and Will Robinson. Maybe when she was a little less agitated.

After we bade the doctor adieu, I turned and gaped at Reyes. “How—? Why—?”

“I don’t know,” he said, indicating Denise with a nod.

“Right,” I said under my breath. That would have to wait. For the moment, I satisfied myself with grilling Denise on dextrocardia.

“It only means there’s a higher chance that she will have a congenital defect,” she said. “Dextrocardia is, by definition, a congenital defect, but it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with her. Everything so far checks out perfectly normal. She just needs to be tested to be sure.”

“Denise,” I said as we headed back downstairs, “we can’t. I told you.” I looked at Reyes. Watched as concern hardened the lines of his face. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know yet,” he said.

“I’ll take her in,” Denise said.

I stopped on the stairs and looked up at her, as she was a couple of steps behind me. “Denise, Beep is in as much danger from the beasts I told you about as we are.” After all, the prophecies that foretold of Lucifer’s downfall were about Beep. She was his main threat. Not me. Not Reyes.

“Why—?” she began, then stopped herself. “Charley, she has to be tested. Dextrocardia raises her chances of other complications dramatically. We can’t just—”

“We’ll figure it out,” Reyes said, ushering me down the stairs. But I could tell he was as worried as I.

When we got to the bottom, I took him aside as quickly as I could and said, “I meant to tell you, I found out something while I was … you know.”

He bristled at the reminder of my trip to his hometown.

“Your dad isn’t home.”

After waiting for Denise to pass, he asked, “Then where is he?”

“From what I gathered, he’s here.”

It took a few seconds for him to respond. “If he’s on this plane, we need to move quickly.”

“We can’t leave yet. Beep needs to be tested first. She could have a serious medical condition, and that’s something we’ll need to know no matter where we go.”

He lowered his voice even further. “If they find her, it won’t matter how healthy she is. She’ll be dead before they can run a single test.”

“Then they can’t find her,” I said, imploring him.

* * *

Before the hour was up, I was back to pacing. I couldn’t sit still. Couldn’t stop worrying about the tests Beep needed. Couldn’t stop marveling at the map imprinted beneath her skin. Couldn’t stop hoping they’d find Faris. Reyes paced, too, only he did it outside, his mind racing for a solution. Unless he planned on buying all the equipment the doctor would need, we would have to take Beep in for tests. We had no choice. Our escape-to-an-island-paradise plan would have to wait.

The phone rang at last and I lunged for it.

“She’s alive!” Kit said before I even said hello.

I gave Cookie a thumbs-up and she rose out of her chair in elation—carefully, as she was holding Beep.

“Just barely, but we’ll take it. Charley,” she said, her voice cracking. “I just— I don’t know where to begin. Jonny is very … appreciative of your help. We both are.”

“Tell him it was my pleasure. And by the way, you realize he’s still in love with you, right?”

The phone went silent for a moment before she spoke again. “He— He was never in love with me.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“Charley, I—”

“Celebrate. Take him to dinner tomorrow to celebrate finding his niece. If ever there was a reason … See where it goes from there.”

“He’ll be celebrating with his family, I’m sure.”

“And you are a part of it.”

“I have to know. How?”

Though I knew what she was talking about, I said, “That’s a mighty broad question.”

“How did you know where she would be?”

“I promise to tell you someday. But today, it’s kind of a tender subject around these parts.”

“I’m sorry, hold on. What?” she said, speaking to someone else. “Okay, I have to go, Charley. Thank you again.”

“My pleasure. Give her a hug for me. And just so you know, he didn’t—She wasn’t violated. Not in that way.”

A relieved sigh, then, “Thank you.”

“Oh, one more thing. There’s something about Faris’s birthday and the girl he killed while he was in high school. Some kind of connection.” After a moment of silence, I said, “Kit?”

“Charley, how did you know?” she asked.

“Know what?” I asked, suddenly intrigued.

“Faris was born the same day Olivia Dern went missing. The exact same day.”

“That’s what he meant. He took that as a sign that—”

“Who?” she asked.

Since Colton Ellix died two days ago, I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth. Not yet, anyway. “My … gardener.”