“See,” she said, patting his hand again.
“I hope we’re not buried in the same cemetery,” Barber said. “I don’t know if I could handle an eternity with you two as my neighbors.”
Sussman snorted and Elizabeth socked him on the arm.
“I’m just saying,” he said, a wide grin spreading across his face as Elizabeth glowered playfully at him. He turned to me then. “So, Reaper, what’s next?”
I had to think about that one. “First of all,” I said, poking him with an index finger, “that’s Ms. Reaper to you, bub.”
He chuckled.
“And second, I should probably take a look-see at your files on this case.”
“Sure,” Elizabeth said. “We have an emergency key hidden at the offices.”
“Oh!” I said, raising my hand and squirming in my seat like a third grader with a UTI. “Is it in one of those fake rocks that looks like a real rock but it isn’t because it’s fake?”
“No,” they said simultaneously.
“Oh, sorry. Go ahead,” I said to Elizabeth, since I’d interrupted her.
“And we’ll have to give you the security code in case Nora isn’t there. If she is, you might have a difficult time getting anything without a warrant.”
“Right. I didn’t think of that. I’m sure Uncle Bob could get me one.”
“If not,” Sussman said, “you might want to consider breaking in tonight and getting the files then.”
We all turned to him. He didn’t seem like a B and E kind of guy.
“What? It’s not illegal if we give her permission.”
True enough. “Though I’m not sure the authorities would agree with you, I like it.”
Sussman grinned. “I had a feeling you might.”
“Can I ask you guys a couple of questions,” I said, realizing it might be a good time to bring up Reyes, “about this morning?”
“Of course,” Barber said. Elizabeth dropped her gaze, seemed to withdraw. Not overtly, but I read people well enough to know when the atmosphere changed. I was curious to know what happened, and what could make her so reluctant to speak with me about it.
Shifting back to Reyes, I decided to get the embarrassing part out of the way. “I’ve decided to get the embarrassing part out of the way,” I said. Best to get these things out in the open. “I’m hoping, since you guys could see him, I didn’t look ridiculous like I probably did to Cookie and Swopes. I mean, you saw him, right? It didn’t look like I was fondling air?”
When they glanced at each other, seemingly confused, I asked, “You did see him?”
“Sure we did,” Elizabeth said. “But you weren’t fondling anything. You didn’t move, if that’s what you think. Not much anyway.”
I leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“You just stood there,” Sussman said, sliding his glasses up with an index finger, “with your back against the wall and your palms plastered to it at your sides. Your head was thrown back, and you were panting like you’d just run the Duke City Marathon, but you didn’t move.”
His description sidetracked me for a moment. My arms were at my sides? My head was thrown back? “But he was there. You saw him. We were…”
“On each other like green on guacamole?” Barber asked.
“Well, yeah, I guess.”
“I’m not complaining,” he said with a negating wave of his hands. “Far from it. That shit was hot.”
Somehow, trying not to blush makes me blush brighter. I felt heat travel over my face and could only hope it wasn’t clashing with the blues and purples already there.
“But you didn’t move,” Elizabeth said. “Not physically.”
“I’m sorry, I still don’t understand.”
“Your soul, your spirit, whatever you want to call it. That moved. You looked like us only with better coloring.”
“Yeah,” Barber said, “you separated from your body to … be with him. It was amazing.”
I sat stunned. No wonder it’d felt like a dream. Did I do some kind of astral projection thing? I hoped not. I didn’t believe in astral projection. But maybe, just maybe, astral projection believed in me.
“How on Earth did I manage to leave my body?” I asked, dazed and confused, though not from anything illegal.
“You’re the grim reaper,” Barber said with a shrug. “You tell us.”
“I don’t know.” I looked at my palms as if they held the answers. “I didn’t know such a thing was possible.”
“Don’t feel bad. I had no idea any of this was possible.”
“I’m so floored,” I said. I was supposed to be the knowledgeable one. How was being a grim reaper advantageous if all the good stuff was on a need-to-know basis? I was a portal, dammit. I needed to know.
“But he was superhot.”
That brought me rocketing back. I looked at Elizabeth. “Seriously? Did you guys get a good look at him? I mean, I have to be totally honest here: I’m not sure what he is.”
“You mean besides superhot?” Elizabeth asked.
“Actually, that part I got.”
She laughed softly. We stopped talking while Dad brought over my sandwich, offered me ten thousand dollars to off Uncle Bob, then left with my butter knife tucked into his pants, apparently planning to shank the man himself. I thought about warning Uncle Bob, but where was the fun in that?