The Curse of Tenth Grave

“Well, it’s quite an accomplishment.”

This time when Guzman’s face paled, I honestly thought he would fall. Nguyen did, too. He jumped up and helped the man back into his chair.

“I haven’t seen that trophy since—”

“Since your wife went missing?”

Guzman’s mind raced, his eyes scanning the table in front of him as he played and replayed the investigation. The events of that day. Every second he could recall, all of which, I would bet my bottom dollar, were burned into his mind. What could he have done differently? What did he do wrong? Was she abducted? Did she leave of her own accord?

So many questions were playing out in his mind, and the pain of them showed on a face that was too young to be as lined as it was.

He stood, walked out, turned around, and came right back in. “Why? Why would Cin do this?”

That was a great question. Mandy had been watching her husband, her face alight with all the love she felt for him. “It’s not his fault. Not really. He’s an amazing investigator. No one suspected Cin. No one, least of all me, knew what she was capable of.”

“Do you know why she did it?”

Mandy smiled. “She saw us, the way we acted toward each other, the way we spoke to one another, and decided I wasn’t the right girl for her brother. He’d been a star quarterback. The president of his senior class. He was destined for greatness, but she hated me. Thought I didn’t love him.” She reached up to touch her husband’s cheek as everyone waited with bated breath for my answer. “She was wrong. We always talked to each other that way, but it was just our way. We weren’t being mean or belittling one another. That was just how we showed affection.”

I decided to paraphrase. “Your sister did it because she’s batshit crazy.”

Mandy snorted.

“She didn’t understand your relationship,” I said, editing as I went. “She didn’t understand that the way you spoke to one another was how you showed affection.”

“What?”

“The little digs? The innuendos? You were just playing. Your sister didn’t understand that.”

“That’s just how we are. How we were. I loved Mandy more than anything.”

“Even football?” she asked, and I fought a sad smile.

“She’s—she’s gone?”

I hadn’t realized until that moment that he’d been holding out hope. All this time.

“I’m so sorry, Agent Guzman.”

“The necklace,” Mandy said as a new thought came to her. She explained, and I relayed.

“You gave your wife a necklace the morning you left for a conference. You were going to miss your anniversary, so you gave it to her early. Your sister has it in her jewelry box. It came off when she—during the attack.”

I felt pressure build inside the agent. He didn’t want to believe. He fought it with every ounce of strength he had, but I simply knew too much. He couldn’t deny that.

“Wait,” his wife said. “There’s something else. I was going to tell him when he got back from his trip.” For the first time, tears sprang to her eyes. She lowered her head, suddenly unable to talk.

I’d done enough of these to know exactly what she was going to say, but that didn’t make it any easier. I put my hand on hers. “I’m so sorry, Mandy.”

“I’d just found out. I was going to make a doctor’s appointment that day to make sure before I told him, but I knew. We’d been trying for so long. And I knew.”

I closed my eyes and felt Guzman stiffen. “What?” he asked.

“I’m so sorry, Agent Guzman, but she—your wife was—you were going to have baby.”

In Guzman’s eyes, I’d gone too far. Anger rocketed through him before he got it under control and the truth slowly and painfully set in. “She told you that?”

“Yes. You’d been trying for a year. It finally took.”

“No.” He shook his head, not sure if he was the victim of a horrible prank or witnessing the impossible. He decided to give it a shot. “How do I do this? How do I justify digging up my backyard because a crazy woman told me to without looking crazy myself?”

Kit smiled. “Anonymous tip. Works every time.”

“You know, you can cross if you’d like,” I said to Mandy. “It’s what I do. I’m a ticket straight to the other side. Straight to your family and friends who are waiting for you.”

“Are you kidding? And miss seeing Cin’s face when my husband arrests her skank ass? Not likely, sister.”

I nodded and glanced at Nguyen. He may not have been warming up to me, but I got the feeling he was becoming a believer. He didn’t offer me any praise or anything, but he didn’t glower at me when he stood and walked out. I felt like we were making progress.

“You know,” Kit said as I was leaving. “You never told me why you called.”

“Oh, right. So, yeah, thanks.”

“Thanks?”

“You know, for New York.”

“You helped to save a family.”

“But you believed in me. Even in amnesiac me. It means a lot.”

“Oh yeah? How much?”

“How much?” I asked. She had slipped into negotiation mode. “How much we talking?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Just a little information. Nothing earth-shattering.”

“What kind of information?”

She stopped and leveled a serious gaze on me. “How do you do what you do?”

Kit knew a lot. Much more than the general populace, who dismissed any notions of the supernatural as bogus. But she did not know my many titles, and I planned to keep her virginal in all things Charley Davidson as long as possible.

“Ancient Chinese secret,” I said.

“I’m pretty sure the Chinese culture as a whole would find offense in your using them like that.”

“True. And they know martial arts and stuff.”

“Yep.” We’d started for the front entrance again, but she stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “One day, I’m going to get to the bottom of you, Charley Davidson.”

I had no idea she was into anal. “Okay, but buy me dinner first?”

8

I’m not a ride-or-die kind of girl. I have questions.