Grave Intentions

by Sjoberg, Lori

  Ruby rested her chin on the heel of her hand, eyeing him as if trying to unlock some deep, dark secret. “You never looked at me with those puppy dog eyes.”

  “Our relationship was different.”

  “Yeah, like we never had one.” Ruby laughed. “We just tore up the sheets.”

  “You were the one who made the ground rules, not me.”

  Some people had an inherent fear of heights. Others were afraid of spiders. Ruby held a natural aversion to long-term commitments. She liked her men hard, fast, and out the door before the sheets got cold. And like a shooting star, they’d burned hot and brilliant during their brief time together.

  “Point taken.” Her expression turned serious, her tone uncertain. “It was fun while it lasted though, right?”

  David met her gaze, trying to figure out why she was asking. Regret, or validation? He wasn’t sure, so he raised his glass. “We had some good times, Ruby.”

  “Damn straight,” Ruby replied, the swagger returning to her voice. She clinked Sarah’s glass against his and then tipped back the drink with her usual finesse. “So you’re going to make a run with her?”

  David nodded. “That’s the plan.”

  “She’s going to get old, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “And wrinkled. Maybe get hunched over with osteoporosis.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And she’ll eventually hit her expiration date.”

  David shot her a level glare. “Is there a point to any of this?”

  “Just making sure you understand what you’re getting yourself into,” Ruby said, her tone deceptively casual. She finished the last of Sarah’s drink and set the empty glass on the table. “You know how it is with mortals. How are you going to explain it when she gets all old and wrinkly and you’re still fresh as a daisy?”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” David murmured, his eyes glued to the bottom of his glass.

  “It won’t?” Puzzled, Ruby regarded him for a few seconds before realization kicked in. “Holy shit, she knows, doesn’t she?”

  “I had to tell her,” David said. “She caught me doing a job downtown.”

  “Caught you? What are you talking about?” Ruby leaned in close to avoid being overheard. “How could she catch you? She’s mortal!”

  “She’s … gifted,” David said by way of explanation. “Her family has a strong connection to the psychic world.”

  “How is that even possible? Have you told Samuel?”

  “No.” Before she could respond, David added, “And neither will you.” The last thing he wanted was Samuel scrambling Sarah’s brain because she knew too much.

  Ruby bit her lower lip, her brows drawn tightly together. “I didn’t hear any of this.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But you really ought to tell him,” Ruby said, an expression of worry lining her features. “Sooner or later, he’s going to find out. Better to tell him now and get it over with.”

  “Duly noted.” He spotted Sarah approaching from the back of the bar, a purposeful swing in her hips. Damn, if it didn’t get his blood pumping every time.

  Reaching into her pocket, Ruby pulled out a few bills and tossed a ten on the table. “For the drink,” she said as she stood. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “That leaves pretty much everything on the table.”

  She flashed him a cocky smile. “Exactly.”

  Ruby met Sarah on her way to the bar. David watched as the two stopped to talk, huddled close enough to be heard over the bar chatter. For a moment he was worried about what Ruby might say to her, but then Sarah laughed, the underlying tension leaving her face for the first time that evening. Then the pair hugged and Ruby was on her way, commanding the attention of every heterosexual man at the bar.

  “She’s very sweet,” Sarah said as she reclaimed her seat.

  “Sweet? I’ve heard Ruby called a lot of things over the years, but sweet isn’t one of them.”

  “Maybe you should get to know her better.”

  David gave her a flat look. “I know her well enough.”

  “Beyond the sex.” Before he could throw out a denial she added, “It’s obvious you two used to be an item. I’m fine with it, as long as it’s in the past.”

  “I can guarantee that.”

  “Good.” Her face relaxed into an easy smile.

  “So what did you two talk about?”

  “Nothing much.” She shrugged. “Just girl talk.”

  Like hell. Curiosity ate at him. “Like what?”

  “What’s it worth to you?” Sarah’s mouth curved into a sensual smile. Maybe if he asked real nice, she’d be up for a little paradise by the dashboard lights.

  David leaned across the table, so close to her mouth he could almost taste her. Unable to resist, he nipped her bottom lip and was rewarded with a soft little moan. “What do you want?” he asked, prepared to give her damn near anything.

  Sarah licked her lips. “What are you offering?”

  He leaned a little closer, whispering in her ear all the things he wanted to do to her in elaborate detail. A blush flooded her cheeks as she pulled back to meet his gaze.

  She stared at him for a few seconds and he began to question the wisdom of mentioning the part about the chocolate syrup. But then she pushed back her chair and said, “Race you to the car.”

  Bar none, the next week was the best in David’s life. For the first time in far too many years, he knew what it was like to be truly happy.

  Yeah, the job still sucked. And his soul was still under threat of damnation. And it didn’t look like the Dolphins were going to win the Super Bowl anytime in the immediate future. But he had Sarah, and having Sarah was enough to put a spring in his step and add a few shades of color to his otherwise dreary existence.

  Better yet, whenever she was around, he forgot about his troubles and lost himself in her world, in her touch, in the warmth of her embrace.

  She’d left for work an hour before, determined as usual not to let her asshole of a boss make her life miserable or ruin her career. The smile on her face when she’d kissed him good-bye was enough to keep his soul humming until she returned that evening.

  Locking the door behind him, David left Sarah’s apartment and slipped back into his own. As usual, the kid was sacked out on the couch, stripped down to his Daffy Duck boxers, his mouth wide open and a little puddle of drool collecting on the pillow. Buford was on the floor beside him, lying on his back with his paws in the air. David tiptoed past the pair, intent on letting them sleep for another hour.

  “Somebody got lucky last night,” Adam said, his voice rough with sleep.

  Damn. Another five feet and he would have been home free. “Sorry, I thought you were asleep.”

  “I was, but I’m a light sleeper.” Adam’s eyes cracked open. Squinting, he looked David over, and then a knowing smile curved one side of his mouth. “Yep. Definitely got laid. Sarah, right? I thought I heard some noise coming through the walls last night.”

  David’s eyes narrowed while Adam’s smile widened.

  “Dude, you are so old school. But hey, if you don’t want to share the deets, I’m cool with that.” Adam kicked back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the couch, almost stepping on Buford in the process. With a groan, he pushed up and stumbled toward the bathroom, scratching his ass along the way. He paused at the door and glanced back. “For the record, I’m happy for you, man.”

  David held back the grin until he heard the water cut on in the shower. Then it slowly crept across his face and throughout his psyche, a bright light illuminating the darkened corners of his soul.

  He’d almost finished his first cup of coffee when he spotted the plain manila envelope on the kitchen counter. “About damn time,” he murmured as he topped off his cup. It wasn’t like Samuel to be so late with the assignments. Adam hadn’t mentioned anything about Big Daddy stopping by, which meant t
he ghoul must have popped in while the kid was asleep.

  David picked up the envelope and leaned against the bar. Judging by the thickness, it was going to be another busy week. He tore the flap open and pulled out the week’s roster.

  Most of it read like any other week. Names, places, dates, and times. Normally, he paid no attention to the names. Once you named something it became personal, and he still preferred to maintain a certain level of detachment.

  But then he noticed a familiar address. He didn’t recognize it immediately, only realized he’d seen it somewhere before.

  1025 Cava Circle … 1025 Cava Circle … where the hell had he seen that address? When he finally remembered, his world spun off its axis.

  “Oh shit.”

  1025 Cava Circle was Sarah’s work address. The blood pounded in his ears as his eyes tracked right, checking the name on the master schedule.

  Shock mixed with panic, forming a cold hard knot in his chest that made it nearly impossible to breathe. At approximately six thirty-three on Thursday evening, Sarah Griffith had an appointment with Fate.

  chapter 18

  Dark skies rumbled overhead, an ominous precursor of the coming storms. Bolts of lightning streaked across the late afternoon clouds, followed by a clap of thunder so strong it shook David’s car.

  Not that he minded. In fact, it suited his mood just fine.

  A little over a day had passed since learning of Sarah’s scheduled termination. During that time he’d skipped denial and plunged headfirst into anger, his thoughts turning increasingly bitter with each passing minute.

  It was all so fucking unfair. He’d finally found somebody to love, someone who loved him, flaws and all, only to have her ripped away. Why her? Why now? Was this Fate’s idea of a sick joke?

  Inside, he raged against the injustice of it all, a vile hostility that had taken root in his soul and spread like a cancer through his psyche. He wanted to lash out at something—anything—to make someone else experience the pain he was feeling. He slanted a glance at Adam, thought about how good it would feel to haul off and belt him one.

  He shook his head, forcing the impulse from his mind. He had just enough rationality left to realize it wasn’t fair to lash out at the kid for something he didn’t do. Besides, he’d actually come to like Adam during the course of his training and was pretty sure the kid wouldn’t take kindly to being turned into his personal punching bag.

  “They really shouldn’t be working outside in this weather,” Adam said, pulling David from his thoughts. Outside, two men stood on ladders propped against the front of the building, working at a feverish pace to finish their job before the storm broke. “Someone could get hurt.”

  “No shit.” David cracked the window open to let in some fresh air. “I doubt we’re here for the ambiance.”

  Together they watched as the workers rushed to install the last sections of gutters. The men worked quickly, speaking to each other in Spanish while they attached the gutters to the eaves with a skill that only comes after years of repetition. They were connecting the last section to the downspout when the storm finally broke, a torrential downpour that soaked them to the bone in a matter of seconds.

  “Should be any time now,” Adam muttered, his muscles tensed and his gaze riveted on the pair. The short, older man was busy packing away their tools and loading them into the back of the van, while his partner moved one of the ladders away from the building.

  David smiled in spite of his mood. The kid had come a long way in a short period of time. Another couple weeks and he’d be flying solo.

  “Which one will it be?” David asked, testing Adam’s abilities even further.

  Adam’s brow scrunched tight with concentration. “I’ll put my money on the guy with the ladder.”

  David nodded. The kid was right on the money. In less than a minute, something unpleasant was going to happen to the tall young man wearing faded denim overalls.

  In the back seat, Buford began to whine. Whether it was because he sensed imminent danger or because he wanted to christen the nearby bushes was anybody’s guess.

  “It’s okay, boy.” Adam reached back to give the dog an affectionate scratch behind the ears.

  As if on cue, the man in the overalls hoisted the second ladder away from the house. He’d probably meant to tip the twenty-eight-foot ladder just enough so he could lay it on the ground. But he pulled a little too hard and the ladder swung back, making contact with the overhead power line and sending a few thousand volts through the length of metal. The guy jerked, then stiffened, then went limp and collapsed to the ground.

  “Your turn,” David said, nodding toward the final reap of the day. When Adam opened his mouth to object, he added, “I did the last one, remember?”

  Adam’s mouth snapped shut, his expression darkening at the memory. “Oh. Yeah. Right.” He let out a sigh and opened the car door. “When you put it that way, getting wet doesn’t seem so bad.”

  “Damn right it’s not.” The reap before this one scored about a seven out of ten on the Puke Meter. It involved a tractor-trailer whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and a highway construction worker who hopefully never knew what hit him. The resulting bloodbath shut down two lanes of traffic on I-4 and made one of the responding paramedics physically ill.

  If given the choice, he’d work a thousand of those jobs if it spared Sarah from her appointment with destiny.

  Adam got out of the car and jogged across the street to where the body lay sprawled out on the lawn. The man’s partner was crouched down beside him, shouting an incoherent stream of Spanish while pumping on his chest in a desperate attempt to revive him.

  David watched while Adam knelt down beside the pair, playing the role of concerned citizen as he collected the soul, the second man oblivious to the essence of his friend drifting up and merging with Adam’s body.

  “Come on, hurry up,” David muttered under his breath. While Adam’s skills had improved considerably, he still had the troublesome habit of lingering. Sympathetic by nature, the kid wasted too much time consoling those left behind, whether they were family, friends, coworkers, or bystanders. Which was fine and dandy, except when the scene got busy with too many witnesses.

  Already, residents were emerging from their homes, curious to see what all the fuss was about. They huddled close under clusters of umbrellas, trading bits of information in their quest to piece together what happened. A few showed genuine concern, while others watched with a morbid fascination, eager to take in all the gory details. One kid shot pictures with his cell phone camera. Eventually, the compassionate ventured onto the lawn to console the grieving worker, now a sobbing heap on the finely manicured St. Augustine grass.

  Adam finally disentangled himself from the scene, jogging across the street as the blare of sirens filled the air and an ambulance sped around the corner.

  “Poor bastard,” Adam said as he slid back into the car. The strobe effect from the ambulance lights cast a reddish glow across his face, highlighting the strain around his eyes. Rain had soaked him to the bone, his dark hair plastered against his head and his clothes clinging to his body. He ran a hand through his hair, dragging the wet strands away from his forehead. “The other guy was his brother in-law. They just started their own business a little over a year ago.”

  “You’ve got to stop making each case personal,” David said. He started the car and swung out onto the main road, crossing paths with a police car en route to the scene. The kid was probably too green to take his advice, but he was going to dish it out anyway. “It’s going to eat you alive if you don’t.”

  As a fledgling reaper, David had spent his early years on Asian battlefields, collecting the souls of soldiers who never made it home outside a military casket. Yeah, it had been personal. Too personal. It had taken him years to learn the lesson and disengage his emotions.

  Adam shot him a harsh look. “And how the hell am I supposed to do that?”

  “Stop li
ngering, for starters.” David merged onto I-4, slipping behind a dump truck full of sand. “The less time you spend with the mark, the better.”

  And don’t even think about falling in love with one. Talk about a soul-sucking kick to the nuts.

  “I don’t linger,” Adam said, his voice taking on a defensive tone.

  “Yes, you do. You hang around a lot longer than necessary, and you allow yourself to get engaged in conversation. Not good. It sucks you in emotionally.”

  “What am I supposed to do? If someone talks to me, I can’t just ignore them.”

  “Sure you can,” David said without missing a beat. He took the exit to Kaley, forcing his way in front of a silver SUV. The driver honked and David flipped him the bird. “Or say as little as possible. Then get the hell out of Dodge and don’t look back.”

  Adam crossed his arms over his chest and tipped his chin downward. Great. Now he was going to sulk for the rest of the drive home. Oh well, at least he wasn’t whistling, and it gave David some quiet time to figure out what he was going to do about Sarah.

  In less than twenty-four hours something tragic was going to happen to the woman he loved. He’d be damned if he was going to sit back and watch it happen. There had to be a way around the rules, some way to make sure she wasn’t at the wrong place at the wrong time.

  “Have you ever had an appointment not show up?”

  “Nope.”

  “Really? In all these years?”

  “Never. I think Fate has this thing down to a science.”

  But did she really? What would happen if Sarah didn’t go to work Thursday? Thousands of people died in the United States every day, would one be missed? Would Fate come knocking on her door, or pass her over completely? He honestly didn’t know, but it was his only shot at pushing back her date of expiration.

  Decision made, he needed to find a way to keep her from going to work. That should be easy enough, he thought, a sliver of hope beginning to take root. He’d use any and all means necessary to keep her far from Cava Tech, even if it meant tying her up and locking her in the closet.