The Departed

Not much else—yet. But soon they’d have more. He couldn’t stop it.
    “What’s up with the Danvers kid?” Blake asked.
    “Bike wreck.” Taylor slanted a look at him. “Head injury and he’s got a history of seizures. Ugly mix. What, you can’t get that info yourself? And what’s it to you, anyway?”
    “Don’t give me that shit.” Blake slashed a hand through the air. “If it was just a damn wreck, that hot girlfriend of yours wouldn’t be here.”
    The hair on the back of Taylor’s neck rose.
    Blake narrowed his eyes and leaned back, crossing his hands over his belly as he studied Taylor. “I did some nosing around last night—online, kept it nice and unofficial, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the detectives have already run her background. The past year, her name’s popped up in some very interesting ways.”
    “You can’t believe everything you read online,” Taylor drawled, shrugging. He knew, for a fact, that the stories online about Dez barely even touched the surface. Most of the things over the past year were minor. Of course, the National Enquirer could have a fucking field day with even the most minor stories, but they didn’t even touch on what Dez was capable of, the miracles she’d accomplished.
    Blake just grunted. “What’s really weird is the fact that before this past year you can’t find hardly even a mention of her anywhere. I know where she lives. Virginia.” He paused and added, “Same as you.”
    “Several million people live in Virginia,” Taylor pointed out.
    “True.” Blake leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. “But several million people don’t have a rep for being psychic, do they?”
    Shit. Taylor met Blake’s gaze. “You realize if you go around handing out stories like that, you’ll get laughed off the police department, right? And, Blake? If you can’t hold a job with the French Lick Police Department, you aren’t going to find another police department willing to hire you, I don’t think.”
    “Is that a threat?” Blake stared at him, his gaze flat. And rather unimpressed, Taylor thought.
    “Just a comment—pointing out the obvious.” He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.
    Blake snorted. “Do I look stupid to you? I don’t plan on spouting any sort of shit. Like you…I’m just pointing out what’s obvious to me. Smoke follows fire and all that. Your girl? She’s smoke. Which means, she’s following fire.”
    “Fire?” Taylor stared at Blake.
    “Yeah. Meaning Mark.” He stood up and glanced down the hall. “He used to be a good kid. Maybe he still is, I don’t know. But if she’s hanging out here around him, well, my gut tells me there’s trouble.”
    Taylor followed Blake’s gaze and saw Dez as she cut down the hall—not toward him, but a different way.
    “So. Is there trouble?”
    Taylor sighed. “With Dez, there’s almost always trouble. Doesn’t mean it’s the sort of trouble you are looking for.”
    * * *
     
    IT was almost nightfall when Dez slipped out of the hospital. And she was walking to her car when she realized one small but crucial detail.
    Stopping dead in the middle of the parking lot, she planted her hands on her hips and swore a blue streak. That didn’t make her feel any better so she stormed over to her car and kicked the rear tire.
    It was hard enough that she felt it even through the heavy black boots she wore, but it still didn’t take the edge off her irritation. Sighing, she turned around and leaned against the car, staring off into the distance, watching as the sun continued to sink slowly below the tree line.
    In another thirty minutes or so, it would be dark. In a few more hours, she’d be too tired to see straight.
    And she didn’t have a place to stay. Did she just go back to that dump on the side of the road where she’d stayed the other night?
    Shit . Probably. Her back screamed even at the thought. But unless she wanted to sleep in her car…
    Her skin prickled and although he didn’t make a sound, she wasn’t surprised when Taylor came to stand beside her. Clad in his sport coat and jeans, his face emotionless, his steel blue eyes unreadable, he leaned against the truck parked next to hers and studied her face.
    “Where are you staying tonight?” he asked bluntly.
    She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
    “Why?” She sure as hell wasn’t about to tell him that she didn’t have a place to stay.
    Taylor sighed and rubbed the back of