The Missing

her shoulder, she willingly accepted the silent offer of comfort. “Wasn’t trying to be the Lone Ranger, Dez. I just couldn’t wait.”

    “These poor babies calling you that hard?”

    Taige shook her head. She shot a grim glance over her shoulder, staring inside the open door as Taylor barked out orders left and right. From time to time, he reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck. It was one of those rare times when the bastard actually seemed almost human. All this death was enough to do it, though. Even Dez looked a little grim, and for her, that was unusual. “It wasn’t them that pulled me here; it was the girl.”

    “Hmmm. Yeah, the little cutie that was grabbed from Atlanta. You felt that?”

    “Nope.” She braced her arms on her knees and leaned forward. “It was her father.”

    Dez’s midnight brows arched up. “Her father. Well, that’s a different turn for you.”

    Taige grimaced. “Not exactly. I knew him. We . . . we sort of had this thing when we were younger.” Exhaustion pressed down on her hard like a weight, but there was no way in hell she was going to rest here. Those few minutes when she had tried to just zone out had been rough. Really going to sleep? That would be like walking willingly into hell. All around her was the lingering touch of death. Even if her gifts didn’t intrude on her sleep, the negative energy here sure as hell would. She was going to have enough nightmares as it was. Taige had no intention of letting the sad, angry atmosphere of this place color those bad dreams any more than she had to.

    “A thing, huh?” Dez smiled. “Saw his picture in the paper. He look as biteable in person as he is on paper?”

    Biteable. Despite her exhaustion, she couldn’t help but smile. “More so.”

    Feeling Dez’s eyes on her, she looked back over her shoulder. The appraising look on the woman’s face made Taige squirm. “So that’s the deal.”

    “What?” Taige demanded defensively.

    “I always wondered why you don’t talk about guys. You’re hung up on some sexy boy from high school.”

    She didn’t bother denying it. “It wasn’t high school. His parents were loaded; they had a summer house close to where I grew up.”

    Dez made a face. “Oh, please tell me he wasn’t some rich boy looking to piss his folks off by dating a black girl.”

    Taige’s face softened a little. “No. He wasn’t like that. Cullen . . .” Her voice trailed off while she tried to figure out just how much she wanted to tell Dez. She hadn’t discussed that last day with Cullen with anybody. Not even Rose before she died, and the good Lord knows, Rose had asked. And asked. And asked . . . Especially after—

    Oh, Taige, girl. Don’t go there. She had enough shit inside her head without remembering that period in her life.

    “He broke your heart.”

    “Yeah.” Taige blew out a soft breath and rubbed her hands over her face. “Yeah, he did.”

    “So, speaking as your friend, should I totally hate this guy?”

    Taige laughed. “Cullen isn’t the kind of guy you can hate easily. God knows I certainly tried to hate him.”

    “So are you going to tell me what happened?”

    Taige dropped her hands and stood up. Every muscle in her body screamed at her as she did it. She hurt so much that every movement was a small lesson in agony. Right now, the pain was a blessing. A sweet blessing, because it distracted her from the pain of her own memories. Blowing out a sigh, she said, “There’s not all that much to tell, honey. He lost somebody—and I wasn’t able to help.”

    She heard Dez moving up behind her and turned around, lifting her hands to ward Dez away. “Don’t, Dez. Okay? I’m not up to this right now.” I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for it.

    “You don’t get to pick and choose who you are able to help, Taige. You know that.”

    She blinked away the tears stinging her eyes. “Yeah. I know that. Still doesn’t make it any easier when I can’t help.”

    IT was nearly three a.m. before she got away from the crime scene. It probably would have been later if Dez hadn’t pushed the issue. She’d taken a break from her gruesome job and was outside for some fresh air. While she was walking through the maze of yellow tape and portable outdoor lights, Dez saw Taige leaning against a plain black van. Taige had been weaving on her feet, fighting to stay awake as the exhaustion weighed down heavier and heavier with each passing