“Let’s just say that I’m more different than you know and that, yes, a part of Reyes is super-supernatural.”
“Which part?”
“Um, the super-supernatural part?”
“I want more than that, Charley,” he warned, stepping closer. “You have to explain this.”
I eased down onto the edge of the security guard’s chair, my back stiff, my jaw clenched shut. One word came to mind repeatedly. Crapola. How on Earth could I explain the dematerialization of a human body? If that’s really what happened.
Just then, Neil Gossett walked in. His gaze landed on me instantly, then darted to Uncle Bob in a gesture of guilt, like we shared a secret. Which, in a way, we did. He just didn’t have all the details.
“Mr. Gossett,” Uncle Bob said, holding out his hand.
“Detective,” Neil said as they shook hands. “Anything new?”
Uncle Bob looked back at me then. “Nothing substantial.”
Both Ubie and Neil knew just enough to be dangerous. And neither knew the whole story. I wondered how long I could keep their questions at bay. I’d already revealed more about myself in the last week than I had in my entire life. While it was freeing in a way, it was also risky to invite so many people into my world. I’d done it before. And I’d paid the price.
“Who’s Dutch?” Uncle Bob asked, gesturing toward the monitor, and my breath caught in my throat.
Though I hadn’t touched it, the screen was now black. In the center sat that one solitary word followed by a blinking cursor, and relief flooded me so completely, I thought I would slide off the chair. Reyes. Reyes Alexander Farrow was alive. I stared a long time at the nickname he’d given me the day I was born, wondering if he could still come to me, if we could still be together. Then I felt him brush across my mouth, and I knew my life would never be the same again.