Part 29 (1/2)

”Don't leave, please,” Jessy said quietly, rea.s.suringly. ”It's just me. You've been trying to reach me for days, and now I'm here-just me, no else-so don't be afraid.”

She had to admit that she was a little bit afraid herself. Yes, she was, just a little. She had gotten accustomed to Ringo, but now, faced with two of the newly dead, she felt herself begin to tremble.

She tried to remain perfectly calm as she took a seat on the couch.

”Excuse me.” She spoke softly, and carefully set down her breakfast, then reached for her coffee cup, needing a sip, as if it were alcohol and might bolster her courage.

”Mr. Green,” she said politely. ”I apologize for being afraid of you at first, but I'm not afraid now. I want to help you. The people who killed you are trying to hurt other people.” Her voice cracked for a minute. ”They killed Rudy, and they're going to kill again if you won't help me. Please, talk to me.”

Tanner Green's mouth worked as if he was trying to talk; then he started to fade away.

Suddenly she heard Ringo's impatient voice.

”Come on, you big coward. Be a man and talk to the lady.”

”I can handle this,” Jessy objected firmly.

But Ringo's approach had the desired effect.

Tanner Green seemed to stabilize in his chair.

”I'm glad you decided to stay,” Jessy said, at a loss for anything else. ”Now, please, tell who ki-who did this to you.”

”I don't know,” he said.

”You have to find out.” He seemed surprised that he had actually managed to speak. He almost smiled, then spoke again, his confidence seeming to grow. ”I keep trying to remember the day, where I was. I keep trying to retrace my footsteps.”

”That's a great idea,” Jessy told him encouragingly.

”Mr. Yorba, you could sit down,” she added quietly.

Rudy Yorba seemed startled to be addressed so directly, and Tanner Green stared at him curiously. She reminded herself that they hadn't known one another in life.

She took a long drink of coffee, set the cup back down and asked, ”Rudy, why do you keep hiding from Mr. Green?” she asked.

”I've been watching him. I think whoever killed him killed me, too, so I thought if I followed him, I could find out who that was. But I was afraid for him to see me. He's...huge.”

Jessy nodded. ”He is, but I'm sure he doesn't want to hurt you.”

Tanner look at Rudy quizzically. ”Why the h.e.l.l would I hurt you? I don't even know you!” His eyes narrowed. ”You weren't part of this, were you?”

”No, no, we think Rudy was killed by the same people who killed you,” Jessy said quickly, then cleared her throat. ”We're pretty sure Rudy was killed because someone knew he had talked to Dillon-Dillon Wolf,” Jessy said. ”We're all looking for the same answers, and we all need to help each other.”

Rudy didn't speak, but Tanner Green frowned and said, ”I remember...having a drink, and then...then it changed. Everything changed. There was so much neon. I saw the playground from when I was a kid in Philly...I saw...I saw lights. I saw you. You You...Someone attacked me, and then I fell down and died on you.”

”Yes. You did.”

”I'm sorry.”

”It's all right. It's not like you wanted to.”

”Rudy, what about you? Did you see anything?” Jessy asked him.

”Lights. I saw lights. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d came at me like a bat out of h.e.l.l. He meant to kill me, not just to hit me. It was murder, and I want the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who did it,” Rudy said.

”Rudy, how did you run out of gas?”

”I didn't didn't run out of gas,” he said. ”Someone siphoned my tank. They left me enough to get out on the highway, and they knew exactly where I'd have to start walking.” run out of gas,” he said. ”Someone siphoned my tank. They left me enough to get out on the highway, and they knew exactly where I'd have to start walking.”

Jessy looked over at Tanner Green. ”Mr. Green, how about you? Can you think of any anything that might help?”

The big man shook his head. ”I'm trying. I knew someone was after Emil Landon, and I was ready to defend him. But who the h.e.l.l-”

”Wait,” Jessy said. ”You said you knew that someone was after Emil. How How did you know? Because he told you so?” did you know? Because he told you so?”

”No,” Green said. ”Someone shot at him one night. I wanted to call the cops, but Mr. Landon took care of it himself. He called some cop he's kind of friends with, and after, that's when he called Adam Harrison. He insisted on getting Dillon Wolf to find out what was going on. His friend at the station had him convinced he needed Wolf. So Wolf came on the job, but he was just investigating, we were protecting-Hugo Blythe and me. But I was off work when it happened. Was I killed so I couldn't protect Mr. Landon?”

”I don't know, but I suppose it's possible,” Jessy said.

Green let out an aggrieved sigh.

”Mr. Green, there's something else. We need to know why you whispered 'Indigo' to me before you died.”

15.

Dillon awoke with a start. Despite the heavy drapes, he knew that day had come.

He reached out in antic.i.p.ation, then realized that Jessy wasn't beside him. He jumped up and started toward the door, then realized he was naked and Adam was in the house, and went back for a robe.

He almost called her name, but it was always better to seek someone in silence, so he hurried down the hall as quickly and quietly as he could.

He reached the living room and stopped short in shock.

There was Jessy, all that long red hair streaming around her face in a red halo, a stunning contrast to her navy blue T-s.h.i.+rt. She was holding a cup of coffee, one of her legs crossed over the other, and she was engaged in what looked to be the most casual conversation in the world.

With three ghosts.

Ringo, a given, was at her side. But Tanner Green was there, too, sitting in a wingback chair, his expression one of intense concentration.

Rudy Yorba was there, too. He looked tense, standing behind Green, watching the others.

Ringo sensed Dillon's presence first. He interrupted Tanner Green just as he was about to speak and said, ”Green, don't you go turning into a girlie-man again and disappearing. Dillon is a longtime nightwalker, and he's the one person here who can really help you. Stay, do you understand?”

Startled, Green looked up at Dillon and began to fade. Dillon silently cursed himself and spoke quickly and very softly. ”Please, Green, I need you. We need your help.”

Tanner Green took what looked for all the world like a deep breath and his image stabilized.