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Bria opened the gate, wincing at the loud creak it made, and stepped inside I followed her My sister walked slowly, her eyes fixed straight ahead All around ravestones whispered with low,sobs and quiet tears that folks had cried here for their lost loved ones I heard the sae Cemetery, where Fletcher and the rest of the Snow family were buried

Bria finally stopped in front of a sie flowed across the top of the gray stone in an elegant script, and a small heart had been carved in between the two nae Beloved husband and father Henrietta Coolidge Beloved wife and ave the dates of their deaths, which had been a couple of years ago Bria didn’t talk about her adoptive parents much, but I knew that her dad, Harry, had been a police detective and her inspiration to become a cop as well He’d died of a heart attack, while her mother, Henrietta, had been hit and killed by a drunk driver a year later They’d been good people, and they’d loved Bria just as much as I did

Bria knelt and picked a few dry, brittle leaves off the sraves White flowers for her mother, blue for her father - the colors reenery She fussed with the steed just so, while I stood still and silent behind her These were her parents, this was her grief, and I didn’t want to intrude

Eventually, my baby sister wiped away the tears that had slid down her cheeks and got to her feet She turned to face me, her blue eyes full of ht want to see their graves," Bria said in a quiet voice "Besides, Callie’s working right now, and I didn’t want to come here alone"

I just nodded, not sure what I should say to Bria, not sure what I could say to ht dull with time, but it never truly went away The cruel blade was always in your heart, just waiting to be twisted in again at aand everyone you’d lost I knew that better than anyone

Bria had done what she’d needed to do, so she headed toward the gate, her steps slow and her shoulders slu her some space, and waited until she was out of earshot before I looked down at the two graves

"Thank you for watching over her," I said in a soft voice "For taking care of and protecting and loving her when she needed it the most"

I kneas silly, but I said the words anyway I didn’t know if Harry and Henrietta Coolidge could hear me wherever they were, but they deserved my thanks, even if I was the only one who’d ever know that I’d given it to them

"Gin?" Bria called out in a soft voice

I turned and walked toward the ce the quiet shadows behind

Chapter 3

We walked to the convertible in silence, and Bria drove us back out toward the edge of the island I’d thought we’d go straight to the hotel, but she surprisedinto a sandy lot that faced the ocean about a mile from the Blue Sands resort

The unpaved lot fronted a restaurant ht have been a soft blue at one time, but the wind had blasted it with sowas now a pale, washed-out gray Several fiberglass picnic tables done in bright shades of electric blue squatted in the sand outside the ran the same color burned above the screen door One by one, the letters lit up to form the restaurant’s name - The Sea Breeze - before a tube lit up around the a clan relowed outside Northern Aggression, htclub in Ashland

"Does an elemental run this place?" I asked "Because that’s a rune if I ever saw one That clamshell It’s a syiants Most ic types used a rune to identify themselves, their power, their business connections, and even their family alliances Humans used runes too, but the practice see elementals

For the first time since we’d left the cemetery, a smile creased Bria’s face "Nah, she’s not an elemental, but Callie owns this place The cla that her restaurant is a buried treasure just waiting to be discovered, like a pearl inside an oyster, although everyone on Blue Marsh already knows just how good the food is C’ht, and I’"

My sister got out of the car, and I followed her It was after six now, and the dinner rush was on Lots of folks must have had the same opinion Bria did about the food because cars filled the sandy lot I could see a dozen people eating outside at the picnic tables and even h the porthole-shaped s Waitresses bustled back and forth froain, each one carrying white platters filled with shri as , seafood wasn’t reallyI supposed because shrimp and the like reminded me too much of the crawdads I used to catch as a kid in the creeks in the woods that surrounded Fletcher’s house Crawdads were slimy little suckers with sharp, nasty pinchers, and they’d ers bleed more than once over the years Deep-fried or not, I had no desire to stuff one intoopen the screen door and stepping inside the restaurant I followed her and stood by the door ain the scene before me

The Sea Breeze was just what its name implied - a seaside joint with the island decor to match Sand dollars, starfish, and spiked sea urchins preserved andwith thick fishing nets, spears, and even a few cracked oars A wooden counter with polished brass railing ran along one wall, but what caught , skinny boat had been placed on top of the counter, its hull sinking into the wood like it was bobbing along on top of the ocean The boat then formed a bar where people could sit, eat, and drink Clever It matched the rest of the weathered interior and looked like soht out of The Old Man and the Sea, which was the latest book I was reading for a su at Ashland Coe

The inside of the restaurant was just as crowded as the outside, and we had to wait several minutes before two seats opened up at the end of the bar The bartender came over, took our food orders, and in and tonic with a twist of lime for me

Bria put down her menu and looked at the bartender "Tell Callie that Bria’s finally here and to come say hi when she has a h a set of double doors, stepping into the back of the restaurant Bria swiveled around on her stool so that she could look at all the folks enjoying their food A smile curved her lips, and her blue eyes misted over with memories It was obvious that she loved the restaurant and felt at hoe Bria her trip down memory lane, but I couldn’t help but be a little hurt by it My sister had never looked so happy and relaxed at the Pork Pit - not once

"Callie and I grew up together in Blue Marsh, and ere inseparable as kids," Bria said "Her faenerations now I probably spenton the beach outside than I did at my own house I think I told you about her once, about how you reminded me of her"

Bria had talked pretty much nonstop about Callie Reyes the last few days, ever since we’d decided to co Bria had said, I knew that Callie was more than just her friend, that Callie was like a sister to her - the sister I wasn’t

Callie was the one Bria had grown up with, the one she’d laughed and giggled and gossiped with Callie was the one who’d held Bria when she’d cried over the deaths of her parents Callie was the one who’d seen to the funeral arrangements and made sure that Bria was okay afterward Callie was the one who’d always been around when I hadn’t

I respected Callie’s role in lad that she’d always been there for Bria, but part of me couldn’t help but be jealous of the other woman as well Of course, I couldn’t tell Bria that, not without s worse between us than they already were - especially not nohen I was in the other woin joint

"Of course, I remember," I said, my voice a little colder than I would have liked "You told me all about how you lived in Savannah awhile before your foster parents moved out to Blue Marsh when you were ten I re you tellup on my hostile tone, but before she could call me on it, a waitress came over with our food - a steamy plate of shrimp scampi with a basket of deep-fried hush puppies for Bria and a Jamaican jerk chicken sandith thin, crispy sweet potato fries for me