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She squinted through the peephole The man at her door was Dustin Blake
Surprised, she opened the door
"We’re really not supposed to fraternize," she said "Not when I’m your therapist"
"You’re not really my therapist," he said "And I’m not really in therapy May I cooing on around here One of our coot me a copy of the autopsy report There was heroin in Marcus Danby’s system"
"Yes, I understand that We may be in the backwoods of Tennessee, but we do have a county ent, well-educatedwas administered to Marcus somehow That’s the point"
He stood just outside her door, stoic and patient She recognized that he was kicking into true professional mode "Ms Gordon, I would be encies in Tennessee, since I’m from the state myself and continue to love and ad to tell you is that the facts of the situation are going toto have a real discussion with you and find out everything you can possibly tell me"
She opened the door wide "Please come in You actually don’t need to hear it froent Blake?"
She heard hiave a loud woof, then wagged his tail energetically and ran to the newco’s head "Hey, fellow, you’re a handso nicely, thank you," Olivia said She led him into the kitchen; if Malachi had sent this man, if he was part of a Krewe, he must have some sense that the dead could, and sometimes did, speak
"You should hear it fro around the counter
But Marcus was gone
Once more, he’d cut out on her without so much as a wave--nohen she needed hi As if she’d been about to prove to an upstart that her every as true
But she was obviously perplexed as they walked into the kitchen Surprised by so?" Dustin asked
She had the ability to collect herself quickly "Nothing Would you like tea?"
"Uh, sure"
She went through the s down a little too hard
"Black or green?" she asked "Milk? Sugar?"
"Black or green, and just plain, thank you," he said She knew, of course, that he atching her "I was going to hear what happened from Marcus?" he asked quietly
She looked at him as if she wasn’t sure what to say He wasn’t her cousin, but he’d come because of her cousin
"Hey," he said "I’ll be honest with you I’ve wanted to join up with one of Jackson Crow’s units since I heard about them It’s a hard world to walk around in when you’re the only one who sees and hears things that others don’t When you talk to the dead"
Still looking up at him, she flushed
"He was here," she said "He was in the kitchen, telling ht, but that he couldn’t And he was sorry, he said, that he doesn’t have all the answers, but he just can’t go into the light Not until he and the Horse Far She was still agitated and the tea bag went flying across the kitchen floor
He set his hand on hers "Relax It’s okay"
"He was right here," she repeated
"Yeah I believe you"
"So, you’ve come to help Why did he just vanish? Why did he vanish on me before?"
"He doesn’t trust me And maybe, despite the fact that he seems to have learned how to haunt you, he y to stay around for too long--or at least not in a form in which you can see him Like he said, he doesn’t have all the answers We certainly don’t have them, either There isn’t really any book of the dead I’ve come across spirits who haven’t learned to coht be any friend chatting with you before a fire We don’t knohy Then, there are some who are quick to appear before many people--and there are those who only appear after centuries and only because they believe they’ve found the person hom they need to communicate"
She stared at him, wide-eyed He stepped back "Are we okay?" he asked
"Yeah," she said thickly "Want to handthe two cups of tea, picked up both of them and walked out to her parlor She placed the cups on a coffee table and sat on the sofa, curling her legs beneath her He sat across from her on one of the old carved wooden chairs The place was nice, he thought It was historic, but it had been treated lovingly and had aged well It seemed to offer the best of the old and the new
"What do you need from me?" she asked Before he could answer, she asked, "How did you get here? Do you have a car out front? We’re really not supposed to hang out with guests"