Supernaturally Kissed (Frostbite, Book One) (19 page)

“I wish I could kiss your worry away,” Kipp said, sitting next to me in the backseat of Zach’s truck.

“Me too,” I whispered to keep the conversation private. The kissing part would have been nice, but it wasn’t only the journey ahead that left me on edge. Indecision had crept up.

Once we discovered Hannah’s body, clues would probably be there too and then the case would have a conclusion. Kipp’s need to stay would leave, his soul would settle and he’d find contentment to move on. As much as we had decided we needed to help Hannah, I couldn’t stop from wanting to ignore her all together and pretend Kipp didn’t have to leave.

“What did you say?” Eddie asked, apparently eavesdropping.

I glanced toward him in the passenger seat. After we picked Eddie up, he came out half-awake with three shovels in hand. It pleased me to note the coffee he drank worked, as he now looked perkier. The faster they dug, the sooner this would end, which was where my conflict came in.

I wanted to help Hannah, but I didn’t want to be out in the dark and I certainly didn’t want Kipp to cross over.

What a big stinkin’ mess!

“I was talking to Kipp,” I told Eddie.

He nodded and looked back out the front window.

“We’re doing the right thing.”

Kipp’s expression looked soft and questioning. He apparently experienced the same hesitation as I did. I needed him to be the strong one here, to tell me we did the right thing, because now I held too many doubts.

He sighed. “Why did we have to meet now?” He said it as more of a statement than something I needed to answer, so I kept quiet. “When you look at me like you are right now, I’d believe I was already in heaven.”

My chin quivered, my eyes welled up with tears and one spilled down my cheek. He reached out to wipe it away, but instead of touching me, the frosty air dried the wetness along my skin. “But when I cannot touch you, I’m reminded this must be hell.”

“Kipp,” I whispered.

“You’ve made death easier for me. If the only way to have met you was to have died, then I’ll never regret it. Not for a single moment.” His gaze bore intently into mine. “You know that, right?”

I managed to find my voice. “I do.”

“When the time comes, remember it made me happy to have experienced this small amount of time with you. That you gave me something I’d never known. You made me feel something I thought I couldn’t ever possess. Know that I treasured each and every minute we had and I was happier these last days than I’d ever been.”

I sat silent and absorbed his words, and determined only one thing needed to be said. “I love you.” I’d known it the moment I met him and I could no longer deny it to him or to myself. It was all of him, every little piece that made Kipp who he was, that filled my heart with enough love it could burst.

He smiled. “As I do you.”

Someone cleared their throat. I jerked my head up to find Eddie had already gotten out of the truck and Zach leaned halfway out.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’re here.” Zach looked at the seat of the truck as if he tried hard not to listen to what I said.

I slid my gaze over to Kipp, who smiled. Beneath it, though, I saw he battled against himself to refuse this, but we both understood the importance of finding Hannah. “Guess we should go?”

Kipp nodded, full of conviction despite what his gaze said. “Go and get your feet dirty.”

“Please, don’t remind me.” I opened the door and stepped out, and approached Eddie and Zach, who had a topographic map laid out on the hood of the truck.

“It’s about time y’all got here,” Hannah said. “I’ve been waiting forever.”

I laughed, but held back stating the fact she had nothing else to do. “The downfall of not being able to teleport wherever you want to is you have to drive, which takes time.”

Hannah smiled. “Right.”

I looked away from her to find both Eddie and Zach appearing flabbergasted by my admission ghosts could do that. I waved it away, not wanting to get into it. “Never mind, it’s another thing to tell you on another day.”

Zach shook his head and glanced around as if searching for where Hannah stood. “We need to call in the location to Max so he knows our whereabouts.”

“Speaking of that, where is he?” I asked.

Eddie laughed. “Where’s Max?”

“Yeah, exactly, why’s he not helping us?”

His look said I should know better. “The sergeant doesn’t get knee-deep in mud, dear.”

I glanced over at the forest in front of us and pouted. Eddie hadn’t been exaggerating. Even in the darkness, I saw the trip would prove difficult. “Seriously, I have to go in there?”

“Kipp might need to tell us something and we can’t hear him if you’re not there,” Zach replied.

“But my poor boots will be ruined.” I nearly cried, realizing I’d worn my new boots that I had bought only a few weeks ago. “These cost three weeks of pay.”

Eddie furrowed his brow. “You can wash them when we’re done here.”

Oh, wasn’t he Mr. Smarty Pants. “What if they don’t come clean?”

Zach laughed. “It’s mud, it’ll come clean.”

“But, but, but they could get scratches!”

Kipp sighed. “You need to let Hannah tell us where she is located, Tess.”

With that interruption, it became apparent I was stalling. I forced myself to get a grip. As much as I wanted to stay here and keep Kipp with me forever, if they didn’t discover who had done this, Hannah would never cross over. The pain, loneliness and misery in her eyes that I witnessed earlier, and could even see a little of now, were all I thought of. No one deserved such a terrible fate. Going against what swelled in my heart, I stepped forward and came up beside Eddie.

Eddie pointed to the parking lot where we stood. “We’re here now.”

“You ready to do this?” I asked Hannah.

She nodded. “Damn right I am.”

I closed my eyes to focus and let Hannah’s words become my own as I repeated what she said, not wanting to fumble it up. “All right, use your finger to follow what I say.”

“Go ahead,” Eddie replied.

I gave Hannah a moment to start before I relayed her words. “Go straight until you hit a creek. Once there, turn left and you’ll hit an incline.”

“I see that, yes,” Eddie said.

“When you’re over the hill, turn to the right and walk for a while. The lake runs along your right there. You can hear it the entire time.”

“A short distance away,” Zach said. “Yes, we can see that.”

“You’ll come to a cliff that you have to climb down. Once at the bottom, you have to go to the left and you’ll come into thick brush.” I paused, waiting for Hannah to finish, and I opened my eyes. She gave me a smile, said a few words, then up and vanished.

“Well?” Zach asked impatiently.

I glanced away from where Hannah disappeared and looked at him. “You only need to walk a few minutes longer and you’ll find it there.”

“Thank you for your help,” Zach said, obviously intending for Hannah to hear it, since he looked in the same direction that she’d been.

“She’s not here anymore.” I laughed.

Zach shook his head in a harsh manner, clearly annoyed. He reached onto the hood of the truck where his phone rested. He picked it up and typed away on the buttons for a while. Then he held out his other hand to Eddie. “Phone.”

Eddie handed him his, folded up the map and stuck it in his back pocket.

Zach held the phone to his ear, and after a few seconds he said, “Max, the coordinates are thirty-five degrees north and ninety degrees west.” He paused. “Yeah. Got it. Right.” He lowered the phone from his ear, pressed end and glanced at us. “We’re to call him if we find anything. He’s at the station now digging through old reports to see if any unknown bodies have been pulled from the area.”

Right then, headlights caught my attention. I covered my eyes against the beaming lights, and as they drew closer, I noticed a police car approaching. “Who’s that?”

“K9—must be Brody,” Kipp replied.

“K9 Division. What’s Brody doing here?” Zach asked no one in particular.

The police car pulled up next to Zach’s truck, the engine cut and the door opened. “Howdy, y’all,” Brody’s friendly voice called out.

Zach looked at him, completely befuddled as he approached the truck. “Max called you in?”

Brody nodded and ran a hand through his neat, ashy hair. “He thought you might need a little extra help.”

“I’m sure he’s brought in some extra help to wrap this up as quickly as possible,” Kipp said.

“Well, that’s just—”

Zach interrupted. “A kind gesture on his part.”

I glanced at him, a little annoyed he cut me off, but when I caught Brody’s baffled gaze, I understood why he’d done it. “Sorry,” I said to Brody. “I’m not weird or anything, I just talk out loud sometimes.”

Brody smiled. “We’ve all been known to do that once in a while.” His gaze flashed with curiosity. “Why are you out here anyway?”

Zach and Eddie exchanged a glance, but I didn’t hesitate. “I was talking with Eddie and Zach…about…you know.” Brody nodded and I took that as he understood I meant Kipp’s death. “I thought having an extra set of hands would help.”

Brody’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s considerate of you.”

“Who did you bring with you?” Eddie asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Duke.” Brody spun on his heel and went back toward his police car.

I glanced back to Zach. “Who’s Duke?”

“The department’s cadaver dog, and by the way, quick thinking on your part.”

I fanned myself. “I’m talented when I need to be.”

“I’d agree with that.” Kipp winked.

I could’ve gotten myself lost in his playful gaze. That is, if I hadn’t heard loud, thumping paws hit the ground. I glanced back at Brody to see a big droopy bloodhound by the car. The dog gave his whole body a shake, turned and barreled toward me with his ears flapping in the wind.

I wanted to move, run in fact, but my feet were glued to ground. “Oh good Lord.” Everyone around me laughed, even Kipp, but as Duke jumped up to place his two paws on my chest and sent me straight to the ground, I didn’t feel like laughing. Dogs and I were usually sworn enemies.

My worries vanished immediately as Duke licked my face like a lollipop. “Eww.” I tried to push him away. “Get him off me.” He weighed me down and moving him became impossible. Even as I turned my head from side to side, he just seemed to anticipate my every move.

“
Hier
,” Brody shouted.

The dog jumped off me and went to sit at Brody’s feet. Everyone still laughed as I wiped my face in disgust to rid myself of the goobers. “First of all, yuck, and second, what language is that?”

“It’s German.” Brody gave the big dog a scratch on the head. “I said here.”

I continued to wipe the slobber from my face. “Why do you speak to him in German?”

Brody shrugged and glanced away from the dog to me. “It keeps the pups from getting confused when English is spoken around them.”

Zach offered his hand. I took it, then stood and gave my face and neck a final wipe. I approached Duke and scratched his ear. “If you wanted some scratchies, you don’t have to eat me, you know.”

Duke’s tongue wagged out the side of his mouth. I used both hands to squeeze his cute, loveable face. “He’s a sweetie.”

Brody laughed, a rich sound. “If only women had the same reaction to me as they do to the dog.”

I glanced up at him and wasn’t mistaken when I thought a sultry nature had hit his tone, his expression declared it. “Er…”

“Try it and die, fucker,” Kipp said.

I smiled, unable to stop it. His protectiveness pleased me and I didn’t mind one bit he had staked his claim.

Brody smiled seductively. Oops, shit! He apparently misread my smile. He must have thought I meant it for him. I needed to rectify my mistake. “I can see why women like the dog, he’s a beauty. Zach, we should get a dog just like him.”

Brody’s smile vanished.

Kipp’s frown melted into a satisfied grin.

“Whatever you want, babe.” Zach laughed and Eddie joined in.

“So, what do we have to do?” I released the dog’s squishy cheeks and straightened up.

“Well,” Brody said, glancing out to the forest. “What exactly are we doing here?”

Before any of the men could voice just how weird that was, I blurted out, “Shouldn’t you know that?”

Brody shifted on his feet and kicked some of the stones along the road. “Nah, Max just told me to meet you out here with Duke. He didn’t give me specifics.”

Zach handed him the phone with the GPS coordinates. “You know the Hannah Reid case?”

Brody nodded, looking down at the phone to read the location. “Yeah, I remember it.”

“We’re about to find her body,” Zach said.

Brody jerked his head up. “You want me and Duke to search the entire forest?” He appeared less than thrilled.

Eddie shook his head. “No, we got a lead pointing to the exact location. It’s flagged there.”