Page 73 of Cowboy Heat
“—I might be the catalyst that started moving something bad.”
“Right on the nose with that. I’ll check in with you when I’ve got this.”
We end the call because there’s not much else to say.
He’s right about me being the one thing that changed in town. My coming to Robin’s Tree marked the beginning of Alice’s attack, Guidry’s disappearance, and Kissy’s intruder. Whether or not it’s connected, I don’t know yet.
But I’m usually not one to believe in coincidences.
Kissy comes out a few minutes later. She’s changed into a black tank top that’s tucked into a pair of faded Levi’s, has her hair twisted up in a towel, and seems to have been in the middle of applying eye makeup. I only notice because her right eyelid has a wing of black across it, while the other eyelid is bare. Also, she has the pencil still in her hand.
“The picture you took of the map,” she starts, sounding like she’s in the middle of a conversation she’s been having with herself. “Can I see it?”
I pull it up on my phone, and Kissy swings around so she’s up against my side looking down at it. Her skin is warm from the shower; I can smell her shampoo despite the towel.
It’s nice.
“What about it?”
Kissy lowers her head until her nose is nearly touching the screen. “Guidry isn’t a sentimental man,” she says, attention obviously split. “After his grandfather passed, he left most of his stuff behind. He lovesLa Lumiere—you know, in his way—but the rest of the town…he’s never been a fan of. He deals with it as it suits his needs.”
“So you’re wondering why he has a map of it over his desk,” I pick up.
“Not just that, but a really old one.”
I drop my head a fraction to get a better look. “How can you tell it’s old?”
“Can I zoom in?”
I hand the phone over, and she does just that. Her attention seems to be on a section near the opposite side of town fromLa Lumiere. The map is a general reference map with major routes and roads, landmarks, dense areas of trees, and the waterways of Robin’s Tree. The part she’s on is a clearing of space between a pretty decent clump of trees and a waterway that runs along the border of the town.
“See this?” She runs her finger above the screen, outlining the small space. “It used to be the Baptist church’s cemetery dating all the way to when the town was founded. It’s on some real low-lying ground, and way back in the day, ’round the time Mimi’s mama was a little girl, it flooded out. Locals called it grave dancing because some of the coffins actually rose up and…well, moved around the area. Drew Tatum—you know, June’s former flame?—actually showed us a picture when we were kids that his grandaddy had of one of the old box coffins. It was split in two, and a skeleton hand was sticking out. Gave me nightmares.” She quiets a moment, then shakes her head and taps the screen. “All’s that to say, the church decided to close the area off. They made a new cemetery closer to the actual church after that.”
“What about the people who were buried there? Surely their loved ones wouldn’t let them just close it.”
Kissy shrugs. “That’s the thing. Everyone buried there hadbeenburied there for forever. If they had any loved ones left, they’d left Robin’s Tree by then.”
“Were the ones who grave danced reburied?”
Kissy is looking pretty uncertain. “I’d have to ask Mimi. I’m not sure. I would hope so though.”
“But the town took it off the map, I’m guessing.”
She nods. “We’ve had at least two updated maps since then. I know, because the real estate office has used them both for work. After the church closed that cemetery, it was like it disappeared.”
She stands up tall again and looks me dead on.
Her one-eyed makeup is kind of endearing.
Her concentration is wholly intriguing.
“I don’t know why Guidry would havethismap above his desk, if any at all. Do you think it means something?”
It could be a lead.
It could be nothing.
It might be all we have until Lee calls back.
