Page 57 of Kiss of Death

Seventeen

Mist swirled around her, obscuring the polished stone floor. Bunny was grateful. She was ducked low, hoping to use the mist to obscure her from Roberta’s hawkish gaze as she loitered next to the fence in the lobby. It reminded her of being in high school, waiting for opportunities to leave campus and skip class. And, much as she had back then, she couldn’t escape the feeling she was about to get caught.

“Hey, don’t I know you?”

The voice startled her, and Bunny yelped before clapping her hand over her mouth and hoping the sound hadn’t carried as far as Roberta’s desk. She wheeled to the fence, coming face to face with the man who had spoken to her. It was a shock to actually see someone on the other side at all—both of the other times she’d been here to the lobby, all she had been able to see beyond the bars of the fence was swirling light.

Bunny frowned. “I don’t think so,” she whispered, eyes darting nervously in Roberta’s general direction. “Can you please keep your voice down?”

“I’m sure I have,” the guy continued. He was taller than her, but not as tall as Death. He was much stockier, with a torso that made it look like he spent a fair bit of time lifting weights on the inside. The guy waggled a finger at her knowingly. “There’s something so familiar about your face—wait!” His eyes widened in recognition. “You’re not Connie’s kid, are you?”

Saying the magic word commanded Bunny’s attention immediately. “You knew my mother?”

“Knew her?” He grinned, the expression lending a wholesomeness to his face. His green eyes sparkled with happiness, and Bunny couldn’t help but think he would have been a formidable flirt during his time on Earth. “Still do know here. She’s in here.”

“You saw her?” she gasped eagerly. “When?”

“Today,” he nodded, before his head dipped to the side. “Or was it yesterday? She was sayin’ about how she wanted to try to get back topside. Now I see why.” He fixed Bunny with a sympathetic look that wrung her heart.

“I need to get in,” she pleaded. “I wanna bring her back with me.”

“She was wonderin’ if you’d inherited her gift,” he smiled, shaking his head. “I’ll have to tell her. She’ll be pleased.”

Bunny tried to reach through the bars on reflex, but her hand wouldn’t pass through the gap. Seemed as if she couldn’t touch a soul on the other side of the fence. But she could talk to them.

“Do you know where I can find her?” she asked. Desperation had a firm grip on her nerves, and she widened her eyes as she stared at the man. “Can you bring her to the fence?”

He shook his head sadly. “No can do, kiddo,” he said apologetically. “I’d have to go find her, and then by the time we got back here, you’d be busted by the old lady.” He nodded emphatically in the direction of Roberta’s desk down by the gate.

“I need to get in,” Bunny pleaded, getting closer to the bars so that she could whisper without being overheard. “I think I have a way, but I’ll never get past Roberta.”

The man paused, pressing his lips together thoughtfully. “Unless…” he mused.

“Unless what?”

His brows lifted and he straightened his shoulders. “I could distract her for you.”

Bunny felt a rush of gratitude well up inside of her. “Really? You would do that?”

“Sure,” he drawled, swishing his hand in a ‘no problem’ gesture. “Nothin’ in this life or the next like the love between a mother and her daughter. I could do with scoring a few brownie points, if you get my drift.”

Determination settled into Bunny’s bones, strengthening her resolve. She wasn’t about to look a gift distraction in the mouth. “Okay,” she nodded. “Thank you. I need you to get her away from the gate.”

The man grinned again. “That’s easy,” he winked. “Be ready.”

And then he vanished into the mist.

Bunny waited for what seemed like an age before she started to slowly creep along the fence line. She wanted to be close enough to make a break for the gate when the opportunity arose, but not too close she would get caught by Roberta. She came to an abrupt halt when the mist got thin enough that she could see the woman tapping away on the strange typewriter at her desk. Or at least she was—until an unearthly screech echoed through the lobby from the other end of the fence.

Roberta’s head snapped up and she stared directly in Bunny’s direction. For two heart-stopping moments, Bunny stood frozen to the spot, not daring to move or even breathe. And then Roberta wheeled in her chair to face the direction the noise had come from.

“Fucking hell beasts,” she complained bitterly. “‘Let them out for regular walks,’ they said. ‘It will be good for them,’ they said. Yeah well! No one thought about how much noise they would make, did they? And who’s the one who has to make them stay away from the damn fence?”

She pushed her chair out, her face twisted into an aggravated grimace as she pulled some kind of nasty-looking electrical prod out of the top drawer of her desk. She tucked it into the leather belt she was wearing around her tea dress before she set up her ‘Back in 15 minutes’ notice.

“Me, that’s who. Third time this week. Absolutely ridiculous…” She stomped off, her kitten heels echoing through the mist as she left her post to deal with the situation.

The coast was clear. It was now or never.

---