Page 45 of The Bones in the Yard

They both just stared at me.

“Fuck that,” was what Ward said first.

“Agreed,” Beck added.

I blew out a breath. “Sorry, kids, but this elf is not dragging you into whatever hell-hole prison cell they’re going to put me if this goes tits up.”

Ward crossed his arms over his chest. “Hart…”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m not saying that I’m not going to chase this, but Iamsaying that I’m not going to take you with me.” I glanced over at the scowl on Beck’s elegant features. “Any of you.”

“Hart—” Ward began again.

“Let it go, Ward,” Beck interrupted, setting her hand on his shoulder, her dark eyes meeting mine. “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”

“Back from where?” I asked her, surprised.

“Middletown.”

“The fuck is in Middletown?”

“Some stupid Civil War site,” Ward muttered.

“Belle Grove Plantation,” Beck answered. “They’re trying to locate all the dead on the property as a part of their historical reclamation program. Mason went out this morning, so we’re meeting him there.”

“And I’m holding down the fort?”

“You and Rayn, yes,” Ward answered.

Great.

Rayn’s… odd. The kid was getting better at interacting with people, but he and I speak two totally different languages, and whenever Ward or Doc isn’t around to clarify things, we both tended to end up very confused.

We did better if we just didn’t try to talk to each other. Which should be easy enough, since nobody was going to come in to see me, and everybody else was gone.

“Call if you need anything,” is what I said to Ward.

He pressed his lips together tightly and nodded.

I took a deep breath, trying to decide if what I was about to say was going to be supportive or fucking stupid. I decided to say it anyway. “I’m going to get these assholes.”

Ward nodded again, but the tension in his jaw eased just a tiny bit. “Good,” he said, and his voice made it clear that my normally extremely nice boss was fully prepared to unleash the dead if it came to that.

I wasn’t going to object if he did. And not just because he could fucking end me if he so chose.

Beck put her hand on his shoulder. “We need to get going,” she said, her tone apologetic, although whether that was directed at me or at Ward, I wasn’t sure.

After they left, I got to work.

* * *

By two o’clock,Rayn and I had successfully spent several hours avoiding each other. And then I heard the distinctive chime of the front door followed by Rayn’s voice.

“Welcome to—eep!”

An ‘eep’ was not a good sign.

I got up and headed for the lobby.

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