The Departed Read online

  And she was smiling.

  It wasn’t precisely a child’s smile, although there was naïve innocence to it as she stared at Dez. “You’re in bed with my brother.”

  Dez winced. This was a first. She’d never had to face a ghost in her birthday suit, even though she had a sheet tucked around her. She didn’t want to speak, either, for fear of waking him. Trying to communicate silently with her ghosts had never been that easy for her, for some reason.

  Her brow puckered as she focused her thoughts, pushing them outward.

  Yes. We…well, I got kind of lonely in this big old house.

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Yeah.” She stood up and wandered around, pausing to glance down at Taylor. Goose bumps broke out over his arms. Dez pulled a blanket up over him, hoping he wouldn’t wake. The stress of everything had finally dropped down on him, so he might sleep through this. Might.

  “I think I can go now,” Anna said, shifting her gaze to Dez. “Things feel…different. I feel different.” She reached out a hand, let it hover over him. Sadness turned her pretty face dark and the room’s temperature plummeted. “He can’t see me, can he? Not at all?”

  Dez shook her head. No. You…She licked her lips, hesitating. You know how you felt the lady’s pain? It’s a gift you have. Mine is seeing people like you. Taylor’s got a gift as well. It’s just different from ours.

  “He kept me me.” She reached up and touched her chest. “Sometimes, especially when Mother was really sick, it was awful. But all it took was for Taylor to be there, and it made it better. He kept me me. Does that make sense?”

  More than you know. Dez smiled. He loves you. Misses you. But he wants you at peace, baby.

  She nodded. “I know. I want him happy. Tell him that. And tell him I love him…”

  Her fading was quiet, gentle. Dez closed her eyes against the tears, but it didn’t keep them from falling. And only heartbeats passed before Taylor shifted in the bed, his lean body stretching. The rough material of his cast scraped against her arm and she glanced down, saw him staring at her.

  His eyes were ridiculously awake, ridiculously alert. Sighing, she reached down and brushed his tousled hair out of his face. “Nobody should look that awake without the benefit of coffee,” she said, her voice husky with tears.

  He said nothing, just reached up to wipe the tears away.

  She caught his hand. “Anna’s gone.”

  He closed his eyes and turned his head.

  “Taylor?”

  * * *

  AT the soft, worried sound of her voice, Taylor looked back at her. The tear tracks on her face gutted him. “I don’t even know what to say.” He sat up, pulling her close, although she still wasn’t close enough. Finally, he ended up hauling her onto his lap, with her legs draped on either side of him. That was better, he decided. Resting his head between her breasts, he said it again, “I don’t know what to say. I…hell, I’m glad. I wish I could have said good-bye, but I seem to chase your ghosts away.”

  “She was your ghost, too.” Dez combed a hand through his hair.

  “My sister. Your ghost. She called you here.”

  “I think we were both intended to be here,” Dez said. “Both of us. Because I think it was my connection to you that made everything here stronger, different. If it hadn’t been for you, I think I would have helped Tristan, Ivy…and then I would have left. I never would have known about Anna. She just wasn’t strong enough to pull at me after all this time—not without that connection to you.”

  He shrugged, restlessly stroking a hand up her naked back. “She’s gone…”

  “Yes.” She leaned back, forced him to meet her eyes. “She saw you. Recognized you…and she wanted you to know she loves you.”

  He closed his eyes. “Fuck.” His arms tightened around her and, once more, he nestled his head against her chest. Anna…she was gone. He blew out a breath, determined he wouldn’t break over this. She was gone—at peace. Finally. “Do you think we’re done here, then?”

  “Yes.” She combed a hand through his hair, wrapped an arm around his neck. “Your mother…hell, there’s nothing of her here. It’s just emptiness. I think she was too weak to leave even an echo. Your father, I don’t feel him, although I don’t think it’s weakness on his part.”

  She stroked her fingers along his shoulder. “He made his own peace with it…maybe he had some inkling what you were doing with your life.”

  “He knew I was going into criminal justice.” Taylor sighed. “But he died before I had any clue where I’d go from there.”

  “Maybe that was all he needed. But there’s more than just an emptiness here now. There’s peace. You can let it go, baby. You can move on.”

  She leaned back and cupped his face in her hands. “It’s time you did just that. Whether it’s back to the bureau, or whatever. You’re bringing your sister home. You’ll lay her to rest. And then you need to let go. Move on with your life.”

  He closed his good hand around her wrist. A strained, sad smile curled his lips. “Dez, I already did that. I did that the night I went chasing after you.”

  Her heart flipped over in her chest as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. “You did, huh?”

  “Yeah.” The hand on her wrist stroked downward, curving over her waist. “You’re my life…and I moved on to you. I love you.”

  “Hmmm. I love you.”