Darynda Jones - 07 Seventh Grave and No Body by Darynda Jones

Author:Darynda Jones [Darynda Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

“A wine, please.”

“Ma’am, this is McDonald’s.”

“Okay, a McWine, please.”

— MCDONALD’S DRIVE-THROUGH, 2 A.M.

I let the scalding water wash over my aching head while dodging a stray departed animal that was part Rottweiler and part waterfowl. Sharing a shower with a hundred-pound Rottie was not my idea of sterile, even if she was incorporeal. And there were safety concerns. I could slip and break something vital.

Alas, Artemis didn’t care. She jumped on a stream of water as it splashed against the tub floor, her ears cocked and ready. She growled at it, focusing all her attention on stopping the rogue water stream when another popped up and demanded her immediate attention. The water surged right through her, of course, but she didn’t seem to notice as she pounced, growling to give it a stern warning. To give them all a stern warning. No splashing allowed! So it is written. So shall it be done.

Just when the throbbing in my head had dulled to an excruciating but nonstabbing ache, a shrill voice sliced through the air straight to the center of each and every pain synapse Barbara had.

“Someone stole my body!”

Oh, my god. I slammed my lids shut and gritted my teeth in agony. She’d scared Artemis off, too. The big baby.

The offending woman stuck her head through the shower curtain. “It’s gone! You have to find it!”

I scrubbed my face and turned off the shower. Clearly the day was going to proceed as usual: hectic and slightly bizarre.

“Do you remember where you last saw it?” I asked her, reaching for a towel.

A young girl – perhaps sixteen, with shoulder-length hair dyed the dull color of charcoal – stood back and let me dry off before answering.

However, the second I slid the curtain aside, she started in. “You have to find it. I think my ex-boyfriend stole it. He was cray-cray.” Her clothes were modern and a touch dark, so she couldn’t have been dead very long. And the slang would suggest a recent death as well.

“Okay, but really, where was it when it was stolen?”

She blinked at me. “In my grave at the cemetery. Where else would it be?”

“Oh, so you’re not an unsolved homicide or anything?”

She held out her wrists, her shoulders rounding as she tucked her chin. Several cuts marred her perfect skin. A few were deep enough to sever the arteries, and blood streaked down from them and over her palms.

“I’m sorry I did it, if that helps. I had no idea what it would do to my family.”

I wrapped the towel around me.

“I’m going to hell, aren’t I?”

“No, hon. If you were going to hell, you’d already be there. Don’t even get me started on that all-suicides-go-to-hell crap. There are always loopholes. Extenuating circumstances, so to speak.”

“That makes sense. I was adopted. I don’t know anything about my birth parents, but I think they were crazy, too.”

“You think you’re crazy?”

“Yeah, but not like drama queen crazy. I mean like literally. I could never keep my head right, you know? I could never keep facts straight or remember things like others could.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.