"I'd answer her," Della said to Perry in her snarky voice. "She might go after your ears again if you don't."
Chapter Five
"I don't know what happened." Perry moved in closer, his eyes brightening to emerald green.
"How could you not know?" Kylie looked to Burnett and then Holiday, waiting for one of them to pipe up. When they didn't, she refocused on Perry. "You were following them." Suddenly, the guilt she spotted on his face did a flying leap and landed right on Kylie's own shoulders. If something really bad had happened to them, it was her fault. She'd been the one wanting to contact them. But damn it, she'd been so sure it was the right thing to do.
"They disappeared," Perry said. "One minute they were driving down the freeway in that silver Cadillac and then, poof." He waved his hands out in front of him. "They were gone. Cadillac and everything. Gone. Poof."
Kylie's chest grew heavy. "People, human people, don't just go poof." She managed to keep her voice low, but her frustration laced the tone with sarcasm.
Then the truth hit. She only thought people didn't go poof. Not too long ago she didn't think people could turn into unicorns, or that vampires and werewolves existed. She wouldn't have thought she could use her dreams to communicate with people or that she could break down a concrete wall. So who the hell knew if people went poof or not? And if they did go poof, did that mean...?
Kylie's stomach knotted. "Are they dead?"
Holiday frowned. "Let's not start assuming-"
"We don't know," Burnett interrupted. "I have agents working on finding out, though. The agency is sending me pictures of the Brightens any minute now. At least then we'll know if they were impostors."
Burnett's phone rang and he snatched it up. "What you got?" His expression hardened. "That can't be. I checked them this morning." He paused and eyed Holiday, who moved closer to Burnett's side.
Della leaned over to Kylie. "The cameras aren't working." Her sensitive hearing had obviously picked up both sides of the conversation.
Footsteps sounded on the cabin porch and Kylie looked up as Lucas stepped through the doorway. His gaze found hers, his concern for her reflecting in his eyes, and he stopped beside her. His arm brushed against hers, and she felt his warmth. The memory of his kiss flashed through her head and she felt a little guilty about sharing it with Miranda and Della.
Kylie saw Lucas glance at her two roommates and nod. It wasn't an overtly friendly nod, either. Kylie had heard that werewolves were pretty standoffish, and she supposed it was true. Other than Lucas, Kylie hadn't really befriended any of them at the camp.
"Did Burnett get the pictures of your grandparents yet?" Lucas looked down at her.
"Don't know." She found herself staring at his blue eyes. For just a second, she wished she didn't question what she felt. Wished he weren't another unanswered part of her life. It would feel so good to just give in. So, why didn't she?
"You okay?" He mouthed the words more than spoke them. She nodded but wasn't so sure how true it was.
"Then someone tampered with them!" Burnett paced across the living room. "Have you gotten the Brightens' DMV records yet? I want to see a copy of their licenses to determine if they're who they said they were." He tightened his jaw muscles and glanced up at Kylie. Empathy for her flashed in his eyes, but it faded within a flicker of a second. Showing emotion, even a glimmer in his eyes, seemed too much for him.
Everything about the man looked hard and dark. And he seemed to like it that way. He had black hair, olive skin, and a body rippled with muscles that kept most men at a distance and most women his age wishing he'd get closer. Kylie saw Holiday studying Burnett and amended her last thought. In spite of the obvious attraction that ran deep between them, Holiday wouldn't let Burnett get close.
"I don't understand what takes them so long," Burnett snapped at the caller. "It's as simple as pulling records at the DMV. I could have done it myself by now." He released a deep, frustrated sigh. "Just send them as soon as they come in." He hung up, dropped his phone into his shirt pocket, and looked at Holiday.
His eyes tightened with frustration. "Someone tampered with our cameras. I checked this morning and everything was working. Conveniently, they went down about an hour before the Brightens arrived. I think we know what that means."
Burnett glanced at Kylie. She knew he thought the Brightens were impostors. And maybe she should be hoping he was right. Because that would mean that it wasn't Daniel's adoptive parents who'd gone poof on the highway. But Kylie wanted proof. Proof of who'd gone poof.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and fought an oncoming headache. "When do they think they'll get pictures of the Brightens?"
"Any time. If they know what's good for them." Burnett's deep voice sounded sincere.
Kylie found herself praying Daniel's parents were okay. That they weren't the couple who'd visited earlier. But even so, she wasn't sure she was emotionally off the hook. Impostors or not, she wasn't sure the elderly couple deserved to ... She stopped herself from mentally pronouncing them dead. Poof didn't necessarily equal death.
The back of Lucas's hand brushed against the back of hers. Somehow she knew the touch was deliberate and meant to comfort her. And it did.
Burnett's phone beeped. He yanked it from his pocket, pressed a button, and stared at the screen. Glancing up, he held the phone over to Holiday. "Is that the couple that was here?"
Holiday looked at the screen and then at Kylie. "No. That's not them."
It wasn't that Kylie didn't believe her, but she had to see for herself. She stepped over, took Burnett's phone, and stared at the two images side by side. An elderly, partly balding man and an older, gray-haired woman with bright green eyes gazed back from the phone's screen.
"These are the Brightens?" she asked.