By a Thread (Elemental Assassin #6)

By a Thread (Elemental Assassin #6) Page 4

Bria opened the gate, wincing at the loud creak it made, and stepped inside. I followed her. My sister walked slowly, her eyes fixed straight ahead. All around me, the granite gravestones whispered with low, mournful notes, echoing all the heart-wrenching sobs and quiet tears that folks had cried here for their lost loved ones. I heard the same hollow, empty sounds whenever I visited Blue Ridge Cemetery, where Fletcher and the rest of the Snow family were buried.

Bria finally stopped in front of a simple marker that spanned two graves. Coolidge flowed across the top of the gray stone in an elegant script, and a small heart had been carved in between the two names below. Harry Coolidge. Beloved husband and father. Henrietta Coolidge. Beloved wife and mother.

The marker gave the dates of their deaths, which had been a couple of years ago. Bria didn't talk about her adoptive parents much, but I knew that her dad, Harry, had been a police detective and her inspiration to become a cop as well. He'd died of a heart attack, while her mother, Henrietta, had been hit and killed by a drunk driver a year later. They'd been good people, and they'd loved Bria just as much as I did.

Bria knelt and picked a few dry, brittle leaves off the smooth grass before arranging the forget-me-nots on the two graves. White flowers for her mother, blue for her father - the colors made a pretty contrast against the lush greenery. She fussed with the stems and petals for several minutes, until they were arranged just so, while I stood still and silent behind her. These were her parents, this was her grief, and I didn't want to intrude.

Eventually, my baby sister wiped away the tears that had slid down her cheeks and got to her feet. She turned to face me, her blue eyes full of memories, love, and sorrow.

"I thought you might want to see their graves," Bria said in a quiet voice. "Besides, Callie's working right now, and I didn't want to come here alone."

I just nodded, not sure what I should say to Bria, not sure what I could say to make things better. The sharp edge of grief might dull with time, but it never truly went away. The cruel blade was always in your heart, just waiting to be twisted in again at a moment's notice and remind you of everything and everyone you'd lost. I knew that better than anyone.

Bria had done what she'd needed to do, so she headed toward the gate, her steps slow and her shoulders slumped. I stayed behind, giving her some space, and waited until she was out of earshot before I looked down at the two graves.

"Thank you for watching over her," I said in a soft voice. "For taking care of and protecting and loving her when she needed it the most."

I knew it was silly, but I said the words anyway. I didn't know if Harry and Henrietta Coolidge could hear me wherever they were, but they deserved my thanks, even if I was the only one who'd ever know that I'd given it to them.

"Gin?" Bria called out in a soft voice.

I turned and walked toward the cemetery gate, leaving the quiet shadows behind.

Chapter 3

We walked to the convertible in silence, and Bria drove us back out toward the edge of the island. I'd thought we'd go straight to the hotel, but she surprised me by turning into a sandy lot that faced the ocean about a mile from the Blue Sands resort.

The unpaved lot fronted a restaurant made out of weathered boards. The wood might have been a soft blue at one time, but the wind had blasted it with so much sand over the years that the building was now a pale, washed-out gray. Several fiberglass picnic tables done in bright shades of electric blue squatted in the sand outside the ramshackle structure, while a neon sign the same color burned above the screen door. One by one, the letters lit up to form the restaurant's name - The Sea Breeze - before a tube lit up around them all, forming a clamshell.

I eyed the blue clamshell. The sign reminded me of the heart-and-arrow rune that glowed outside Northern Aggression, my friend Roslyn's nightclub in Ashland.

"Does an elemental run this place?" I asked. "Because that's a rune if I ever saw one. That clamshell. It's a symbol for hidden treasure."

Dwarves, vampires, giants. Most magic types used a rune to identify themselves, their power, their business connections, and even their family alliances. Humans used runes too, but the practice seemed to be the most common among elementals.

For the first time since we'd left the cemetery, a smile creased Bria's face. "Nah, she's not an elemental, but Callie owns this place. The clamshell is her idea of a joke, of saying that her restaurant is a buried treasure just waiting to be discovered, like a pearl inside an oyster, although everyone on Blue Marsh already knows just how good the food is. C'mon, I told her that I'd swing by for dinner tonight, and I'm dying for some of her hush puppies. They're amazing."

My sister got out of the car, and I followed her. It was after six now, and the dinner rush was on. Lots of folks must have had the same opinion Bria did about the food because cars filled the sandy lot. I could see a dozen people eating outside at the picnic tables and even more crammed inside through the porthole-shaped windows. Waitresses bustled back and forth from the restaurant, through the rows of tables, and inside again, each one carrying white platters filled with shrimp as big as the palm of my hand and lobsters as long as my arm.

As much as I liked cooking, seafood wasn't really my thing. I supposed because shrimp and the like reminded me too much of the crawdads I used to catch as a kid in the creeks in the woods that surrounded Fletcher's house. Crawdads were slimy little suckers with sharp, nasty pinchers, and they'd made my fingers bleed more than once over the years. Deep-fried or not, I had no desire to stuff one into my mouth.

Bria wove through the crowd before pulling open the screen door and stepping inside the restaurant. I followed her and stood by the door a moment, taking in the scene before me.

The Sea Breeze was just what its name implied - a seaside joint with the island decor to match. Sand dollars, starfish, and spiked sea urchins preserved and mounted inside glass cases hung on the walls, along with thick fishing nets, spears, and even a few cracked oars. A wooden counter with polished brass railing ran along one wall, but what caught my eye was that a long, skinny boat had been placed on top of the counter, its hull sinking into the wood like it was bobbing along on top of the ocean. The boat then formed a bar where people could sit, eat, and drink. Clever. It matched the rest of the weathered interior and looked like something right out of The Old Man and the Sea, which was the latest book I was reading for a summer literature class that I planned on taking at Ashland Community College.

The inside of the restaurant was just as crowded as the outside, and we had to wait several minutes before two seats opened up at the end of the bar. The bartender came over, took our food orders, and mixed up a couple of drinks for us - a mojito for Bria and a gin and tonic with a twist of lime for me.

Bria put down her menu and looked at the bartender. "Tell Callie that Bria's finally here and to come say hi when she has a minute, okay?"

He nodded and pushed through a set of double doors, stepping into the back of the restaurant. Bria swiveled around on her stool so that she could look at all the folks enjoying their food. A smile curved her lips, and her blue eyes misted over with memories. It was obvious that she loved the restaurant and felt at home here.

I didn't begrudge Bria her trip down memory lane, but I couldn't help but be a little hurt by it. My sister had never looked so happy and relaxed at the Pork Pit - not once.

"Callie and I grew up together in Blue Marsh, and we were inseparable as kids," Bria said. "Her family's owned this restaurant for three generations now. I probably spent more time here as a kid and playing on the beach outside than I did at my own house. I think I told you about her once, about how you reminded me of her."

Bria had talked pretty much nonstop about Callie Reyes the last few days, ever since we'd decided to come here for a vacation. From everything Bria had said, I knew that Callie was more than just her friend, that Callie was like a sister to her - the sister I wasn't.

Callie was the one Bria had grown up with, the one she'd laughed and giggled and gossiped with. Callie was the one who'd held Bria when she'd cried over the deaths of her parents. Callie was the one who'd seen to the funeral arrangements and made sure that Bria was okay afterward. Callie was the one who'd always been around when I hadn't.

I respected Callie's role in my sister's life, was glad that she'd always been there for Bria, but part of me couldn't help but be jealous of the other woman as well. Of course, I couldn't tell Bria that, not without making things worse between us than they already were - especially not now when I was in the other woman's restaurant, in her gin joint.

"Of course, I remember," I said, my voice a little colder than I would have liked. "You told me all about how you lived in Savannah awhile before your foster parents moved out to Blue Marsh when you were ten. I remember everything you tell me about your life down here."

Bria eyed me, picking up on my hostile tone, but before she could call me on it, a waitress came over with our food - a steamy plate of shrimp scampi with a basket of deep-fried hush puppies for Bria and a Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich with thin, crispy sweet potato fries for me.

"Consider this meal on the house, Detective," a soft, feminine voice said. "Although maybe I should make you wash dishes for your dinner."

Bria's eyes lit up at the sound of the other woman's voice, and she swiveled back around on her stool. "Callie! It's so good to see you!"

Not just a waitress, then. Bria hopped off her stool, and the two women shared a long, tight hug. Callie drew back, holding Bria at arm's length, and I got my first good look at my sister's best friend.

Callie Reyes was a petite woman with a curvy body that looked strong and sexy at the same time. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek French braid and was such a dark brown that it almost looked black underneath the lights. Her skin had a lovely golden tint to it, while her gray-green eyes glittered with warmth, confidence, and intelligence. All put together, she was a beautiful woman, despite the simple white T-shirt and khaki cargo pants that she wore underneath a long blue work apron. I eyed the well-worn cotton. It could have been a twin to the aprons that I always wore at the Pork Pit, right down to the grease stains that covered the front of it.

Bria gave her friend a critical once-over, then sighed and shook her head. "You're just as gorgeous as ever."

Callie smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're one to talk, blondie. I remember how crazy you used to make the boys back in high school and then in college too."

The two friends started talking, their words mixing and overlapping as they gossiped about all the boys they had dated and all the other people they knew in Blue Marsh and beyond. It only took a second for me to see just how much the two of them cared about each other, just how close they were. Hell, they even finished each other's sentences.

"Do you remember that time that the Loudon twins - " Callie started.

"Asked us to go to the senior prom with them?" Bria chimed in. "Of course! Best double date of my life, despite the fact that they wore those awful powder blue tuxedos."

They looked at each other, smiled, and laughed.

I sat on my stool feeling awkward and out of place. Three really was a crowd in this case.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I almost forgot. Let me see that rock on your ring finger," Bria said, grabbing Callie's hand and holding it up to the light. "It's massive!"

Callie laughed and fluttered her fingers, making the not-so-small square-cut diamond on her left hand sparkle. "I told you that I've been busy since you left town. You were the first person I called after I got engaged last week."

"You know that I wouldn't have it any other way." Bria squeezed her friend's hand. "I'm so thrilled for you."

"Thanks. I've never been happier."

Callie finally noticed me watching them, and her eyes flicked from me to Bria and back again. "Hey, who's your friend?"

Friend? Bria and Callie talked all the time, from what my sister said. Surely, Bria had told her about me - right?

Bria hesitated. She sat back down on her stool to buy herself a few more seconds to answer, and I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind as she decided exactly what to say about me. "This is Gin, my . . . sister."

Callie frowned. "But I thought that all your family was dead. Your foster parents and your birth family."

Bria gave her a tight smile. "I did too, until a few months ago. Things have . . . changed since then."

Well, I supposed that was one way of putting it. I stared at Bria, but she wouldn't meet my eyes.

The seconds ticked by, with only the conversation of the other diners and the clatter of their dishes to fill in the silence. When it became obvious that Bria wasn't going to offer any more explanation about who I was and where I'd come from, Callie cleared her throat and held out her hand to me.

"Please forgive me for being rude and not introducing myself. Callie Reyes."

"Gin Blanco." I shook her hand. She had a strong grip, and her fingers were warm from the heat of the kitchen.

"Gin?" she asked.

I held up my gin and tonic and shook the glass, rattling the ice cubes and slice of lime inside. "Gin. Like the liquor."

"I see. So what do you do, Gin? Are you a cop like Bria is?"

Bria gasped and choked on the hush puppy that she'd just popped into her mouth. She made a few strangled sounds before she was able to swallow. Looked like my nighttime activities were something else Bria hadn't told her best friend about.

Callie frowned. "Are you okay? Do you need some water?"