"You guys ready to order?" Before they spoke, she waved at another table. "One minute."
"Actually," Burnett spoke up, "we're here hoping to get some info on a Cara M., a waitress who-"
"Oh." She walked away.
"Oh, what?" Burnett frowned as she took off. She stuck her head through the door and called out, "Hey, Cara, someone wants to talk to you."
Burnett, Holiday, and Derek all turned and looked at Kylie.
"She can't be alive," Kylie said. "Trust me. She's dead."
Then a pretty blond, with a name tag that read CARA M., walked out of the back. "She looks alive to me," Derek said. "And even kind of hot." He blushed.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Kylie opened her mouth to speak, but didn't have a clue what to say. Or do, for that matter.
"Hi, Cara," Derek spoke up, glancing at Burnett as if making sure it was okay to take the lead. Burnett nodded and Derek continued. "We wanted information on a Cara M."
She pointed to her name tag. "I'm Cara M. M for Muller."
Kylie studied the waitress's face and tried to compare it to the spirit. It wasn't her. Was it? Kylie played emergency recall in her memory but could only envision her long blond hair and blue eyes. Which this girl had, but ...
"I'm sorry," Derek said. "We were under the impression that Cara M. no longer worked here."
"Well, I'm still here. Been here since I was fifteen, over two years. Why?"
"Is there another Cara M. who worked here?" Kylie tried not to stare, but feeling desperate to discover the truth, she couldn't stop herself.
"No." The girl looked at Kylie. "What's this about?"
Kylie noticed that the waitress's name tag had come unpinned and barely clung on the uniform. "What happens if you lose your name tag?"
Cara cut her eyes toward the back of the restaurant. "The manager has a freaking cow."
"And what would you do to prevent him from having a cow?" Kylie leaned forward.
"What do you mean?" Cara asked.
"She means, do you ever loan your name tag to one of the other girls?" Derek asked.
The waitress leaned closer as if afraid someone might hear. "The boss hardly notices. But I don't understand why you want to know this." She smiled at Derek as if ... well, as if he was some cute guy and she was some cute blonde. Which she was. Which he was. A frown pulled at Kylie's lips.
Holiday touched the girl's arm. No doubt to send her some calming emotion in hopes of encouraging her to answer. "Have any of your waitresses just ... disappeared?"
Kylie saw Burnett tilt his head, listening for a lie, and Kylie did it as well.
"They quit all the time. The owner can be a real jerk." Cara spoke the truth.
"Has anyone just left? Never officially quit?" Holiday asked.
Cara paused. "Yeah, there was a girl like that. A Cindy something. Can't remember her last name."
"Did Cindy ever borrow your name tag?" Burnett added his voice to the conversation.
"Was Cindy a blonde?" Kylie tossed out her own question.
"Yes," Cara said to Burnett, and then focused on Kylie. "And yes. Why?"
Between Holiday's casual touches on the girl's wrist and Derek's flirty smiles, the girl answered all their questions about Cindy. Before she walked off, Burnett asked if her manager or the owner of the restaurant was here.
Cara grew nervous. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Burnett assured her. "But can you let her know I need to talk to her?" He pulled out his wallet and flashed his badge. Kylie wasn't even sure what the badge meant to humans, but it didn't seem to matter.
Cara's color paled. "Oh, shit. Did something happen to Cindy?"
Yeah, Kylie thought. Something happened. Something really bad, too.
* * *
Before leaving, Burnett had the name Cindy Shaffer and a copy of the resume she'd filled out with her emergency contacts. When he sent the info to FRU via his phone and asked for the driver's license, they answered within a few minutes. When he showed Kylie the image of a smiling young blonde, tears filled Kylie's eyes. It was her. And Cindy Shaffer would never smile like that again.
While Burnett spouted orders over the phone for someone at the FRU to contact the Shaffer family, Holiday ordered some cinnamon rolls. They arrived, hot and covered with gooey white icing. Derek ate two, Holiday nibbled on one. Kylie and Burnett picked at their pastries with even less enthusiasm. Even with Kylie's stomach grumbling, she couldn't stomach the taste. That, and she kept seeing the image of the smiling Cindy.
"Are you drinking your meals?" Holiday asked Kylie in a low voice.
"Not regularly, but I'll start." She didn't look forward to it.
Burnett paid for the breakfast. As they walked toward the car, Kylie got the feeling again that someone was watching her. She swung around and saw a male figure disappear inside one of the stores. She'd barely gotten a glimpse of a shoulder and arm, but she recognized those appendages.
Kylie shot across the street.
"What is it?" Burnett's feet ate up the pavement right beside her.
Kylie stopped in front of the store. Her gaze flew to the large carved wooden sign that read PALM READER. She reached for the door. "I thought I saw someone."
Burnett grabbed her, his eyes now green in protective mode. "Who?"
Kylie heard Derek call her name from the other side of the street. "Let me find out." She rushed inside the store.
Burnett rushed in with her.
The first thing Kylie noticed was a voodoo doll hanging from the ceiling with pins in it. The second was a foul odor. She slapped her hand over her mouth and nose. Even while wanting to gag, she searched the room for the man she'd seen enter the building. When the place looked empty, she glanced back at Burnett.
"Garlic." He frowned. "Just breathe it in; the reaction will fade. It doesn't kill us."
"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind a counter in the corner of the room.
Kylie forced herself to pull her hand from her mouth and looked at the woman dressed in a brightly colored, loose-fitting dress that had con-artist-pretending-to-be-a-clairvoyant written all over it. But just to confirm her assessment, Kylie checked her brain pattern. Human-but shady looking. Definitely a con artist.
Kylie tilted her head to the side to hear if anyone else was in the old house. Not a sound. No one breathed inside these walls but the three of them, and Kylie still wished she didn't have to breathe. The smell crawled down her throat. She focused on the door. Where had the man gone that she'd spotted rushing inside? Noting that the backdoor stood slightly ajar, she tuned her ears to listen for anything outside. If he'd left out the backdoor, he was gone now.