No More Secrets (Book 2)

13. Death Threats

The next day, Dylan wasn't letting me out of his sight. I knew something had to still be going on, either that or he was extremely paranoid I'd give myself away and we'd all be doomed to whatever fate the ghosts had in store for us. As much as I loved Dylan, I really didn't think it was necessary for him to have lunch at my parents' with me, but he came anyway.

He wouldn't leave my side, even inside their house. Not until my dad mentioned something about his car engine needing some work and Dylan, knowing more about car engines than I do, followed him down to the garage to take a look.

As soon as they had left, Stacy looked at me. "Dylan seems a bit attached to you today. More than usual. Everything okay?"

I nodded. "He just worries. Unnecessarily. I'm fine, really."

That began a whole other conversation about how I was feeling. I didn't know how many times I could tell them all I felt fine before they believed me. I really did feel fine. There's nothing wrong with me.

I was in the middle of chopping up cucumbers for the salad when Dylan entered the kitchen.

"Hey, babe," I said. "Just in time. Lunch is just about ready. My dad inside too?"

He shook his head. "Um... we need to leave. Something came up. I'm sorry, I know you wanted to spend the day here and everything."

"Oh no," Stacy said from the other side of the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"Just um..." Dylan nervously glanced back and forth between the two of us before his eyes finally settled on me. "Well the, uh, the wedding venue called. There's a problem and they need us to come in now to figure it out. Both of us."

I knew he was lying - we hadn't even chosen a venue yet - but Stacy clearly didn't pick up on it. "Well if it's a wedding issue, by all means go!" She put the stack of plates she was holding back into the cabinet. "You don't want to lose your reservation! Come back for lunch this afternoon if you can, but take care of the wedding issue first. It's much more important!"

Not even five minutes later, we were sitting Dylan's car. Neither of us said anything as he backed out of their driveway, my step-mom standing there on the front porch anxiously waving at us. I felt like she was more nervous about this wedding than we were.

"Do you want to tell me the truth now?" I asked.

He didn't say anything for a moment, letting the soft sound of the radio playing fill the silence. "She came back."

"I can't run every time she shows up, Dyl. She's a ghost. She could literally appear anywhere we go. There's no point in trying to hide."

Dylan made a sharp left turn, almost cutting off a driver heading in the opposite direction. I held on to the door handle, hoping he wouldn't get us both killed while he spoke. "She came to me. Threatened your life and your parents' lives. I needed to get you out of there or else she'd hurt you all."

He made another sharp turn. This time, the car behind us honked. "Dyl, you're going to get us killed if you keep driving like that." I glanced behind me, trying to see if the car that honked was okay. But instead of seeing the car, I saw the ghost woman sitting in the backseat, staring directly at me.

I darted my eyes to the right, hoping it looked like I was looking out the window instead of at her. "Hey, babe," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Does that car look like it's following us a bit too closely?"

"What? They're - shit." I looked at him to see him keep taking glances at the review mirror. "Yup," he muttered. "Way too close."

"Don't say a word, Dylan," the woman croaked in her raspy voice. "Let him know I'm here and I'll kill you both."

Dylan's knuckles tighten on the steering wheel. "You hungry, Trav? We can pick something up on the way home if you want."

How could I even think about food right now? But I knew he was trying to distract us both from the ghost in the backseat. Besides, it seemed pretty clear that we weren't going back to my parents' for lunch today. "Sure. Um... Why don't we get pizza? I can run inside and order one."

He nodded, probably glad I offered so that he could have a chat alone with her. I didn't exactly want to leave him in the car by himself, but I kept hearing his warning in my head. If I let the ghosts know I could see them, things would get worse.

A few minutes later, Dylan pulled into the parking lot of the local pizzeria. I hurried out of the car and went inside. I glanced back at him as I walked away to see him turned around in his seat and angrily shouting at the woman.

I just hoped this time she actually got the message.