I don’t know where the damned sunglasses are.
She appeared a moment later, rage upon her face.
“That hurt,” she spat the words at him.
“Kind of the point,” Shane answered. He finished his cigarette and field-stripped the butt, watching her as he did so. “I mean, if it didn’t hurt, would you be inclined to listen to me?”
“I’m not inclined now.” She picked up a lamp and hurled it at him.
Swearing, Shane caught it, not wanting any noise to alert the officer outside. As he did so, the flicker of blue lights caught his attention, and he was forced to jerk aside as Miriam threw herself at him, hands outstretched, fingers curled.
Dropping the lamp to the couch, he let out a grunt as one of her hands grazed his chest and caused pain to flare up. He swung an angry backhand at her and caught the tip of her head with his iron. The dead woman vanished.
Where the hell are her damned sunglasses? he thought, turning around slowly, trying to think of where they might be as he waited for her to turn up.
Movement at the corner of his eye alerted him, and he deflected a clumsy attempt to knee him in the groin. She howled as the iron struck again and she vanished.
Great, he grimaced, straightening up. If I were an idiot and I stole a pair of sunglasses, where would I hide them?
Miriam appeared a short distance away from him.
“Why don’t you just get out of here, huh?” she snapped. “Why don’t you mind your damned business?”
Shane shrugged. “I’m nosy. That’s all.”
“I don’t like you.”
The voice came from behind Miriam, and both she and Shane looked over in surprise.
Eloise stood there, her hands clasped in front of her, her right foot tapping, and, despite the desiccated nature of her flesh, an undeniably disgusted expression on her face.
“You came into my house,” Eloise stated, the anger in her voice growing. “My house! You tried to hurt Carl!”
A strange energy pulsed through the room, and it felt as though electricity rippled through Shane’s body.
“What are you going to do, you snot-nosed little brat?” Miriam laughed. “Wait, what nose?”
Eloise screamed, and the house shook.
No! Shane thought. The cop, Eloise!
But a glance out of the window showed the vehicle was gone.
The flashing lights, Shane thought. He must have been called away.
“Why don’t you lock her up, Shane?” Eloise asked, stepping toward Miriam.
“I don’t know where her damned sunglasses are,” Shane answered, and then he swore as Miriam hurled a decorative plate at him.
“Those are bad words, Shane Ryan,” Eloise scolded.
“Bad words?” Miriam laughed. “Why don’t you come closer? I’ll show you something bad, you dried-up little monster.”
“You can’t feel where her sunglasses are?” Eloise asked with genuine surprise.
“No, Eloise, I cannot,” Shane said, keeping his voice calm. “If I could, I wouldn’t be wandering around trying to figure that out.”
“Well, I can,” Eloise responded.
“Don’t even think about telling him,” Miriam ordered.
“The jacket,” Eloise told him, motioning toward a coatrack by the back door. A single jacket hung from a hook. She looked at Miriam. “What will you do now?”
“You’re not taking my sunglasses. You can’t!” Miriam shouted. She stepped between Shane and the coatrack.
“Oh, I can,” Shane smiled. “Isn’t that great? I’m going to bring you to the water. Help you travel, just like you wanted.”
“That’s not how I want to travel!” the dead woman yelled. Her eyes darted from Shane to Eloise and back to Shane. “Come on,” Miriam said in a wheedling voice. “Let go. Just, you know, drop me off somewhere. Lots of young guys around, maybe a bar or something? Please?”
Shane didn’t speak. Instead, he walked forward.
With a cry of desperation, Miriam attacked, her arms flailing, her kicks short and ineffective.
Shane didn’t bother moving out of the way. He moved in close, taking the weak blows on his arms and striking her with his elbows and stiffened fingers. The iron didn’t touch her.
Shane didn’t want to send her back into the sunglasses. He wanted to hurt her.
“Do you need help, Shane?” Eloise asked, taking a step toward them.
“Nope, but thank you,” he answered, driving a knee into Miriam’s thigh and knocking her aside. Again, and again he hit her. Desperation filled the dead woman’s face as she was forced back to cower against the coatrack.
“Stop!” she howled. “Please! Let me go!”
“No,” Shane answered and punched her in the mouth with everything he had. The iron connected as she cried out, and she vanished. Panting with anger, Shane tore the jacket down and ripped the sunglasses out of the pocket. She reappeared for a brief moment, but it was too late.
Shane pulled the small, lead-lined container out of the front pocket of his sweatshirt, opened it, and, as Miriam Shaw let out a scream of rage, he dropped the sunglasses in, snapping the lid closed.
The dead woman vanished, and he slid the container into his pocket once more.
Eloise looked up, waggling a thin finger at him.
“You could have been hurt, Shane Ryan. That would have made Miss Jacinta sad.”
He laughed, shook his head, and crouched to look into the dead girl’s sunken eyes.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out and taking her cold dead hands into his own. “Thanks, kid.”
“A kid is a baby goat,” Eloise stated. “I am not a kid.”
“No, but I like to call you a kid because you’re cuter than a baby goat. But, seriously, Eloise, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, her voice filled with joy. “We should go and see Carl. He is very worried about you.”
“Of course, he is,” Shane mused, straightening up. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and slipped out the back door of the home, closing it softly behind him.
Chapter 46: On the Ocean
Friday, 9:00 AM
The smell of the ocean filled his nose, and the spray of saltwater struck both him and Jacinta. He tightened his grip on her, and she smiled up at him.
“You know,” she observed, “that bruise looks like crap.”
“You should have seen it Tuesday night,” he told her.
She raised an eyebrow. “Mío, it’s Friday. What the hell did it look like then?”
He shrugged. “You probably don’t want to know, but you can ask Carl about it.”
“Oh, I will,” she replied. Then, going up on her tiptoes, she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. “So, we going to see any whales?”
“That’s what they said,” Shane grinned.
“And if we don’t?”
“I’ll sink the ship.”
“No!” she laughed, shaking her head.
“Well, the offer is there, if you feel slighted by a failure to observe any whales frolicking in the Atlantic,” he replied.
They were alone on the port side of the ship as someone spoke over the intercom. Most of the others were gathered near the bow, looking out for any sign of the whales which were promised. Shane reached into his coat pocket and drew out the lead-lined case that imprisoned Miriam Shaw.