Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
Had he just hugged a ghost?
Xander was trying not to lose his shit, but he was teetering on the edge.
So he did what he always did when he was having an anxiety attack or an emergency. He fed people.
“Who needs a muffin while we wait for Mark?” Mark was the chief of police in Secret Springs, but he also worked for the State Police, so he could totally handle the removal of the bones. Colton was an archaeologist by education, and they had the geologist, so everything would be carefully arranged.
“Send down some muffins!” Mason called.
He had stew he would heat up for lunch, and bread, and Xavi was there to help…
“Are you okay?” Iago asked, coming to wrap both arms around his waist while Xavi delivered muffins on the rope down the mine shaft.
“I have no idea. I mean, that was up close and personal.” The poor lady had poofed right out of his arms, but he’d felt her agony. He’d also felt her relief that it was over. She’d found him.
But the whole experience had left Xander shaken.
“Well, you did great. She was… she was so angry. And sad. You really helped.”
“Thanks.” He nuzzled Iago’s hair, so freaking glad he was safe. “Do you need a muffin?”
“I think we both do. A little sugar. Can we make something to drink too?”
“You know it.”
They were making coffee—decaf for Iago— and hot chocolate when Mark Gonzales breezed in, his uniform perfectly starched, his hat in his hand, his black hair still very coifed. “I hear we have a bone removal situation?”
“Yeah.” Gent came to shake his hand. “Colton is qualified to do the in situ pictures and bone analysis needed before you send them to the lab.”
“Good deal. Shit, I have to go down there?” Mark’s dark brown eyes twinkled, and he ran a hand over his face.
“If you want to see everything in person and sign off on it, yeah. We have a pulley situation. Just put your foot in the loop on the rope.”
“Okay, down the hatch.”
He passed hot chocolate to Xavi, and the three of them sat at Iago’s monitors and watched while they nibbled muffins and drank sugary drinks.
Mark went down the shaft, Gent making sure he had a smooth trip, and it seemed to blur after that. There was lots of shouting directions to and from Colton and the guys, and another State cop showed up with a bunch of bags and tags and boxes.
When they called out that they were bringing up the body, Xander moved, his feet taking him back to the dining room where he put the stew on the hot plate to heat up and waited.
A cold breeze touched the back of his neck, and he shivered, but he got it. “We’ll make sure to put him with you. We’ll find you, and we’ll do it. I promise.”
He knew he was making wild promises, but he would keep this one. She had to be buried around here if there were such meticulous records about her and the house, and if the historical society had enough of her stuff to produce a diary.
So they would start looking once this was all taken care of.
Mark came up first, and then the box, which he set on the worktable Xander still had set up. He shivered, the knowledge of what was in that box and what had happened to him giving Xander a dose of heavy dread. Oof.
Mark’s smile was dim and tired. “People suck sometimes. Even olden days people.”
“Yeah.” He eyed the box. “Will you bury him here?”
“Yep. I already talked to the state lab and told them I’ll be on them like fleas on a hound. They’ll have to process the bones, but then he’ll come back here. You guys find out where, okay?”
Iago was right there suddenly, hand slipping into the crook of Xander’s arm. “We will.”
“Cool.”
Gent helped the other cop, whose name was Officer Reynolds, out of the mine shaft, and she dusted off her uniform. “Well, that was fun. Always a good time, Mark.”
“I know. Thanks, Gina.”
She grinned. “And don’t worry. I’ll stay on the lab, too.”
A hard breeze blew through the kitchen, which sent a piece of paper floating down off the cabinet they’d moved that started this whole mess. Just like in that weird book movie with Johnny Depp… The Ninth Gate or something.
Mark grabbed it before it hit the floor, peering at it. His eyes widened, and he placed it on the table. “I’ll need a new pair of gloves for that. Hank would kill me if I got too much finger oil on it.”
“What is it?” He and Iago came to stand around the table along with Officer Gina.
“It’s the deed to the house, the one the mine owner turned over to him, to the sheriff. Not the one in the will to Helena.”
“Wow. Wow so he really did sign it over to the sheriff.” Iago was staring at it with wide eyes.
“Which is what caused the guy to come kill him, I guess.” Xander shook his head.
“That sucks all the way around. The sheriff and Helena. It sucks for the family of the guy who did the deed. And we might have gotten it sucked for us with my arm because he would have had to have gotten a new sheriff in here to let the fallout of the murder.”
“Yeah, word has it that he was an asshole just like his daddy was,” Gent told them, waiting by the mine shaft opening for the next person to come up.
A soft bubble of feminine laughter sounded, making Gina and Mark jump and glance around. Looked like Helena agreed with that.
Why wouldn’t she? From what they’d pieced together, the mine owner was at fault for the whole situation…
“Okay. I’ll get these bones to the lab.” Gina looked around at the air. “And we’ll bring him back.”
Then she grabbed the box and hurried out of the house.
“And I have a mountain of paperwork to fill out thanks to you all.” Mark clapped him on the back. “You owe me supper at the hotel.”
“Just call the ladies and let them know when.”
Mark nodded before calling out his goodbyes and leaving too.
“Now what do we do?” Xander asked, looking at Iago for some kind of guidance.
“You feed people. And I find out where Helena is buried.”
That sounds totally reasonable, baby.” And he meant it, because those were their jobs. So that was what they did.
They’d found Helena— and her baby— not in the main Hot Springs Junction graveyard by the old meeting house, but in a small, super old burial site that had belonged to the mine.
Iago stood staring down at the stone that held her name and baby Ursula’s, tears just streaming down his cheeks. “That’s so fu— So sad.” He had to remember Law was filming this. They wouldn’t put the actual burial on the show or anything. Just the grave and some voiceover.
“It is.” Xander held his hand, and he knew his lover was thinking what he was. They were having a baby, one who had almost a one-hundred-percent much better chance of surviving childbirth than Helena and her little girl had.
“You have to wonder if he’d still been alive, would she—”
“We can wonder all we want,” Colton said softly, “But life was tough back then, regardless.”
“True.” He sniffled, then took the tissues Mason handed him. “At least they’ll be together again now.”
Gent grunted. “And we’ve got a commitment from the county, thanks to Hank, to put this cemetery on the historical places listing and make sure it’s maintained.”
“Team Colorado Ghost Hunters for the win.” He let the tears dry up in their own time. “Thanks for making sure the bones got back here, Gina.” It was late August, and that was sooner than he’d expected.
“Not a problem at all.” Gina gave him a somber smile. “I wanted to see it done, too.”
“Yeah, it’s good to have closure. I hope this gives it to Helena and her sheriff, you know?”
“I do.” She scanned the cemetery. “And I’m real glad we got the county to commit to cleaning this up and maintaining it. These people deserve that kind of dignity. No one wants to be forgotten.”
“Does anybody want to say a few words?” Colton asked.
Xander squeezed his hand and he got it. Xander wasn’t much for making public speeches, so he probably wasn’t going to be the one even though these people were from his house.
“I will.” Gent stepped forward. “Thanks to a terrible set of circumstances and to an awful crime, these three human beings were separated from each other even though there was a great deal of love to try to keep them together. We hope you all rest in peace now where you can be as one.”
That should have been super-cheesy, because it really sounded like something that was scripted for the show, but at the same time it wasn’t.
It was exactly the right thing to say. Iago didn’t know if everyone else noticed it or not, but he felt like someone heaved a huge sigh and that the air around them settled as if someone was finally relaxing their tired body down.
“Okay, hopefully that’ll help you out with your renovations Xander.” Colton grinned and clapped Xander on the shoulder. “And with everyone’s permission, including Helena, we would love to put this on the show.”
“I want to see the final cut before it goes live,” Xander said. “But otherwise I’m in.”
“You know we’ll be sensitive to everything. You’re a friend not just a client.”
Xander raised his hand as if to thank Colton a little bit. “Yeah, I know that. You guys have been great to me. I really, really appreciate it. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to deal with me sometimes.”
“You are a surly bastard,” Mason winked. “But we’ve gotten to like you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Law teased. “I still think he’s a butthead.”
“Jeez, you guys are hard to please. Why don’t we all head up to the hotel, and I’ll make everybody lunch?”
Iago bit back a smile. Xander could always win people over with his food, so that was what he was trying to do.
“Why don’t we just go back to my place?” Colton said. “We’ve got plenty of stuff for you to cook for us, and that way we can all just relax. You don’t have to go to work today, right?”
“Actually, I don’t.” Xander grinned sheepishly at them. “I kind of figured this was going to be emotional, so I took the rest of the day off.”
“Good deal. Let’s do it.” Colton hooked an arm around Sebastian and started toward the cars.
“You guys go ahead. We’ll be right there.” Iago grabbed Xander’s arm and held him back. When Xander raised an eyebrow, Iago just shook his head slightly, waiting for the others to leave. They got a few curious looks, but everybody slowly moved away until they were alone at the grave site.
“What’s up, baby? Is something wrong?”
“I just wanted to have a moment with you here.” He waved a hand in the air, feeling a little silly now. “I guess I just wanted to say I hope this is right, Helena. I hope you and Lefty are together now and you’re happy.”
The breeze stirred the grass and weeds and leaves on the ground the minute Iago was done talking. Oddly enough it smelled like hot stew and warm bread and lemon, like someone had used lemons to clean. It was a strange scent for a graveyard, and Iago thought he got it.
“See she’s telling us that they’re home now.”
“Probably at our house,” Xander griped, but he was trying to fight a grin. It was obvious the way his lips were twitching. “As long as they stop throwing things at us, and you’re safe, I’m happy.”
Iago put his hand over his belly, because if there was one thing he’d figured out, it was that neither Helena nor Lefty were ever going to hurt a baby. “I think we’re all going to be safe now.”
“That’s all I can ask for.” Xander kissed the top of his head. “You ready to go? I’m thinking I might make soup.” Xander’s tone was heavy with irony.
“And maybe bread?” He had to giggle at that. And if he heard an answering bit of soft laughter that didn’t come from Xander, well he wasn’t going to tell anybody about it.