Questions burst through my mind, exploding like fireworks on my tongue. Had Tan been with Denise before she died? Had they been caught in some sort of accident? Was Denise being treated at another hospital?
Before I could ply Tan with my inquiries, the door burst open and a tall man with pale skin and bright blue eyes stormed in. He took one look at Tan and cried out, his face crumbling like a pillar of rocks during demolition.
Despite the difference in skin tone, I sensed that the stranger was Tan’s father. That premonition was confirmed when he dropped to his knees by her bedside and grasped her hand in his.
“Dad, I’m fine,” Tan said. “Really.”
Her father’s wind-tousled blonde hair received another brutal brush as he raked his fingers through the strands and wept. The briny scent of the sea wafted from his shoulders. Was he a fisherman? Tour guide?
“Tanisha, what happened?”
“They say I got stabbed,” Tan said, her face was calm—a poor reflection of the trauma she claimed to have been through.
“Who would dare to stab my princess?” Tan’s father pulled his hands away from his daughter’s and fisted them in the air. He wore the expression of one ready to battle a legion of demons.
While the human father raged, confusion kept me frozen in place. What events had transpired tonight that would lead to Tan getting stabbed and losing her memory?
My instincts warned that Denise was involved, but I refused to accept the thought until I gathered more information. A seemingly impossible task with Tan’s father carrying on.
“I don’t know who stabbed me, Dad. Could you calm down? It’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?” He sniffed loudly and glanced around the empty hospital room. “Who else is in here that you would be embarrassed?”
Tan pulled her shoulders up and looked directly at me. Huskily, she warned. “There’s someone here.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Your mother said you've been diagnosed with amnesia?”
She nodded her head. “But the doctors say my memory could come back at any time. I just need rest.”
Denise’s disappearance weighed heavily on me, but for a moment, I was drawn to the picture of father and daughter—heads huddled close together and hearts at peace.
“It reminds me of the King,” I whispered.
“Shush!” Tan hissed.
I glanced toward her. Had she heard me when I’d spoken so quietly?
“What is the last thing you remember, sweetie?”
I inched closer to Tan’s father. “I’d like to know that too.”
Tan glared at a point to my left, but I knew the dirty look was aimed at me. A smile tipped my lips as I gazed at her. Now that her father was by her side, she had found courage.
“Everyone keeps asking me that, but nothing’s changed since the police rushed in here after my surgery. I don’t remember anything that happened after going to Cameron’s party.”
“Nothing? Anything you can give me will help,” I said, pleading for some kind of clue.
“I remember putting on my clothes and fixing my hair, but after that… it’s all a big blur.”
Tan’s father peppered her with questions and, caught up in his fervent energy, I too added my own.
“I don’t mean before the party. I’m more interested in what happened while you were there. Was anyone strange talking to Denise? Did she follow them out? Were there—?”
“Be quiet!” Tan yelled, holding her head.
“Excuse me?”
“No! Not you, Dad. Sorry about that. What were you saying? I couldn’t hear you since someone else was talking!”
“Sorry.” I clasped my hands in front of me. “I just… I messed up tonight and I need to make things right.”
“Is something wrong, princess? Do I need to get the doctor?” Tan’s father started to rise, but she shook her head.
“No. No, I’m fine. I’ve just… there’s an annoying bug in here. Keeps bothering me.”
“I resent that.” I blew out a breath. “I need you to send your father away so we can talk.”
“Can’t you see we’re having a moment here?” Tan snapped. “Leave me alone!”
“Honey!” Her father scrambled to his feet, his eyes filled with hurt. “A-alright. I’ll go talk to the doctor outside.”
“Dad, no! I wasn’t saying that to you!” As soon as the door closed softly behind him, she whipped around and glared. “Thanks a lot.”
“I’m over here.” I waved.
Her long hair flicked against her cheek as she moved her head in my direction and narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t working out. What do I need to do to get you to leave me alone? Exorcism?”
“See, that right there? That hurts my feelings.”
“I’m being serious.”
“Even if I wanted to leave you, I can’t. My beacon brought me here, which means that there’s something I need from you to locate Denise. As soon as you help me, I’ll be out of your hair.”
“I don’t know what happened to Denise either. I was supposed to meet her at the party tonight, but Mom said the police found me in a banana orchard with a stab wound. I was bleeding out and nearly died.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Tell me about it!” She groaned. “I hate bananas. Why would I be in a banana orchard?”
“Is that really the point here?”
The argument would have continued, but we were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Tan cleared her throat. “Come in!”
A nurse strode into the room with a police officer in tow. She looked around and seemed to stare right at me for a moment before moving on.
Strange.
Tan scrambled back when she saw the look on the officer’s face. “Is there a problem?”
“We found your friend,” the lawman said.
“Denise?”
“That’s wonderful!” I unfurled my wings, poising my fingers over my beacon.
“She’s dead,” the officer said.
My wings crinkled. “Slightly less wonderful. Terrible. Very terrible.”
My heart stopped in my chest as the full breadth of his words knocked into me. Denise Carballo was dead and I didn’t even know why.
Michael would kill me.
Comments (0)
See all