Twin Speex: Time Traitors Book II Read Free Page B

whom.”
    “Okay…” He raised his eyebrows, prompting her.
    “After Baxter’s call, I went to the house. This was last Sunday,” she explained. “Before I could cross the street, I saw Ivy come out. Something about her posture… I don’t know… furtive-like, stopped me from calling to her.” Ettie had been staring off into space, but now focused her gaze upon him. “So I followed her.”
    He laughed a little. “Don’t tell me, you jumped into a cab and yelled ‘follow that car!’ ”
    She looked at him smugly. “Here’s the thing, Odell, she didn’t take the town car.” Ettie leaned in closer as if imparting a shocking piece of news. “She just waved to her driver and walked past.”
    He opened his eyes wide in surprise. “She walked?”
    “Not only did she walk, she took the subway,” Ettie declared dramatically and was pleased to see him sit back in surprise.
    “I don’t believe it,” he replied flatly. “She never takes the subway. Not since we were kids.”
    “Well, she did. And I followed her. She got off the train at Astor Place.”
    “Bowery?”
    “Yeah. And it gets even weirder.” Ettie turned to him, her eyes intense and serious. “I thought she was headed to the Bowery Hotel, but she turned onto Second Street and then into this little alleyway. I was afraid she would see me for sure, but she never once looked back.”
    Odell could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, and he had a general sense of foreboding.
    “There was a gate in a high brick wall, and she just walked in. I waited a minute before poking my head around. It was a walled garden or park or something—”
    “A cemetery,” Odell informed her, “The oldest nondenominational public cemetery in the city.”
    “There weren’t any tombstones, just some monuments,” Ettie protested.
    “They are gravesites. But mostly there are underground vaults marked by plaques.”
    “How do you even know this?”
    He shook his head. “Don’t ask.” Then he quickly redirected her back to the story, “What happened next?”
    “I really hate your mysterious crap,” she huffed before continuing, “Well, she met a man there. I mean, a really strange man. He was tall and dark with all this long, black hair. He looked… impassive—like he was carved from stone.”
    “You didn’t recognize him?”
    “No, I’ve never seen him before in my life.” Ettie met his eyes with that intensely concentrated look she typically reserved only for her dancing. “Odell, he wasn’t just strange, he was…,” she struggled for words, “…almost alien.”
    “Ettie…” He reached for her hand.
    “I know it sounds hysterical, but something is not right. I couldn’t get close enough without being seen, so I didn’t hear what they were saying. But, Odell, the look on her face—love… adoration. I’ve never seen her look like that before.”
    Odell let go of her hand and drew a little back. “How long was she there? Where did she go afterwards?”
    “She was with him five, maybe ten minutes. I hid between the wall and the building when she left.” Ettie shook her head. “But I didn’t follow her. I wanted to see where he was going, so I waited.”
    Odell looked at her expectantly.
    “He never left, Odell,” she said, her eyes intense with meaning. “I waited and when he didn’t come out, I went in.”
    He tensed imperceptibly at her recklessness. Ettie never reacted well to his brotherly efforts to protect her. He schooled his features into a noncommittal expression and asked, “Did you find him?”
    “No, he wasn’t there. It’s a small place. I could see the entire pa—cemetery.” She gazed out the window and drew in a deep breath. “There must be another exit, but I didn’t want to go in too far. No one was around, and I was a bit nervous about running into him alone.”
    Odell gave silent thanks for this small concession to caution, and they sat without speaking for several minutes.
    “What’s going