Read Kissed by Smoke for Free Online

on a hunt.
    Inigo was pacing the room, frowning.
    “You get anything?” I asked.
    “No,” his tone was filled with frustration.
“There are too many imprints here. Too many lives have passed
through. I can’t get a fix on anything.”
    “Not even a violent death?”
    He gave me a look. “There’s been more than
one violent death in this room. And we’re not even sure Agent
Vega’s death was violent.”
    “Craptastic.”
    “Tell me about it.” Inigo went back to
pacing the room.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a
flicker. A wisp of something white like smoke or fog. I turned my
head but whatever it was vanished. A puff of air caressed my cheek,
stirred my hair ever so slightly.
    I frowned and touched my cheek. Must have
been imagining things.
    “When did they find his body?”
    Trevor spoke up, face grim. “Two days ago.
The maid turned up around ten in the morning to do her cleaning.
When no one answered the door, she went in. Found him in the
bathroom in a pool of blood.”
    “And before that? When was the last time
anyone saw him?” I kept scanning the room, taking in the faded
bedspread and the stained carpet, but I was coming up blank.
    “Not sure. The desk clerk says she saw him
about lunchtime the day before. He was in his car, headed out. She
didn’t see which way he turned. I can’t find anyone who saw him
after that.”
    “Okay.” I gave the room a last once-over. I
could feel it, something tugging at me. I just couldn’t put my
finger on it.
    “Uh, Morgan.”
    I turned to Inigo. He had the oddest
expression on his face. “What?”
    “Your amulet is glowing again.”
    I glanced down. Sure enough, the sapphire
was giving off a soft blue glow. Honestly. Did I not have enough
crazy in my life without throwing more magical weirdness into the
mix?
    “Not important.” I tucked the amulet inside
my shirt to hide the glow. “What is important is focusing on the
task at hand. I don’t think we’re going to get any more information
here. Do you know where they’re holding the body?”
    Trevor nodded. “The local funeral home.”
    “The funeral home?”
    “Yeah. There’s no morgue in Madras. The
County Medical Examiner does the initial examination at the funeral
home. If he’d ruled it suspicious they’d have transported the body
to Portland for an autopsy. Since it was ruled suicide, there’s no
investigation. The body stays here until his family claims it.”
    We headed outside and I waited while Trevor
locked up the room. “Can you get me into the funeral home?”
    “Shouldn’t be a problem. Security around
here is a joke.”
    I raised my eyebrows at that. Both of them
since I can’t do the whole Spock thing. “A government agent
breaking and entering? I am shocked. Truly.”
    “Watch it, sis, or I’ll dunk you in a snow
bank.”
    I stuck out my tongue at him. “You were
ordered not to make waves, Trev. I don’t want you getting into
trouble.” I was a free agent. I could pretty much do what I wanted.
He couldn’t. Not if he wanted to keep his job.
    “I’ll be fine.” The look of determination on
his face reminded me of someone I knew. Quite possibly me.
    “Trev … ”
    “I’m going with you, Morgan.” The tone of
his voice told me that was the end of the discussion as far as he
was concerned. I barely resisted the urge to growl.
    “Fine. Let’s go visit the mortuary.”
    It’s not every day you get to say something
like that.
    ***
    The funeral home was out toward the airport
on the outskirts of town. It was a chunky, red brick building with
cheap wooden columns painted white to give it that “Colonial” look.
I swear every other funeral home in the state had the exact same
facade.
    “It’s broad daylight and you want to break
into a funeral home?” Inigo gave me a look usually reserved for
crazy people. “Why don’t we wait until tonight?”
    “Because we’re not going to break in.
Besides, I need to get back to Portland tonight.”
    “Why?” He