Read Online Grave Echoes: A Kate Waters Mystery by Erin Cole - Free Book Online Page B

aside, despite the occasional ill-chosen word. When they finished discussing everything they could think of, Jack said they had to check in to their hotel.
    “I’ll be at the Marriott if you need anything.” He moved closer to Kate, his eye keen on her. “We do need to talk, just the two of us.”
    Though she didn’t feel like talking anymore, she knew they’d have to…eventually. It was just the two of them now. “I’m going to be pretty busy with Mt. Hood over the next few days, but I’ll call you.”
    “You still have my number?”
    Kate nodded. He gathered Louise’s coat for her, and then they headed out the door.
    David turned to Kate. “Hey, why don’t I give you some time to yourself and get us a couple of sandwiches up the road.”
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “Then eat it later,” he said. “You still need to eat, especially to keep up your strength for the climb up Mt. Hood.”
    Kate had forgotten about planning for her trip. David was right. She needed to stay strong, especially with her worsening narcolepsy.
    “Okay. Whatever you’re having is fine with me.” Kate gave him a kiss and then watched him leave on foot. She sat down on the couch and sobbed. There was nothing like mourning in private, when one could let the heart bleed aloud, and she did, until her throat felt raw and her mind went numb again.
    Afterwards, she felt lighter, awake… alive. She wiped her swollen face and collected herself off the couch, staring up at the wolf painting above the fireplace. Jev’s wild spirit had finally caught up with her, she thought. Now she truly was wild.
    With grief shifting to curiosity as she remembered the key she had found in Jev’s purse, Kate headed to the kitchen where she’d set it down on the table. She fumbled through the items at the bottom until she found it, turning it around in her fingers and marveling over its uniqueness, how it was nearly identical to the one she’d seen in her hallucination.
    “What do you open?” she whispered.
    She went down the hall to where a spare room and Jev’s bedroom were located. Kate imagined the key opened a chest, drawer, or a large diary book. She went to Jev’s bedroom first. Her bed took up the center of the room, quilted in a deep purple and taupe satin. Fancy beads and ribbons decorated the pillows on the bed and above it on the wall were three flowered pictures painted in similar hues. Kate touched Jev’s pillow, where she dreamt at night. It was soft and plush.
    In the far corner of the room was a window and a nightstand, furnished with nothing but a clock and lamp. Heaped on the dresser on the other wall were jewelry boxes, glass jars, rocks, candles, and a small Fica plant. Even with all of Jev’s pleasantries, the room still felt cold and abandoned. Kate sat on the bed, looking around, soaking in the unique space Jev had occupied in the world, and searching for something the key might open. There didn’t seem to be anything on the dresser. She checked the doorknobs and a book with a clasp on the front, but nothing seemed to belong to the key, so she left the room and went into the spare room across the hall.
    The dark cherry floors and periwinkle walls with dark blue curtains gave the area a mystic, peaceful feel. Jev had turned it into a craft room, equipped with a big table, sewing machine, rock tumbler, shelves full of books, plants, candles, and more rocks. As a geologist, Kate appreciated Jev’s rock collection for their composition and age, but Jev believed healing energy could be tapped from the stones. Kate smiled at the thought. She picked up one of Jev’s favorite opals. She couldn’t feel any magical energy—it just felt cold and hard in her hand.
    To her left were two large bi-fold doors. She pulled them open. Inside, more shelves were stacked with jars full of seeds and herbs, ceramic containers, dried flowers, essential oils, and a large wooden box at the bottom. The corners on the lid were scuffed and cracked. It