Reapers, Inc. - Brigit's Cross Read Online Free PDF Page B

them
from the highest peak their friends could find. Even in death, they
had mapped out the intent to always be together. Brigit stared hard
at the casket containing her body and frowned. The map had been
shredded, torn from Maggie’s hands before she could even realize
it. Brigit had suspected it would happen as soon as Maggie had made
the phone call to the woman she had never met.
    Her eyes rested on the woman sitting directly
in the middle of the family row. She wondered why her mother had
bothered to show. She wondered how, after so many years, Liana
Evans could suddenly have a care about any part of Brigit’s life –
or death.
    Actually, she didn’t wonder. She knew.
    Liana was hoping to snag the spotlight. She
would be the grieving mother who had lost her only child in a
bizarre accident. She would rue her actions as a homophobic mother
that had shunned her daughter for being an embarrassment. She would
lament her grief at never knowing how happy her daughter had been,
how strong she had been to make a choice that went against all the
rules of her conservative upbringing just to be happy with someone
who had filled her heart with so much love. Liana Evans, though,
would never admit that Brigit had truly been happy though. She
would eventually find some way to belittle the life Brigit had
shared with Maggie.
    Brigit imagined Liana at the dinner after the
funeral. What she imagined made her smile. Her friends – their
friends – would easily see through Liana. They had all lived
through their own hardships with the lives they had been born into,
with the paths they had walked to find their own peace and
happiness with their place in the world. Brigit smiled because she
knew that, standing behind her, were some bigger drama queens than
Liana Evans could ever imagine being.
    Brigit eyed her mother with amusement. Liana
was dressed well, meaning to draw attention to herself; but the
drama queens in the crowd behind her were in drag. Their glitz and
glamour having gone all out to show their celebration and
admiration for their friend lost too early. The sequins and feather
boas, the lipstick and beehive wigs, the broad rimmed ladies’ hats
brought more attention and festivity to the service than Brigit
could have hoped for. Today, they had Liana beat hands down.
    Brigit turned to her right and smiled faintly
as Mama Dee brought a handkerchief to her eye. She watched the
older woman dab away the tear and sniff lightly as the preacher
droned on the final words of the burial rite. Behind her, she could
hear the quiet sniffles of the people who had been her and Maggie’s
friends. In Brigit’s opinion, they should all be standing on the
family side – not the people who were sitting there.
    A movement in the trees behind the family row
caught Brigit’s attention and she stiffened. He was there, looking
the same as he had every day since their meeting in the alley
leading to The Black Cat Club. His hands were shoved in his
trousers and he had that infuriatingly patient look on his face as
he locked eyes with her. Brigit suddenly felt her anger spark as
the final words from the preacher reached through to her brain: ashes to ashes, dust to dust …
    Quickly, Brigit left the group surrounding
the grave and strode across the lawn toward John Blackwick. She
could feel her anger sparking in an effort to ignite as she
approached him. He made no effort to move despite the obvious look
of intent on her face. Instead, a gentle smile came to his face as
he waited for her to confront him.
    “What the hell do you want?” Brigit demanded
when she was within earshot of him.
    “A conversation, Brigit Malone, that’s all,”
he replied.
    Brigit stopped three feet from him, her hands
clenched into fists at her side. She wanted so badly to strike out
at him physically. She had the feeling, however, that it would not
wipe the smile from his face.
    “You’ve been stalking me all week. What could
we possibly have to talk about?”
    “I