“I don’t know how she did it,” Della said. “But don’t tell me it’s impossible. You saw the box shaking, and how the lid flew off and the picture came out.”

Burnett leaned his butt back on Holiday’s desk and wiped a hand over his face.

Della plunged ahead. “I think we should visit both sets of Natasha’s parents and find out which one is our Natasha. The ghost gave me this picture as a clue, I have to follow it.”

Burnett glanced back at the picture. “Who is the older lady in the image?”

Della tensed. “My aunt.”

“Couldn’t you just ask—?”

“No,” Della snapped.

Burnett studied her. “Why?”

“No.” She met his eyes and begged him to concede.

He exhaled. “Problem is, both these sets of parents think their daughters are dead. Showing up and asking questions is wrong.”

“We wouldn’t ask questions. Just see if one of the parents is Asian. Since we know our Natasha is mixed.”

Burnett didn’t appear convinced. “The parents could have divorced, or one of them died.”

“I know,” Della said. “But the photo was a clue and I think…” She hated saying it, but it had to be said. “It’s what the ghost expects us to do.”

“What do you mean?” Burnett asked.

“I don’t know. I just feel as if that’s what she wants.” And she did.

Burnett muttered, “Shit.” He paused and then said, “I’ll call and see if I can’t get the case cleared immediately.” He squeezed the back of his neck. “I’ve already called to see if either a Natasha Owen or Natasha Brian had a driver’s license. Neither did.”

Burnett looked at Della. “You go rest until I get clearance. You’ve been up since before three this morning and I doubt you even went to bed last night. You,” he looked at Chase, “go … wherever it is you go, and be prepared to hear from me. Meanwhile, I’ll see if Derek can find anything about either of these girls on the computer. The ghost might want you to go around asking questions, but I for one don’t love the idea.”

Della and Chase started out.

“One more thing,” Burnett said, and they turned around. “We think we know who Liam is.”

“How?” Chase asked. “There wasn’t a file on him.”

“I know,” Burnett seethed, sounding as if he remembered Chase’s breaking-and-entering oops. “But there was a missing person’s report on file with the HPD—a Liam Jones went missing three weeks ago. The report says he’d come down with a serious flu then disappeared. He lived a few blocks from the Anthonys’ funeral home.”

“So he was turned and somehow one of Anthony’s goons got ahold of him,” Della said.

“That’s the way it looks. I’d get another agent to look into it, but there were some problems in Dallas and several of our men are still cleaning up the mess there.”

“I want to work the case,” Della insisted. “The ghost wants me to work it.”

“Wants both of us to,” Chase said.

Burnett nodded. “I’ll get Liam’s information and pass it to you before you start.”

They turned again, and almost got out the door, when Burnett spoke out again. “Della? Can I have a second?”

Chase looked back, and frowned as if he didn’t like being left out of the loop.

“Go!” Burnett informed him.

Chase shot her a glance good-bye before leaving. Della, suddenly uneasy, stepped back into Holiday’s office.

Burnett listened to Chase leave before talking.

“Two things. First, is there an issue about your aunt that I should be aware of?”

Della frowned. “No. If I go to her and start asking questions, she’ll tell my dad and it … it could cause problems.” Amazing how simple that sounded, and yet how badly it hurt. “My dad already has zero trust in me, so any suspicious behavior would only make me look like more of a drugged-out problem child.”

Burnett nodded, not really happy, but apparently satisfied. “The other thing.” He paused, as if choosing his words carefully.

“What?” she insisted, the pause killing her.

“When I called you earlier to inform you about the information we’d gotten on Liam and you didn’t answer, I assumed you were with Steve. I called him and told him you had mentioned going to see him. I also told him that we had buried your cousin. He seemed upset that you hadn’t told him. You might want to call him.”

She nodded. Her stomach rolled over. How she was going to explain this to Steve? Oh, I was coming to see you, but Chase showed up, so I went to his cabin instead.

Oh, damn. It wouldn’t matter that nothing had happened. She’d be hurting Steve again. What was her other option? Lie?

No, if he found out, it would only hurt him more. And he’d think she was hiding it because … because she was guilty. She wasn’t guilty, so why was she drowning in the emotion right now?

Was it fair to keep doing this to him? The thought made breathing uncomfortable. But wasn’t he doing it to her, too? He spent Monday through Thursday in the vet’s office, working side by side with Jessie. Jessie, who wasn’t bonded to Steve, but definitely had the hots for him.

Realizing Burnett stood staring at her while she indulged in her mini pity party, she took a backward step toward the door. “Thanks … I’ll call him.”