Stalked by Death

Alex walked to the mausoleum. “Maybe he put the body in here. You know, to keep it safe until we reburied it.”

Keep it safe? It was a corpse, not a lost puppy. I knew Alex was only trying to help and keep me calm, but there was no explanation for a missing body.

Alex opened the mausoleum and stepped inside. The window was still broken from when he and I had been trapped in there by zombies Victoria sent after us. I peeked in after him, knowing I wasn’t going to find a body.

“Nothing.” He stepped back outside.

“So, now what?”

“We talk to Tony.”

A weird feeling came over me, sending shivers down my back. “Alex, what if Tony decided to make his own living dead servant, like the ones Victoria had?”

Alex shook his head. “No way. Tony wouldn’t do that.”

What other explanation was there? “Let’s not ask him about it.”

“Jodi, you’re being silly. He’d never—”

“Humor me, okay? If Tony just moved the body, then he’ll tell us at di

“And if he doesn’t say anything?”

Then, we had a problem. I didn’t want to question Tony or think he would do something as evil as use the living dead to serve him. But he used to follow Victoria, and as an adult he could easily control one dead body. I couldn’t rule out the possibility, no matter how much I liked Tony.

Alex raised his eyebrows.

“Then we’ll keep searching for the body.” I left off the part where the first place I pla

“I don’t think we should mention this to Leticia or Randy,” Alex said.

“Definitely not.” I started for the mansion. “Leticia can’t handle anything else right now.”

“Are you going to talk to her about what happened this afternoon?”

I knew I had to, but it wouldn’t be easy. I wasn’t sure how to make her believe that I had faith in her. That I was only trying to protect her.

“I don’t want to say anything at di

Alex lowered his head, staring at his feet as we walked. “I guess that means we’re not hanging out tonight?”

“You could come by after the movie. I heard Aria

Alex raised an eyebrow and gave me a sly grin.

“I was talking about the cake.” I couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Okay, fine.” He stopped at the front door and spun me around to face him. “Just promise me that nothing is going to change tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Why would things change tomorrow?”

He wrapped his arms loosely around my waist and shrugged.

The insecure look instantly gave him away. This was about Chase. I raised my hands to his face. “Nothing will change between us.” I kissed him, and without knowing why, Chase’s picture came into my mind. I jumped, pulling away from Alex.

“What?”

“Um…” I couldn’t tell him the truth. I wasn’t even sure what the truth was. Why did Chase’s picture come to mind? “I bit my cheek,” I lied, raising my hand to my face.

Alex leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Better?”

“Much.” I forced a smile and went inside. I barely looked at Alex on the way to the dining room.

We were the last ones there. Tony and Randy were in the middle of a conversation over spaghetti and meatballs, and Aria

As Alex and I sat down, Aria

“It smells delicious, Aria

Aria

“Actually, I think we all could use a night off.” I twirled spaghetti onto my fork.

“Really?” Randy asked. “That’s awesome.”

Leticia didn’t even raise her eyes.

“Yeah, and, Leticia, I was wondering if you’d like to watch a movie with me in my room after di

“Oh, a girl’s night,” Aria

That was another reason I loved Aria

Leticia sighed. “Fine, but I get to pick the movie.”

“Great.” I smiled and ate my spaghetti.

Everyone chatted about pretty much nothing for the rest of the meal. I kept waiting for Tony to say something—anything—about the body in the cemetery, but he didn’t. As we were clearing our plates, I gave Alex a look. He understood it immediately and shrugged. I knew he thought Tony’s silence meant he was i

Alex and I were on clean-up duty tonight. I’d created a schedule so Aria

“You look cute in rubber gloves,” Alex said.

“You look cute with soapsuds on your nose.” I reached one glove up and dabbed soap on his nose.

Instead of wiping it off, he pulled me to him and kissed me, getting soapsuds on my nose in the process.

“Ugh, come on,” Randy said.

Alex and I separated.

Randy turned his head away from us. “Can’t you two ever stop with all the cute couple stuff? It’s nauseating.”

Alex used the dishtowel to wipe the soapsuds from his nose. “Admit it. You’re completely jealous that Jodi’s into me.”

“Whatever, man. Just wait until I’m out of here before you two start going at it again.” Randy put his plate on the counter and practically ran from the kitchen.

“What’s up with him?”

“Who cares?” Alex reached for me again.

“Alex.” I swatted at him with my wet gloves. “I have to meet Leticia in my room in ten minutes. We have to get this cleaned up.”

“Fine.” He grabbed another dish to dry, pouting in the process.

Man, he was even cute when he was pouting. I tried not to notice. If I was late for meeting Leticia in my own room, it would look bad. Like I didn’t really care about her. I had to let her know I wanted to help her and that I understood what she was going through.

We finished the dishes, and Alex walked me to my room. Luckily, I had two minutes to spare, and Leticia wasn’t in sight.

“See, plenty of time.” Alex leaned in to kiss me again.