Watch for the Dead (Relatively Dead Book 4) Read Online Free

in.
    “Not right now. Do . . . dead people sleep at night, like we do? Or are they just invisible?”
    “Ellie, I really don’t know, but it’s a good question. Look, your mom is on the phone, and she wants to talk to you.”
    “Okay,” Ellie replied without any emotion. “Downstairs?”
    “Yes.” Abby followed Ellie down the stairs and found Ned still on the phone.
    “Here she is,” he said quickly, handing off the phone to Ellie.
    When Ellie took it, she said, “Hi, Mom,” and then listened. Whatever Leslie was telling her went on for quite a while. Ellie didn’t ask any questions, but said “uh-huh” a couple of times. After a few minutes she handed the phone back to Abby. “She wants to talk to you again.”
    Leslie cut straight to the point. “I told her to behave herself and do what you and Ned tell her. I’ll stop by in the morning with some more clothes for her, on my way to the hospital.”
    “How much did you tell her?”
    “About George? Only that he can’t come home right away, and when he does, he’s going to have to take it easy.”
    “Okay, I’ll stick to that. Anything else I need to know about her? Food allergies? She hates baths?”
    “Nothing important. She’s not allergic to bee stings and such, and nothing like asthma. Just a normal all-around kid—except for that thing of yours.”
    Abby decided to ignore the dig. “Bring a bathing suit—we might find a place to swim.” Abby decided not to mention the Cape, since she wasn’t sure they’d actually go.
    “She should like that. Take sunscreen.”
    “Of course.”
    “Look, I’ve got to go. I’m exhausted, and I need to get some sleep before tomorrow morning. If I remember anything else, I’ll let you know then, okay?”
    “Fine. I’ll keep my cell on. Take care of yourself, Leslie, and let me know if you need anything else.”
    They hung up at the same time. Ellie hadn’t left the room, but was hovering around the corners, trying to look invisible. Abby took a wild guess and assumed that she wasn’t buying her mother’s “everything is okay” message. “You want some ice cream?” Good job, Abby—when somebody is upset, bribe them with sugar and carbs.
    “Okay,” Ellie said with little enthusiasm.
    Abby led the way to the kitchen and dragged out a gallon of ice cream. “Vanilla, I’m afraid, but we might be able to find something to add to it.”
    “Sprinkles?” Ellie asked with a bit more interest.
    “We’ll find out.”
    Abby insisted on eating in the kitchen, until she was sure that Ellie could handle sprinkles without spilling them all over the floor. It turned out not to be a problem. “Is Daddy really sick?” Ellie asked.
    Abby sighed inwardly. Clearly Ellie picked up on signals a lot of kids her age would miss. Heck, a lot of adults Abby knew would miss them too. “Sweetie, we just don’t know yet. I don’t want to pretend everything is fine, but I don’t want you to worry too much either. We’ll just have to wait and see. But your mother or I will tell you as soon as we know anything. All right?”
    Ellie nodded without comment, and turned her attention back to her ice cream.
    Ice cream consumed, Abby decided to skip the bath and put Ellie to bed. Ellie didn’t object, and even brushed her teeth when Abby found her a new toothbrush. In the bedroom, Ellie said, “You have any books?”
    Abby laughed. “Of course I do, although I’m not sure we’ve unpacked a lot of them. What do you like to read?” She was pretty sure there weren’t a lot of kids’ books in the house, but she’d been reading well beyond her grade level at Ellie’s age.
    “You have The Hobbit ?”
    “In fact, I do. Have you read it?”
    “Yeah, a couple of times, but I like to reread things sometimes. It’s a nice book.”
    “That it is. Do you want me to read it to you?”
    “No, I can do it myself. It helps make me sleepy.”
    “Then let me go find it.” Abby darted down the hall to the bedroom she and