by Deanna Chase
“Hello,” I said into the phone.
“Pyper Rayne?” the lawyer asked.
“Yes. How’s Charlie? Did the judge grant her bail?”
Sasha let out a tired sigh. “Yes, the judge set her bail, but she doesn’t have the funds to cover it or the assets to use as collateral.”
“Did you call Kane?” I asked immediately.
“Kane Rouquette?” she asked.
“Yes. He’ll cover it.” There was no question that Kane would do that for Charlie. She was family.
“She forbade me to do any such thing. Charlie doesn’t want him doing that,” Sasha said. “But she did give me permission to discuss the case with both of you.”
“So she’s refusing monetary help, but she’ll let us work to figure out what really happened?” I asked, slightly annoyed. Dammit, Charlie.
“That’s correct. Is there somewhere we can meet to discuss the details?”
“Sam’s house. There’s a ghost there who has some information for me.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “How about in two hours? I have to hold down the fort until my brother gets back from class.”
“Two hours it is,” Sasha said and then ended the call.
I tucked my phone back into my pocket and glanced up just in time to see Ivy staring at me, openmouthed. Her face had gone completely white, and if I wasn’t mistaken, her hands were shaking.
“You talk to ghosts?” she asked, her voice definitely trembling.
“Um, yeah. But don’t worry. They aren’t dangerous.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “Our resident one is more like a stand-up comic than the haunting kind. Always good for a laugh or two.”
“Um, oh. Okay.” She swallowed and then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. Then, without another word, she fled the café.
“I guess that one won’t be back,” Holly said.
“Doesn’t look like it.” I sighed. There was a reason I didn’t talk about Ida May with customers much. Sure, we had a write-up about her, but most people seemed to be content to read about her and not actually experience her. When some of them were confronted with evidence of actual ghost activity, they ran. And that wasn’t good for business. And even though we got plenty of people looking for a “real” paranormal experience, we couldn’t afford to run off the ones who were skittish.
“Ida May!” I called.
The ghost appeared almost instantly. What?
“I appreciate your fire, but next time try to tone it down, okay? I think you scared Ivy off.”
Nah. That one is running from other demons.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Beats me. She didn’t— Ida May tilted her head to the side as if listening to something. Gotta go. Stella needs me. Once again, my resident ghost disappeared into thin air, no doubt to save Stella from an overzealous Stanley.
I pulled out my phone and called Kane.
Chapter Seven
Two hours later, I found Stanley curled up, almost on top of Stella, when I went upstairs to collect him. Stella had her head on her paws and her eyes narrowed with what looked like irritation when I found them on the love seat. And as soon as I picked up Stanley, she jumped from the couch and darted into Bo’s room. The door slammed shut, and I almost laughed.
“Ida May, chill out. I’m taking Stanley with me. Stella will be free for a while.”
The door creaked open just enough that if Stella wanted to get out of the room she could, but Ida May didn’t appear or answer me. She didn’t have to. It was crystal clear that she didn’t care much for Stanley.
But I did. The moment I’d picked him up, he put his little head on my shoulder and let out a contented sigh. “You just needed a little love, didn’t you, boy,” I cooed as I petted him. “Don’t worry. Auntie Pyper has you now. You’re safe here.”
The pup let out the sweetest little whimper and relaxed against me, going almost boneless. My heart nearly melted right then and there.
But the moment I put the traveling harness on him, he tensed. And when I secured him into the back seat of my Bug, he howled. I got in the driver’s seat and headed toward Sam’s shotgun single. Much to my dismay, Stanley didn’t quiet down until I stopped the car in front of Sam’s place and rescued him from the apparent torture he’d been forced to endure. Who knew that being secured to a seat belt would make him flip out?
“It’s okay now, Stanley,” I murmured as I walked up onto the porch. “I’ve got you.”
Stanley! a familiar voice cried.
I spun, glanced over my shoulder, and spotted the gray-haired ghost barreling toward us. Stanley’s tail started to wag, and he wiggled to get out of my grip. “Do you see her, Stanley?”
His entire body shook with excitement, making it difficult to hang on to him.
Sweet boy! Ginny reached out for the pup, but her hands went right through him and me, leaving me ice cold.
I took a step back, pressing the dog to my chest, trying to give him some of my body heat.
Dammit! Ginny hovered near me, her hand outstretched as she did her best to pet the dog’s head. She couldn’t, obviously, but her eyes went soft with love, and her ghostly body seemed to sag in relief. At least you saved him from that horrible woman.
“Speaking of that horrible woman,” I said. “She seemed to think this dog was her meal ticket. Care to explain what that means? Did you leave a trust for this dog or something?”
Ginny scowled at me. What? Are you trying to collect or something?
I snorted. “No. Just trying to figure out what she was talking about. Do you have an heir who is supposed to take this guy? Or does he need a new home?”
Panic flooded her features as she pressed a trembling hand to her chest. Do not take him to a shelter. He’s afraid of cages.
I winced, remembering the too-small kennel earlier. If Ginny knew, I was certain she’d have a meltdown. “I won’t. We have a shih tzu at home named Stella. If Stanley doesn’t have a guardian, we’ll keep him.”
There’s no trust, she said with a sneer.
“I wasn’t expecting one. I just want him to be safe.” After finding Stanley in Maya’s horrible care, there was nothing I wanted more than to take the precious dog home and spoil him so rotten that he’d forget all about Cruella.
Ginny’s shoulders sagged in relief. Good. I was hoping I could count on you.
“Care to tell me what Maya was talking about in case she comes looking for Stanley? I don’t want to be caught off guard if someone shows up to claim this cutie.”
Ginny waved a dismissive hand. You don’t need to worry about that. Maya was talking about Al, my ex. He used to come by once a week to “visit Stanley.” She used air quotes around the words visit Stanley. Then she rolled her eyes. He was just there for regular sex.
I blinked at her, my arms tightening around the dog as I tried to process what she’d said. My brain was misfiring with the information that he was there to visit the dog for… sex?
Ew, gross, Ginny said sharply. Get your mind out of the forbidden forest. Al was there for me. The dog was only an excuse. He’s an important businessman and travels all the time. He has no space in his life for a dog. Trust me, he won’t be back no matter how much Maya prays for his return and his considerable bank account.
“Oh,” I said stupidly, still trying to wipe my mind clean of the recent thoughts. “That’s good to know.”
I bet, she said, eyeing me with interest. She tracked my hand that was running down Stanley’s back as I tried to keep him calm with my touch. So are you going to adopt my little guy?
“Yep. He and Stella are already fast friends,” I said with a smile, praying that was true. Stella had mostly tolerated him. Hopefully she’d adjust better once they had some time to sniff each other out.
Good. That’s good, she whispered. Pyper will take care of you, boy. And just think, your very own Stella for a girlfriend. Aren’t you a lucky bastard?
I put Stanley down on the porch and clutched his leas
h. “Ginny, can you tell me about the people who were here the night Sam died?”
She’d crouched down to be near Stanley, still miming petting him. At first she didn’t say anything, but then she glanced up and said, I don’t know who did it. But I know it wasn’t Charlie because I was with her the entire time.
I frowned, wondering about her connection to Charlie. “Why? How do you know her?”
I don’t. She, ah… well, I found her interesting. Not to mention it’s been over a month since I’ve had a cookie, and the ones she was making in Sam’s kitchen smelled divine. That’s what she was doing here. Helping Sam make cookies. Or at least she was supposed to be helping. Instead she ended up doing them all herself. Sam was… a little distracted.
“Interesting, huh?” I laughed. Charlie was most definitely interesting. Her gorgeous face combined with her flirty personality attracted all kinds of people: gay, straight, male, female, and apparently, ghosts.
It was the cookies, I swear, she insisted, but there was a sly smile on her face. Anyway, I’m the witness who says she had nothing to do with Sam’s demise.
“Okay,” I said, scanning the street for Sasha. The lawyer still hadn’t shown up, and honestly, that was probably for the best. Ginny was talking, and I didn’t want anything to disrupt her. “Care to tell me how you’re connected to Sam? Why were you here?”
She waved an unconcerned hand. I was besties with her grandmother and actually lived here at one time. It’s more comfortable to haunt this place than the apartment I lived in before I bit the dust. Tess, Sam’s grandmother, isn’t too stable, so I don’t see her as much as I want to, but when she is here and in her right mind, it’s just like old times. The ghost gave me a tender smile. Being dead doesn’t suck all the time.
Yikes. This conversation got heavy quickly. “I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say to fill the silence.
She nodded but didn’t answer.
I wrapped my arms around myself as a cold wind kicked up, then I dived in to get what I’d come for. “Are you ready to tell me what you know about the night Sam died?”
Nodding, she stared across the street. I don’t actually know much about what happened. What I do have are four names that Sam gave me right before she disappeared into the ether. Like I said, I was with Charlie, who only made cookies. We never heard anything, or saw anything suspicious or believe me, I’d have been right in the thick of things to save that sweet girl.
“Okay.” I pulled my notebook out of my back pocket. “I’m ready.”
Pamela, Kai, Adrian, and Tyler.
I scribbled the names down and then glanced back up at her. “And how do they know Sam?”
Pamela is her ex, and Adrian is her best friend. The other two? I’m not sure.
“Anything else you can tell me?” I asked, watching her closely for any clues that she was holding something back. But when she shook her head, her eyes turned sad and she looked truly upset.
Sam didn’t deserve to die. She was a beautiful girl.
“She was,” I agreed, wishing there was something else I could say to ease the ghost’s grief. But the only thing I could do was find the real killer and make sure they paid for their crime. “Thank you, Ginny. I appreciate your help.”
Ginny nodded, and her gaze remained locked on Stanley.
I stood there, letting the ghost have her moment until she slowly faded away like I knew she would. Ghosts only have so much energy to expend, and she’d used a lot.
“Pyper?”
I jerked my attention toward the street and spotted Sasha. She was in jeans, a green cable-knit sweater, and the cutest green leather boots I’d ever seen. Even dressed down, the lawyer looked like a million bucks.
I raised a hand and waved. “Hey.”
She hurried up the porch. “Sorry I’m late.” After reaching into the soft-sided case she was holding, she produced a piece of paper. “I was busy getting permission to search the house.”
“That’s good, right?” I asked.
“Very good. The police already conducted their initial search; now it’s my turn. Want to help?”
“Yes,” I said automatically.
“Good.” She produced a pair of latex gloves and handed them over. “We’re looking for anything that looks or feels suspicious. Obviously, a note or computer or traces of the drug used to kill her would be like striking gold, but those types of things never happen. It’s always a piece of clothing or extra toothbrush or even a borrowed book, et cetera, that ends up being the smoking gun. So keep your mind open and tag anything you think we should look at.”
“Um, okay.” This fact-finding mission just took a whole new turn. But if Sasha wanted my help, she was going to get it.
She produced a key and unlocked the front door. “Did your ghost show up?”
“Yep. I have a list of names, but I don’t know who they are, so I need to do some research before we can interview them.”
The lawyer paused and glanced back at me. “We?”
“Yeah, we. I have guides and other beings that can usually tell me if someone’s telling the truth.” I didn’t want to get in the lawyer’s way, but something in my gut told me I couldn’t just hand this information over. Since two ghosts had already contacted me, there might be more who would show up. And if they did, I was going to be there for it.
“All right,” she said with a thoughtful nod. “We’ll go over that after we’re done here.”
My phone started playing “Work” by Rihanna. “Gotta take this. It’s someone from the Grind.”
She nodded and moved deeper into the house.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said into the phone.
“Pyper?” Bo’s voice was high-pitched and urgent.
I tightened my grip on the phone, my entire body going rigid. Something was seriously wrong. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Julius. He was here and then—” His voice cracked and there was a slight hitch in his breathing.
“Bo? It’s going to be okay. Please, just tell me what happened,” I said, impressed I’d managed to keep my own voice calm even though panic had coiled in my gut and the blood had already started to pound in my ears.
“He… vanished.”
Silence stretched between us as I tried to process what my brother had said. Finally, I swallowed and asked, “What do you mean vanished? Like he left and didn’t tell you where he was going? Or he evaporated into thin air like Ida May?”
“Like Ida May,” he whispered.
My head swam, and I briefly wondered if I’d experienced a time warp back to when I’d first met Julius. He’d been a man who’d flickered between a human state and a ghostly one. But a time warp couldn’t be right. I hadn’t even known Bo then. Had the spell that had turned Julius human worn off? I needed to call Bea. I needed to get back home.
I needed to find my fiancé no matter what form he’d taken.
“Pyper?” Bo asked. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah,” I choked out. “I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Chapter Eight
“Where did you last see him?” I demanded the minute I burst into the café.
Despite the customer standing in front of Bo, he stepped out from behind the counter and engulfed me with both arms. “Are you okay?”
I held on to him for a moment, needing that human connection to steady me. But as soon as I stopped shaking, I gently pushed him back. “I will be just as soon as we find Julius. Tell me exactly what happened.”
Bo glanced over his shoulder at Reagan, who’d stepped in to ring up the customer Bo had ignored. “I’m taking her upstairs. You’ve got this handled, right?”
The café was usually relatively slow in the afternoon, and today was no exception. One person could reasonably handle the customer traffic for an hour or two. I didn’t like anyone working alone if we could avoid it.
“I’m fine. Go,” she said, concern radiating from her onyx-colored eyes. She looked
paler than usual, like she was shaken.
“Come on.” Bo wrapped his hand around my arm and started to guide me into the back.
“Just tell me what happened, Bo.”
“I will, but let’s get upstairs.”
I had no choice but to follow him up to our apartment. By the time I stepped through the door, I was ready to explode with anxiety. “Okay, spill it.”
Julius is a ghost again! Ida May was floating in the middle of the room, her eyes wide and her dark curls frizzier than usual. She looked frazzled and slightly insane. Ida May never looked anything but put together, and nothing scared her.
This version of her sent me reeling. “Ida May? Have you seen him?”
She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.
“Oh shit.” Tears stung the backs of my eyes, but I blinked them back. Falling apart wasn’t going to help anything.
“Ida May is here?” Bo asked.
I nodded and sank into the oversized chair, my head throbbing. The sound of dogs running across the hardwood caught my attention, and I watched as Stella and Stanley ran into the room. But instead of jumping on us like she usually did, Stella slowed to a walk and then lay down flat on the hardwood, watching us as if she knew something serious had happened and now was not the time to play. Stanley followed her lead and lay down right next to her
Bo knelt in front of me, taking my hand. “I already called Bea. She’ll be here within the hour.”
“Okay. Good call.” I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I was positive it came off as more of a grimace. “What happened?”
Ida May floated into the middle of the room, her arms jerky as she opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, clearly unable to verbalize her thoughts.
“Let Bo tell me,” I said to Ida May, doing my best not to panic. Ida May was doing enough of that for both of us.
“Okay.” Bo stood and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Reagan and I got a little bit of a rush, so I’m not exactly sure how it started. But this is what I know. I was busy making a large drink order for a customer. She wasn’t a regular, so I didn’t know her. But she was asking a lot of questions about Ida May; like did we really have a ghost, and could we prove she existed. Honestly, I was getting annoyed, so I called Ida May and asked her to tap on the woman’s shoulder.”