Ghostly Despair (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 10)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “I can actually see that reaction and sympathize with it,” Jared said. “My problem is, the woman from that accident died in the same hospital you visited later that night. She was poisoned.”

  Quinn’s mouth dropped open. “What? Wait ... are you suggesting I did that?”

  “I’m suggesting you were one of the only people to enter that hospital after dark that night,” Jared responded. “It seems suspicious when you couple it with your hospital visit and a car accident rescue you don’t want to take credit for.”

  “What would my motive be?”

  “I don’t know.” Jared opted for honesty. “I can’t figure out what your motive would be. I can’t rule you out, though, either. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  “Well, you need to start.” Quinn’s eyes flashed with something dangerous. “I didn’t hurt that woman. I didn’t even get her name. I was shaken after seeing the accident, wondering if my car did the same thing. My mind was jumbled, and I did the wrong thing. That doesn’t mean I came back to murder her later that night.”

  Jared studied Quinn’s face for a long beat. He seemed sincere, but Jared wasn’t the type to believe anything without proof. “Well, for your sake, I hope you’re telling the truth. If you had something to do with that woman’s death, I won’t hesitate to arrest you.”

  “I had nothing to do with her death. I swear it.”

  “Then you have nothing to worry about.”

  Eight

  Jared and Mel headed to the garage after finishing breakfast. They asked Quinn a series of questions — all of which he answered without stumbling or whining — and then departed the hotel, leaving him with an admonishment that he wasn’t to leave town until they told him otherwise.

  Mel waited until they were in the cruiser to ask the obvious question. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”

  Jared hated being put on the spot. “I don’t know. I’m not sure my judgment is unbiased in this particular case.”

  “Because of Harper?”

  “Of course. Now that Quinn is back, I feel irrationally territorial. I want to lock him in a room and never let him see her.”

  “I don’t think that sounds irrational,” Mel hedged. “It doesn’t necessarily sound healthy, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think it sounds irrational.”

  “Of course it’s irrational.” Jared’s agitation was on full display as he tapped his fingers on the car dashboard. “She’s never done anything to make me believe she’s not completely loyal and trustworthy. Plus, this situation is beyond her control. She didn’t ask him to come back here.”

  “You and Quinn talked for a long time while I was going through the buffet line. Did he say anything of note?”

  “No. It was more of the same. I mean ... I get it. If the story is true, I don’t think I would’ve reacted any differently. Well, except for the fact that I would’ve gone straight for Harper because it would’ve killed me to be away from her. I don’t think it’s possible for me to forget Harper, though.”

  Mel smirked. “You are a bit codependent.”

  “I don’t care. I’m fine being codependent.”

  “I’ve noticed.” Mel wanted to help his partner, ease the man’s worry. He had no idea how to go about it, though. “We need to track down Quinn’s information, and we need to do it in a way that can be independently verified so we can be sure he didn’t hire people to say what he wanted them to say.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Before then, though, we need to look over Vicky Thompson’s car. Ned Patterson called from the garage and said they found something in the trunk that we should see.”

  “And who is Ned Patterson?”

  “He owns the tow service that the township contracts to handle wrecks. In single-vehicle accidents like this one, it’s common for him to go over the car and then leave it to the insurance company to make a decision. Once Vicky died, I asked him to give the car a good once-over just to be on the safe side.”

  “That was smart.”

  “Well, I guess it depends on what he found. He says we need to see it to believe it.”

  “At least that gives us a place to start,” Jared noted. “As it stands, we need a direction to look. Vicky Thompson’s death caught us completely off guard, and when you add Quinn to the mix, it’s a real cluster of crap.”

  “That’s for sure.” Mel shifted his thoughtful eyes to Jared. “Did you warn Quinn away from seeing Harper?”

  “No.”

  “You didn’t? How come?”

  “Because Harper is an adult and I wouldn’t do that to her,” Jared replied honestly. “She has a right to see Quinn, hear what he has to say. I’m not her keeper.”

  “You kind of want to be her keeper, though, don’t you?”

  “Not really. I like that she’s her own person.”

  “But?”

  “But ... I don’t trust this guy,” Jared admitted, the invisible fist wrapped around his heart easing its grip when he finally said the words out loud to someone other than Zander. “I can’t shake the feeling that something else is going on here.”

  “Like he didn’t really get hit in the head and suffer from amnesia?”

  “I don’t know. I mean ... that’s possible. I’ve read stories where that really happened and thought they were crazy, but I still believed them.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that the woman I love is caught up in this story and I don’t like it,” Jared replied. “I want to keep her safe more than anything. I can’t help wondering if Quinn is a danger to her. Then, when I think hard about that, I get angry at myself because I have no reason to think Quinn is a danger to her. It’s more that he’s a danger to my emotional well-being. It doesn’t seem fair.”

  “When your heart gets involved, son, sometimes what’s ‘fair’ goes out the window.”

  “I know. I have to be careful, though. If I put my foot down and demand Harper say away from him, she’ll get angry and see him out of spite. That’s the opposite of what I want. If she starts shutting down or closing me off, then Quinn will have succeeded in driving a wedge between us.”

  “You don’t know that he’s trying to put a wedge between you.”

  “I don’t. He says all the right things.”

  “You’re still suspicious, though.”

  “I am, and I’m not the only one. Zander is suspicious, too.”

  “Zander never liked Quinn,” Mel pointed out. “He thought Quinn was trying to steal Harper away from him. He was freaking irrational during the height of Harper and Quinn’s relationship.”

  “You can say what you want about Zander — and he is a real pain in the keister — but he would never purposely hurt Harper.” That was one of the few things Jared never questioned. “He loves her too much. He’s suspicious of Quinn because he wants to protect her.”

  “I agree that Zander would never purposely hurt her. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s right. He’s fought you a time or two for Harper’s affections. Don’t forget that.”

  “I won’t. He’s my ally this time, though. I can feel it.”

  “Just don’t let him talk you into doing something crazy.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “THAT IS THE craziest story I’ve ever heard.” Molly was agog when Harper wrapped up her tale. “Can you believe that story, Eric?”

  For his part, the taciturn computer and equipment expert was less enthralled with the romantic amnesia saga than his lady love. “I don’t believe one bit of that story,” he replied, ignoring the way Molly’s eyes fired. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Thank you!” Zander threw his hands up in the air. “Finally! Someone sees what I see.”

  Harper bit the inside of her cheek to keep from exploding at Zander’s bad attitude. “And what do you see?”

  “That story is ridiculous,” Zander replied without hesitation. “There’s no way — especially given th
e technology we have today — that a New York hospital wouldn’t send out one of those APB things to get an identity on some random injured dude who showed up without identification or memory of who he was.”

  “An APB is a tool that cops utilize, but I don’t disagree with you,” Eric said. “It’s not the sixties ... or even the eighties. The people at the hospital would’ve taken a photo of Quinn and passed it around through some hospital network that I’m sure exists. Since Quinn’s photograph would’ve been all over the news here, all it would’ve taken is one person at any southeastern Michigan hospital seeing him and the truth would’ve come out.”

  “I don’t disagree with that,” Harper admitted. “The thing is, he said it was weeks. He can’t remember what happened in the time between getting in the accident here and ending up there, but it was weeks.

  “Quinn was front-page news for a week here,” she continued. “I was furious when the newspapers stopped reporting on him. Once that died down, though, it was essentially as if he never existed. If it took him weeks to get to New York, then maybe the people seeing the bulletin at Michigan hospitals simply forgot about Quinn because so much time had passed.”

  “I don’t see how any of this is possible,” Eric persisted. “How did no one notice that guy walking around with a head injury? He also had a chest wound and was bleeding. He didn’t walk to New York. There’s no way. That means someone drove him. Who?”

  “I don’t know.” Harper held her hands out as frustration washed over her. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it since he told me his story. He can’t remember anything from the time he was in the accident to the time he woke up. When he did wake up, he remembered nothing from his past. Maybe there’s something there, but he hasn’t realized it yet because the information is something of a deluge.”

  “I guess.” Eric rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to ignore the eye daggers Molly shot in his direction. “I still don’t think the story makes sense.”

  “Well, I do.” Molly folded her arms over her chest and practically dared Eric to argue with her. “I’m an expert on amnesia.”

  “How?” Eric challenged. “Who do you know who has amnesia?”

  “Um ... Laura ... and Tad ... and Jack ... and Nick ... and Felicia.”

  Eric’s face remained blank. “Who are these people?”

  “Soap opera characters,” Zander replied without hesitation. “Amnesia is big on soaps.”

  “That only further proves that this guy is making up his story,” Eric persisted. “I mean ... amnesia? It’s so ridiculous.”

  “I think it’s romantic,” Molly shot back. “He lost his memory for five years, started a new life, and when he came back, he immediately sought out Harper. How is that not a romantic story?”

  “He didn’t immediately seek me out,” Harper hedged. “He went to find his mother first. She died a few years ago, though.”

  “Oh.” Molly pressed her hand to the spot above her heart. “That’s even more romantic.”

  “That’s not romantic.” Zander was at the end of his rope. “Besides, in case you’ve forgotten, Harper already has a boyfriend. She’s moving in with him. There’s no room for Quinn in her life.”

  “Oh.” Realization dawned on Molly’s perky features. “I didn’t even consider that. How is Jared taking things?”

  “He’s fine,” Harper replied. “He had to question Quinn so they could close his file, but he’s fine otherwise. Why wouldn’t he be okay?”

  Zander rolled his eyes at his best friend’s naïveté and almost choked on his tongue when he saw Quinn approaching GHI’s glass front door. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What?” Harper asked, her eyebrows drawing together when she saw Quinn opening the door. “Oh, I ... oh.”

  “Yes, oh,” Zander muttered, his temper ratcheting up a notch.

  “Who is that?” Molly asked, confused. “Wait ... is that him?” She was almost giddy as she jumped to her feet. “I can’t believe he’s really here.”

  “And I don’t think now is the time to make a scene,” Eric noted, grabbing Molly by the back of her neck and drawing her against him. “I don’t think you should make a big deal out of this right now.”

  “He came back from the dead,” Molly argued. “If I can’t make a big deal about that, what can I make a big deal about?”

  “Me,” Zander answered automatically as Quinn’s eyes swept the room, not stopping until they landed on Harper. “I’m a big deal. Hey, Quinn. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see you. Are you just dropping by to see the new business space? Nice, isn’t it?”

  Quinn nodded, although he never moved his gaze from Harper’s face. “It’s great.”

  “Do you want to see the storage room?” Zander asked pointedly.

  “Actually, I came by to see Harper,” Quinn answered. “It’s a nice day out, better than the past few days. I thought maybe we could take a walk … and talk.”

  “Harper has work to do,” Zander supplied. “If you want to make an appointment for after Thanksgiving, though, I can have Molly look at our schedule.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Harper said, waving in Zander’s direction as she offered Quinn a shy smile. “I think a walk sounds great. Let me grab my coat.”

  “Cool.” Quinn beamed at her. “I don’t want to take up much of your time, but I think we should touch base.”

  “I definitely agree.” Harper snagged Zander’s gaze as she slipped into her coat. “Zander can hold down the fort here. It will be totally fine.”

  And just like that, Zander realized he was cut out of the walk. The realization didn’t brighten his mood one bit.

  “WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT?”

  Jared was confused as Ned Patterson held up a large leather purse.

  “I found this in the trunk,” Ned explained, releasing the bag to Jared before sitting behind an ancient metal desk located in the corner of his office. “I thought it was strange since you guys took another purse from the scene before releasing the vehicle to me.”

  “Huh.” Jared glanced at Mel. “He’s right. We did take a purse from the front seat of the car. Vicky Thompson took it to the hospital with her.”

  “I don’t remember Daniel mentioning her purse, do you?” Mel’s confusion was evident as he rubbed the back of his neck. “That should’ve been turned over with her other belongings, but I didn’t see it in the box the nurse delivered before we left.”

  “I didn’t see it either. That means it wasn’t in the room, right?”

  “That means I need to call Daniel and figure out what happened to it,” Mel corrected. “There’s always the possibility that it was locked away in a safe or locker and they forgot about it.”

  “That’s not likely, though.”

  “Definitely not.” Mel pursed his lips as he joined his partner and glanced inside the purse. “Is there anything interesting in there?”

  “As a matter of fact, there is,” Ned replied. “There’s a driver’s license, credit cards, and even a library card with another name on it.”

  Jared stilled. “Another name? Like a man’s name?”

  “No, like a woman’s name. Judy Lange. I ran her information through my database to see what I could come up with, because I thought maybe Judy was an aunt or mother or something. Then I saw the age and photo on the license, and realized Judy and Vicky were the same person. I thought there was a chance that Vicky had a twin or something, but not according to the records I found.”

  “What kind of records are you privy to?” Jared asked, curious despite himself. “You’re not authorized for law enforcement record searches.”

  “No, but he is authorized to run driving records,” Mel volunteered. “He can run license plates and licenses. Certain things pop in those searches, including open warrants.”

  “That’s exactly what piqued my interest,” Ned confirmed. “It seems Judy Lange is wanted in at least six states, and she has charges pending in all of them.�
��

  “For what?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I saw the word ‘larceny’ a few times. If you ask me, your dead woman was a grifter. She moved from state to state, probably passing bad checks and stealing from people. You’ll have to track that part down, though. That’s beyond my area of expertise.”

  Jared was legitimately stunned. “Well, I didn’t see that coming.”

  “No, but it’s another place to look,” Mel said. “Perhaps there is motive for murder here after all.”

  ZANDER PACED THE INSIDE of GHI for what felt like forever once Harper disappeared from the building. In real time it was more like thirty seconds.

  “I cannot believe she just wandered off with him,” Zander complained, scuffing his feet against the linoleum floor. “What is she thinking?”

  Molly took on a dreamy expression. “I think it’s romantic.”

  “Yes, I’m sure Jared feels the same way,” Zander snapped.

  Molly had the grace to look abashed. “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just ... the story is so amazing. He had amnesia and found his way back to her, for crying out loud. How can you not be swooning over this?”

  “Because I’m a realist.”

  Eric snorted. “I think it’s more apt to say that Zander understands that this story has more holes than Swiss cheese. He doesn’t want Harper to get in trouble, and that’s why he’s worried.”

  “No, I’ve always disliked Quinn,” Zander countered. “He’s a tool. He thinks too highly of himself and he never put Harper’s needs ahead of his own back when they were dating. As much as Jared irritates me — and he does — he always makes Harper’s needs the priority. He would never purposely hurt her.”

  Eric tilted his head, considering. “Do you think Quinn would hurt her?”

  “Probably not, but I can’t be sure. He could be evil for all we know. He’s hasn’t been around for years.”

  “Then maybe Harper shouldn’t be out there walking around with him,” Eric suggested. “It might not be safe.”