by K. J. Emrick
She watched him shifting gears in his mind, going into full cop mode. “Okay. You wait here.” He started to move past her, down the entry hall, but she caught hold of his hand.
“No way,” she told him.
“Er, guys?” Kyle said, hovering a few feet away from them.
Miranda shushed him. “I don’t want to wait here.”
“Look, Miranda,” Jack said, his voice full of concern, “it might not be safe.”
“Guys,” Kyle tried again.
“And if it’s not safe, Jack, then I figure it’s better to have two of us dealing with it than one of us. I’m not going to just wait here and not know what’s going on. What kind of woman do you take me for?”
“Not the damsel in distress, I know, but still Miranda. Just wait for me. I’ll call you in when I know what’s going on.”
Kyle was floating all around them now. “Guys, seriously. Guys!”
At that moment, Miranda felt a hand on her shoulder. She yelped and whirled around to see the man from the kitchen door standing right there with them.
“I did try to warn you,” Kyle sighed. “Nobody listens to the spirit guide.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the man said, holding his hands out, palms toward them in a peaceful manner when he saw that Jack was clearly ready to jump at him. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I just… Look, I just need a phone, okay? I need to call the cops and yours was the first place I came to when I scrambled up from the shore.”
“Well, then you’re in luck,” Jack told him, easing himself in front of Miranda. “I’m Detective Travis, with the Moonlight Bay PD.”
“Thank God for that,” the man sighed, sagging in relief.
“Are you okay?” Miranda asked, stepping up beside Jack. She was not going to let him treat her like a porcelain doll that would break at the slightest touch.
“Am I okay?” the man laughed bitterly. “No, I’m not okay. I just found a body on the beach. A dead body, I mean. I’m anything but okay.”
When they both continued to look at him like he was speaking Greek, he explained it in better terms. “Someone has been murdered.”
Chapter 3
Miranda stood some way off, watching as Jack talked with the other officers of the Moonlight Bay PD. The beach was crawling with police now. It was rather an impressive sight.
There were usually only four or five officers working the night shift, at most, and all of those were here plus several others. They must have called people in for this. They’d set up portable lights and in their harsh glow she watched as Jack pointed to what she thought likely to be a sizeable area to be cordoned off for a full police search.
It really was too beautiful here to be a murder scene. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time.
The beaches were one of the great benefits of living here. Peaceful and serene, with the waves crashing down with a rhythmic, constant certainty. White sands led up gentle slopes, gradually becoming deep, rich soil for the back lawn of Ragged Rest and the other few houses along here, and then to either side the land rose to create cliff faces of bare rock. So, where most people had a sheer drop behind their home, Ragged Rest and a few others led straight down a sandhill to the beach and the water.
And, now, the resting place of a dead woman.
There were other ways to access the beaches, at different spots around Moonlight Bay, but people gobbled up land that was close to the water even when there was no direct access to the bay itself.
Miranda looked down to where her golden retriever Butter lay at her feet, his head up and his ears perked as he watched the commotion with her. He’d been sleeping on Miranda’s bed until the sirens started, and he might have slept through all of that if she hadn’t wanted to change out of the fancier clothes she’d worn to the movies with Jack. Changing into jeans and a pullover sweater had alerted Butter that there were interesting things going on that he didn’t want to miss.
Now, as he watched everything with her, Miranda had to wonder if Butter was remembering a similar scene from months and months ago. His first owner had been found dead on the jumbled rocks not far from here. Murder was becoming commonplace on this stretch of Australian coastline.
Funny, how history can repeat itself in such gruesome detail.
When she and Jack had reached the bottom of the slope and then followed the man from her back door to where the body lay, he had introduced himself as Josh Bates. He was a tour boat captain he said. One of many who tapped the tourist trade and sailed up and down the beautiful coast of Moonlight Bay for a fee.
Out on the low tide, in the bright moonlight reflecting from the surface of the inky dark sea, they had seen his boat anchored and bobbing rhythmically on the waves. A dinghy lay haphazardly up on the sand of the shoreline. Miranda assumed that it also belonged to the Josh. He would have certainly used it to get to the beach.
Which left her to wonder where the dead woman had come from.
Miranda watched as Jack stood, part of a small team of officers, all huddled in some conversation too quiet for her to hear. She knew that Jack would tell her everything the moment they were together again, but old habits died hard and she was every bit the nosy sleuth she had always been before she and Jack had become an official couple.
“I bet you’re just dying to know what they’re saying over there,” Kyle said, as he materialized at her side.
She nodded firmly. “You better believe I am.”
Butter looked up at Kyle as he appeared, one ear cocked higher, and then looked away again at the action down the beach. Animals like dogs and cats could see ghosts, of course, but Butter was less enthused about Kyle being back than Miranda was. There was too much else going on for a ghost to hold his doggie attention span.
Josh Bates was sitting down on a rock several feet away. She kept her voice down so that he wouldn’t see her talking to thin air. Miranda felt sorry for the guy, seeing him so upset after finding the body like that.
“Kyle,” she murmured. “Since you’re here, would you mind floating on down there to where Jack is, and…?”
She rolled her hand in the air.
“Spy on him mercilessly so I can learn everything he’s saying?” Kyle summed up for her.
“Yes. That.”
“You really have missed me,” he asked her with a grin, “haven’t you?”
“Well, I’ll admit I’ve missed your sneaky listening skills.” Miranda gave him a wink, and he winked back at her.
While Miranda had missed Kyle more than she could ever put into words, she had to admit she kind of missed the excitement that had always marked their friendship.
Miranda watched as Kyle made his way down the beach and then bobbed and weaved this way and that, completely unseen in the air around the police officers, listening here and observing there. Miranda couldn’t help but smile as she watched him. Kyle was back. The same old Kyle.
Except that he was a little more tangible now. He could move objects more easily, and when he touched her, Miranda actually felt pressure on her skin, like he had substance. He was Kyle… only more so. She had to wonder what other changes he might have gone through that she just hadn’t noticed yet.
Questions came to mind, again, just like they had that first moment she laid eyes on him in the kitchen. How long would it last? Was he just here to help out on this one occasion or was Kyle Hunter here to stay, her spirit guide forevermore?
Miranda began to feel a little cold. She huddled further into her sweater and waited for Kyle to come back and report on what he’d heard. As she stood there, she had the sudden impression that she was being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she turned to find Josh Bates staring right at her.
After a moment, Josh rose up from the rock he’d been sitting on and came over to her. His eyes never left hers for a moment.
“Is there something I can help you with, Mister Bates?” she asked.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and
laughed nervously. “I really am sorry, actually. I shouldn’t have stared at you like that but I was just wondering if I knew you. You seem so familiar.”
“Um. Well, maybe.” Miranda still had people who recognized her from the dust jackets of her books. It had been a long time since that had happened though. Here in Moonlight Bay, she was just another neighbor. “I’m a mystery writer. Maybe you’ve read one of my books?”
“No… no, that’s not it. I’m more of a Western fan, myself. It’s just that earlier, when you came to the back door of your house, I felt sure I knew you from somewhere. You look really familiar to me. And then, as we were making our way down here, I could hear it in your voice as well.”
“Maybe I just look like somebody you know,” she said, trying to be helpful. “They say everyone has a twin…”
“Oh! I think I just got it.” Josh said and snapped his fingers in kind of a victorious way. “Constance Cleary. That’s who you look like. Are you related to Constance Cleary?”
Miranda blinked at him. The coincidence of hearing her aunt’s name, just after thinking about her earlier, was too great. “Yes, I am related to her. How do you...?”
“Of course, that must have been Ragged Rest then,” Josh said, almost to himself. “I haven’t been up on this part of Moonlight Bay for ages. Not since I was a much younger man. So, you’re Constance Cleary’s daughter, then?”
“No, Connie was my aunt. My mother’s sister,” Miranda said, nodding.
“Wow, you really do look like Constance. Seriously, it’s like you have her eyes,” Josh said, staring at her again.
Miranda felt like she’d slipped down a rabbit hole with this conversation. “All the women in my family tend to have similar eyes,” she said, hoping that would be the end of things.
Not that she wasn’t curious about this new development. Miranda had always regretted not talking more with her mother about her family heritage. After her mother had passed away the chance had been lost to her, and she was left to wonder if maybe she’d inherited other things from the female side of the family. Other than her eyes.
Like her psychic abilities, for instance.
Hearing the question from a stranger, however, was more than just a little odd. Josh seemed just a little fidgety since figuring out what family she belonged to. He continued to stare, but now he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot, like he wasn’t sure what to do, or what to say next.
“Mister Bates, are you ok?” Miranda asked him.
“Me?” he said, almost as if she had surprised him with her question. “Yes, yes. I’m absolutely fine, thank you. Um. Thank you, but I’m good.”
“I guess you don’t find a dead body every day,” Miranda said with a shrug, thinking perhaps that was his problem.
And yet, there was something really rather abrupt in his manner now, and it was certainly nothing like the more fervent agitation that she’d seen in him when he was banging on her kitchen door. In truth, he seemed more uncomfortable than anything else.
“So, I guess the tour boat business keeps you pretty well occupied?” Miranda said, deciding it might not hurt to find out a little about the man and help put him at ease.
“I get by, you know,” he said, nodding as if it was a simple, everyday conversation struck up between two strangers anywhere else on Earth. Anywhere, that is, that didn’t have a dead body just meters away.
Miranda began to feel a little uncomfortable herself. She couldn’t quite explain why…
“Forgive me for asking, Miss Wylder,” he abruptly said to her, “but do you have similar gifts to the ones that your aunt had?”
And there it was.
“Excuse me?” she said, alarm bells ringing in the back of her mind. He couldn’t know. There was no way he could know about that. No way…
His smile turned a little nostalgic. “Constance Cleary was pretty special, you know? I mean, she had a special gift. It’s just that, well, if you’re so much like your aunt, there’s maybe something you could check for me. I mean, you might be able to help me with something… with your abilities.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you mean, Mister Bates, but there really isn’t anything that particularly special about me.” She took a breath, desperate to throw him off this line of questioning. “I’m just a writer, and I only came to Ragged Rest to look after the old place for my uncle Horatio while he’s off travelling. Sorry I can’t be of more help.”
He watched her, and it was oh-so-painfully obvious that he didn’t believe a word she had just said. “Oh, no problem. Forget I asked, then.”
“Hey, there’s Jack,” Miranda said as she saw her boyfriend approaching, hoping that her relief was not quite as obvious to Josh as it was to her. “Would you excuse me for a moment?”
She gave him a quick smile before turning and hurrying in Jack’s direction.
There was something about the encounter that had upset her equilibrium. Miranda simply could not explain it. The sooner she was back with Jack, the better.
“Hey, Miss Wylder?” Josh Bates called out as she tried to rush off.
She slowed to a reluctant stop and turned to look back over her shoulder. “Um. Yes?”
“Perhaps I could stop back around sometime? You know, when all of this awfulness is behind us. I should very much like to see Ragged Rest again. And, perhaps, we could share stories of Connie?”
“Sure, I suppose, sometime.” What else could she say? Telling him no because she thought he was creepy probably would set the man off. Telling him she preferred to keep her life private would only pique his curiosity. Best to let him have his visit and be done with it.
Besides, there was still something she found peculiar, if not downright suspicious, about the man.
He waved and went back to sit on his rock just as Jack called out to her. She was glad for the excuse to walk away, and fall against Jack for a quick embrace.
“Well, I definitely needed this,” he murmured into her ear.
“Me, too,” she confided.
As they held each other, Kyle’s glowing form popped up over Jack’s shoulder. “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of what happened to the victim.”
Miranda jumped at his sudden appearance, and glowered at him for scaring her.
“You okay?” Jack asked her.
“I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. At least she would be, if her friend would stop spooking her! “Um. So, Jack. Can you tell me anything about what happened to her?”
“No,” he said. “Not much, I mean. The investigation is still unfolding. You know how that goes.”
At the same time, Kyle was saying, “She got pushed to her death from the top of the cliffs over by one of your neighbors. Landed on the rocks and hit her head on one of them. Died pretty quick. At least, that’s what the officers are thinking.”
Jack saw the way her face soured at Kyle’s information. She couldn’t say anything about it, not with him standing there, or he would know she’d sent Kyle to eavesdrop. Gently, Jack cupped her chin in his hand and tried to convey comfort with his smile. “Are you okay?” he asked again.
“I was just thinking… it’s like history repeating itself. Like when we found Butter after his first owner was killed.”
“Well, not quite…” He sighed. “I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you this much. There’s at least one difference between this murder and that one from before. This woman was pushed to her death from the cliffs. Or maybe she walked off in the dark. We’re not sure yet.”
“No, she was pushed,” Kyle insisted, nodding to himself. “Definitely pushed.”
Miranda glared at him, warning him to stop and to show a little decency for the recently departed.
Jack kissed her before taking her hands in his. “So much for our coffee and movie talk, huh? I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s not like we had any control over it,” she offered. “Although, you did say you wanted some excitement in your life again.”
“Yeah. That’ll teach me to tempt fate. Well, I’m going to be here for a while. Why don’t you go back to the house? It’s cold out now… Miranda, are you all right? I mean, aside from a dead body down the beach from your home and all. You look like you’re upset about something else, maybe?”
She smiled distractedly. He knew her so well. “It’s nothing, probably. I just had the weirdest conversation with our tour boat captain, Josh Bates. To be honest, it creeped me out a bit.”
Jack’s face grew stern. “Did he say something to upset you?”
“Oh no, nothing like that. Well, actually yes, but not the way you mean. He asked me about my family, and he was talking about being here at Ragged Rest before. That’s all.”
He studied her for a moment. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure, Jack. That’s all it was.” Well. There was a little bit more to it than that, but before Miranda had the chance to correct herself an officer came rushing over.
“Detective Travis? Can we have your attention over here?”
“Give me a minute,” Jack told him. “Miranda? Do you want me to walk you back up to the house?”
“No, Jack. Seriously I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl and I’ve got… company.”
She spared a look for the officer so Jack would know she was talking about Kyle, the ghost who could not be mentioned for fear of everyone thinking they’d gone crazy.
Jack winked at her, and then hugged her quickly to whisper near her ear, “Kyle, you take care of her, hear me?”
“Sure thing, officer,” Kyle said, flipping him a salute.
“He says he will,” Miranda translated, minus the sarcasm.
Next to her, Kyle sighed. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t need an interpreter.”
As Jack and the other officer walked away, Miranda swatted her hand through the air where his shoulder glowed in ghostly intangibility. “You better be happy you have me to act as a go between. You’re going to get yourself banned if Jack ever hears half the things you say. Not everyone gets your humor like I do.”