Ghostly Endings (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 5)

by Aubrey Harper

  “It’s Rebecca,” I said. “I’d do anything to find out what really happened to her.”

  “That’s good to know,” Rebecca said, popping in through the wall, scaring the life out of me.

  I gasped for breath. “Rebecca, do you know how many times I told you not to do that?”

  “I know, I know, but what’s the point of being a ghost if I can’t have some fun with it once in a while?”

  “Did you find anything out?”

  Rebecca glanced in Sarah’s direction. “I’ll fill you in later.” Then she disappeared out of sight, presumably on her way upstairs.

  Once I told Sarah and Gran that Rebecca was gone again, they both visibly relaxed.

  “I didn’t just come here to tell you I couldn’t convince Jonathan,” Sarah said after some awkward silence. “I actually came here to tell you something else.”

  Gran smiled in Sarah’s direction. “I knew it. You have that glow.”

  I looked at Sarah. I didn’t see any glow at all. She just looked more tired and anxious than usual.

  “What is it? Are you sick or something?”

  Sarah shook her head. “I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “How far along are you?” Gran asked.

  “Three months,” Sarah said. “We wanted to make sure it was okay before we told anyone.”

  “Three months,” I said. “How could you keep something like this from me for so long?”

  “It was hard, believe me, but we wanted to be sure everything was going as it should, and it is, so I’m telling you.”

  “Well, I guess congratulations are in order,” I said. I got up, once again pissing off Marmalade. I gave Sarah a careful hug as if she was a delicate china doll.

  “I’m not that fragile,” she said as she hugged me tighter.

  Gran hugged her as well.

  “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” I asked the obvious question.

  “No,” she said. “We want to be surprised.”

  As Gran kept gushing over Sarah, I was lost in my thoughts. I had just gotten used to the idea of my cousin being married to my old high school boyfriend. Now I was going to have to get used to them having a kid together. And here I was, thinking hard about just moving in with Kane.

  The sound of the front door opening jerked me out of my thoughts. Think of the devil, and he appears, I thought and smiled.

  Just then Sarah decided that it was a good time to go home.

  “Do you need me to drive you?” I asked her.

  Sarah laughed. “Don’t be silly, Meredith. I’m pregnant, not drunk.”

  “I didn’t know there was that much of a difference,” I joked.

  “Plus, I literally live across the street now, remember?”

  Her and Jonathan had moved into his grandmother’s house after she passed. I guess I was still getting used to that as well. The idea of moving somewhere a bit farther away with Kane was starting to look better and better. Let’s just say that the idea of babysitting this kid sometime in the near future wasn’t something I was looking forward to. I could be a perfectly great Aunt Meredith, but from a distance, of course.

  I gave her a quick hug and walked her out the door.

  Once she was gone, I put my arms around Kane and gave him a passionate kiss. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” he said. Then he looked at Sarah’s slowly departing car. “So she’s pregnant? That was quick.”

  “That’s what I was thinking! But she did always want the husband and the kids and all that while we were growing up. I guess she didn’t want to waste any more time.”

  “I don’t think we’re wasting time, do you?” He said as he leaned in for another kiss.

  “Never,” I said once I caught my breath.

  “I’m gonna go take a shower and then you can fill me in on everything that happened since we last talked, all right?”

  “Make it a quick one,” I said. “Because tonight we’re going to be breaking into a funeral home.”

  The look on Kane’s face was priceless. That’s what he got for dating a ghost hunter.

  Seven

  We drove in my car because we decided that Kane’s van might be a little too on the nose considering what we were about to do. But thankfully, Kane drove, so I had a chance to catch up with Rebecca.

  “So, spill it, Rebecca, what exactly did you see while you were gone so long?”

  Rebecca shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing too exciting, I’m sad to say. Jonathan was actually looking at missing persons from the eighties and earlier, but sadly none of them matched my description, though he did manage to put some down as maybes. They’re also speeding up the tests, or at least I heard talk of them paying extra. I guess you really lit a fire under him.”

  We both laughed at that. “I was looking at some missing persons as well, over at the historical society.” I told her all about that place. She looked about as amused by the whole thing as I was. “Sadly, none of them matched you.”

  “I guess I wasn’t a local. Maybe I was just passing through?” She offered.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  “Gosh, I hope I wasn’t one of those hitchhikers that ended up getting a ride from a serial killer. Whenever you’d watch a show about them on TV, I always hoped I wasn’t that stupid.”

  “It’s not stupid,” I said. “It was a different time.”

  “Yeah, there were a lot more serial killers back then.”

  Before we had a chance to continue our fascinating conversation, Kane said that we had arrived at our location. Of course, we weren’t stupid enough to park anywhere close to the funeral home.

  “Is that them?” Kane said, pointing to a car in the distance with three people inside.

  “Yup. Callie, Dax, and Lily. Right on time. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  “And what exactly is the plan?” Kane asked, motioning for me to stay in the car for now. He looked around nervously, but I didn’t spot any cops.

  “Rebecca will check out the situation and tell us what we’re up against,” I said.

  That was her cue to get out of the car. She disappeared in the night pretty soon after that.

  I got out of the car then, Kane right behind me. We met up with Callie and the others by their car.

  “What now?” Callie asked.

  “Now we wait,” I said.

  It didn’t take long for Rebecca to make her appearance.

  “There’s only two of them. One’s in the car, barely awake, while the other one is making his rounds around the building. He’s heading back to the car as we speak.”

  I relayed the information to the others.

  “Kane, Dax, and Lily,” I said, “you guys are in charge of distraction.”

  “Yay!” Lily practically jumped up with joy. “This will give me an opportunity to flex my acting muscles. All those acting classes I took in college weren’t a waste after all.”

  “Tone it down, Lil,” Callie said. “I’m pretty sure the sheriff told them exactly who we were and what we were planning on doing here.”

  “But I’ve been practicing my panicked scream in my head for hours now! Please don’t tell me I can’t use it?”

  While Callie and Lily argued back and forth about the best approach to this, Kane pulled me aside.

  “And while we’re distracting the cops, how exactly do you and Callie plan on getting into the funeral home? Last time I checked, I was the expert lock picker here.”

  “Remember those lessons you gave me? Well, I’ve been practicing here and there, and I’m getting pretty good at it.” Then I took my tool of choice out of my pocket. “And look? I came prepared.”

  “Let’s hope you don’t get stage fright,” he said, not at all convinced that I could do it on my own. But I was determined to prove him wrong.

  “I don’t get stage fright and you know it. Just focus on doing your part and let Callie and me worry about the rest.”

  “Sure thing
, boss,” Kane said and joined the others.

  “Okay, let’s do this,” I said to all of them.

  Callie and I separated from the group and kept to the shadows while Kane, Dax, and Lily went across the street. Rebecca was with me, of course. She went ahead so that she could warn us if we were about to run into someone.

  Callie shivered. “Did it just get really cold or am I imagining things?”

  “I think you’re just nervous. And don’t worry, Rebecca is ahead of us.”

  Callie visibly relaxed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. Breaking and entering, I mean.”

  “You can back out if you want,” I said, reminding her one last time that she didn’t really need to do this. “I can bring you back a bone or something.”

  “It’s bad enough we’re going in there. Stealing a possible murder victim’s bones? I don’t think that would go over well with anyone.”

  Rebecca practically flew into my face then. I had to take a step back. “They’re turning on their car and leaving. Whatever distraction the others used worked!”

  This felt like it was going way too smoothly, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  Callie and I practically ran to the funeral home. Once we were there, it was my turn to wow and dazzle. As if.

  I took out my little lock picking kit and went to work while Callie looked around nervously. Rebecca did her part by being the actual lookout no one else could see. Pretty nifty, if you asked me.

  It took a few agonizing minutes, which felt like an eternity by the way, but I finally managed to open the door. Callie and I practically fell inside and closed the door behind us. Both of us were breathing hard. If her heart was anything like mine, it was beating out of her chest as well.

  “Remind me never to do that again,” Callie said. “I don’t think this is good for my health.”

  “Let’s just find those bones,” I said.

  That was Rebecca’s cue as well. She didn’t look too happy about it, but she disappeared around the corner in search of her own bones. Silently, I hoped she was up to the task.

  It didn’t take long for her to make an appearance.

  “It’s back there,” she said and then immediately turned around.

  “This way,” I said to Callie.

  We went down to the basement, because of course. The temperature dropped quite a bit the further down we went.

  Thankfully, the only body that was out on the table was Rebecca’s. Any other bodies that might have been there must have been under refrigeration. I took a good look around, but since the only ghost I saw was Rebecca, I decided to go straight for her bones.

  “It’s all you now,” I said to Callie. “You ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said as she took a few tentative steps forward.

  Rebecca looked the other way as I lifted the sheet. “I’ll be right outside,” she quickly said and made her exit.

  Callie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then she reached out with her hand and put her fingers over one of the arm bones.

  She immediately gasped and almost fell over as she jumped back, dropping the bone back on the examining table.

  She held her hands over her head and looked like she was in immense pain. I immediately came to her side, steadying her.

  “Are you okay?”

  She opened her eyes and practically glared at me. “Do I look like I’m okay?”

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry. What did you see?”

  “The question is what didn’t I see.”

  “Did you see what happened? Did you see who did it?”

  Rebecca was back in the room now, standing by the door. It looked like she was hanging on every word.

  Callie held her head. “Ow! It hurts!”

  I didn’t say anything. I let her compose herself before continuing. It looked like this vision took quite a bit out of her.

  “We can talk about it when we get out of here,” I offered. Maybe being so close to the bones was affecting her in some way?

  “The only place you two are going to is a jail cell.”

  I practically jumped out of my skin, but then visibly relaxed when I saw it was just Jonathan.

  He shook his head in my direction. “Why do you have to be so predictable?”

  “This isn’t the time or place, Jonathan,” I said. “We have more important things to worry about now.” I motioned to Callie, who was completely frozen in place. She had a terrified look on her face.

  “The only thing you two should be worrying about is getting a lawyer. Let’s go,” he said.

  I didn’t move an inch.

  “I can cuff you,” he said, and to his credit, he looked dead serious.

  Callie threw me a worried glance and then walked over to Jonathan. I rolled my eyes and did the same.

  Rebecca looked back at the exposed bones behind us and then followed suit.

  “I’m sorry,” she said to me. “I was the lookout and I utterly failed at my job. I didn’t see him coming.”

  “It’s okay, Rebecca,” I said. I didn’t blame her for wanting to find out what Callie saw. I wanted to know as well.

  Once we were outside, Jonathan led us to his cruiser. He opened the back door and motioned for us to get inside.

  “Is this really necessary?” I said.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “You’re making a mistake,” I said, but I did as I was told. This Jonathan was all business. He wasn’t messing around.

  As he started to drive, presumably toward the police station, I looked outside the window, trying to spot any trace of Kane and the others. But they weren’t anywhere in sight. And neither were the two officers. I just hoped they didn’t meet the same fate as us.

  I turned to Callie and asked her how she was doing.

  “No talking,” Jonathan said from the front. “And I freaking mean it.”

  “Geez,” I said but didn’t have the nerve to say another word. I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, especially one coming from Jonathan of all people.

  Once we were at the police station, Jonathan greeted one of the officers that was on duty there.

  “Take her back to the cells,” he said, practically shoving me in the other officer’s direction.

  I looked back as he took Callie toward the interrogation room area.

  “Don’t tell him anything!” I yelled in her direction. Thankfully, Rebecca followed them without me even having to say anything. If Callie was about to tell Jonathan anything about what she saw, I wanted to be the first to know about it.

  I turned to the officer. “Are you new? I haven’t seen you before.” He was in his early twenties. Probably fresh from the academy.

  “I’m Matt. I work the night shift. In fact, I just started here last month,” he said.

  That explained it.

  “Do you think you could do me a favor, Matt?”

  He laughed. “Not a chance. Sheriff Valentine told me all about you.”

  I very much doubted that, but I kept my mouth shut. Officer Matt took my purse, including my phone, of course, and locked me in one of the few cells.

  “The sheriff will speak with you shortly,” he said and turned to go.

  “Hey, don’t I at least get a phone call?”

  “You will,” he said. “Hang tight until then.”

  Once he was gone, I practically growled in frustration. Why couldn’t Jonathan have shown up a couple of minutes later at least? And was that whole thing a trap in the first place? It was a little too easy with the two officers just taking the bait like that. But at least Kane and the others weren’t in the cells with me, so that was a good sign at least. I guess technically only Callie and I actually committed any crime.

  I paced back and forth, waiting for any news at all. Then, finally, I saw Rebecca coming through the door.

  “What’s happening out there?”

  “She’s not talking,” Rebecca said. “She said she refuses to say anything unt
il she talks to her lawyer. Needless to say, Jonathan’s not very happy about it.”

  “Good. Maybe we can get out of this clean after all.”

  Rebecca raised her ghostly eyebrows in my direction.

  “Don’t give me that look,” I said. “You know as well as I do that Jonathan wants to know what Callie saw. I just have to convince him that that information is worth letting us go with a warning.”

  The door behind Rebecca opened then, and Jonathan stepped through.

  “I guess we’re about to find out if he’ll take that offer,” Rebecca said.

  Eight

  “Did Callie talk?” I asked Jonathan almost in a mocking tone. I was smart enough not to make it too obvious.

  “I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that.” Jonathan looked around nervously. “She’s here right now, isn’t she?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe. But that’s not what you should be worrying about right now.”

  “Really? And what should I be worrying about instead?”

  “You want to know what she saw, don’t you? Well, so do I.”

  “Absolutely not. I’m not going to let you blackmail me into getting information.”

  “It’s your choice, Jonathan. Either we can sit here and wait for her lawyer to arrive, or we can all be on the same page. The way I see it, it helps you as much as me. And let’s be real here. The only important thing here is the truth. It doesn’t really matter how we get to it, does it?”

  The look Jonathan gave me was priceless. He looked like he was about to lunge at me and put his hands around my throat. Thankfully, he just laughed instead. “Is that some kind of threat? Are you going to tell her to scare me until I agree to this?”

  “Scare you? Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, even as I saw Rebecca approaching him. She extended her ghostly hand in his direction. I motioned for her not to get any closer, but she didn’t listen. Her ghostly hand touched his cheek.

  Jonathan immediately jumped back.

  I held my hands up. “That was all her. So what do you say? Do you want to let me out of here so that I can tell Callie to talk?”

  “You know I really hate you sometimes, don’t you?”