But I’d do what I always did—try to stuff the emotions away and forget about it. I attempted to force the wall of denial up and I strode toward the table.
As I sat down, the door opened and Eddie entered with coffees in hand. “Mornin’, all. I’ve got the goods.”
“A sight for sore eyes,” Max said.
Eddie placed the coffees on the table, and after taking one, he sat beside me. “Pleasure to see you again, ma’am.”
I wanted to respond to his pleasantry, but was afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d laugh. Doing the only thing I could, I nodded. Thank you, Eddie, for slicing through the tension.
Max took a sip of the coffee from the paper cup. “Kipp’s here with you, right, Tess?”
“Oh yeah, he’s here,” I glanced at Eddie and held back my laugh, “and you’re sitting on his lap.”
Eddie shot straight up and his coffee flew through the air to soak the floor. “I thought it felt cold.”
“You should’ve just seen your face.” My restrained laughter burst from my chest. “So funny.” I glanced back at Kipp and instantly my amusement vanished. He looked down at his hands and sadness oozed off every part of him. “Um, are you okay?”
“Okay with what?” Max asked.
Kipp glanced up at me with despairing eyes. My heart twisted as if stabbed with a dagger. “I’m a ghost.”
“Er, you’re just realizing this now?”
Max huffed. “What’s going on?”
“Shhh.” I waved my hand for him to shut it. Moments like this one deserved to be uninterrupted. The knowledge and acceptance that he had died hadn’t hit Kipp and I saw reality settle in his expression.
I assumed he’d already dealt with his death since he seemed at ease with it all. I’d apparently been wrong and obviously wasn’t the only one who had trouble accepting things.
“Of course I knew I had died, but being preoccupied with you and the case, I think it took my mind away from it all.”
“That’s understandable.” I hoped my gentle tone would soothe him. Normally, I was cautious and understanding when spirits faced their deaths, but with Kipp there’d been more. To see him in this state, the anguish washing over him, made my heart sink into a bottomless pit of despair.
“It’s all over.” Kipp’s eyes pleaded for me to make it better. “This is it for me?”
My strength to keep myself distant faltered and tears filled my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Kipp.”
He sighed and bowed his head. “What’s there to be sorry about? It’s done. It’s just…” He shrugged. “I always thought there would be more—wife, kids, a family. Just more.”
I couldn’t say anything to change the fact that he’d never have those things. But the part that dug at me the most was that when he said those words, it pained me too, affected me as if those were my stolen dreams as well.
The silence dragged on until Kipp finally glanced up at me. “Do you think I’m being punished?”
I cocked my head. “Punished for what?”
“Maybe I’m still here because I need to earn my right into heaven? That I’ve done wrong while I lived and I’m not welcome until I do something right?”
What could he have done wrong? He’d been a good cop, that had to be a one-way ticket through the pearly gates. “I doubt that.”
“It’s cruel, you know…” His grief intensified in his expression. “To be in a world where you once had control over everything, to now have none.”
I imagined it would be. “Well, that’s why we’re doing this, right, to make sure you can move on.”
“But what if I don’t want to go? What if everything I’ve ever wanted is right here?”
Did he mean his job? His life as a whole? Part of me hoped that he meant he didn’t want to leave me. I searched for something to say to him, but kept coming up blank. He’d been so unlike the ghosts before him. So unsure in why he still lingered here, and even more so, he fought against his want to stay. A definite first experience for me. What makes you so different?
Max cleared his throat. “Are you all right there, Kipp?”
Kipp blinked, as if breaking whatever hold his mind had on him. “Tell him we were talking about the case.”
If my heart could’ve broken more, it just did. In all this, his only thoughts were of others, and my tears dripped down my cheeks. How could a man like Kipp be stripped of his life? I wanted to reach out, take him in my arms and never let go, but the truth bared its ugly head with an icy reminder, it’d never be.
I breathed deep to control my emotions and looked at Max. “He told me about Hannah. I’m sorry, I get emotional sometimes.”
Max didn’t look convinced, but glanced away from me to the file on the table. “All right, let’s get focused. Did Kipp get a look at him?”
Zach shook his head. “Negative.” He leaned back in his chair, laced his fingers behind his head and tilted the chair back on two legs. “But another source gave us a description.”
Max brows furrowed. “What source?”
Zach shifted his weight in the chair, sent the legs down to bang against the floor and gestured toward me. “Kipp and her found Hannah.”
“You have not!” Max exclaimed.
I nodded. “We did.”
He eyed me curiously. “Well now, that could come in handy.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I retorted. “She didn’t know anything else except that he was married.”
“Of course she didn’t,” Max mumbled.
“Where do you want to go from here?” Zach asked.
Max pondered. “Best we put our heads together. See which cops match the description given by…” He shook his head in clear bewilderment. “I can’t believe I’m saying this—Hannah. Once we’ve narrowed down the list, we’ll split the pile and investigate each one individually, track their movements and see what their lives show us. We need to learn every detail about their day-to-day lives. Are they married? If so, are they happy? Anything that relates to what Hannah told you.”
“Ten-four,” Zach responded.
Max leaned forward to Zach, intense. “I’ll leave it to you to grab the files, since there’s no reason for me to enter the file room. But make yourself scarce, we don’t want anyone to hear of this before we know who is involved.”
Zach nodded and glanced at me. “You up for a little adventure?”
“Hell no!”
* * * * *
A quarter of an hour later, Zach held a piece of paper with ten names on the note—all men within the department who matched Hannah’s description. As I’d done numerous times before, I refused to take part, but once again my refusal had been overlooked. Even now, as Zach proceeded down the hall of the police station, he ignored the death stare that I burned into the back of his head. Kipp merely chuckled beside me.
At the end of the hall, Zach stopped at a door on the right with Records written on the fogged glass in gold letters. He placed the bag he carried over his head and draped the strap across his body and took a quick look around before he swiped a card on the keypad. After the red light blinked green, the door opened and he stepped through while I hurried in behind.
“This will give us an extra few minutes in case anyone comes.” He locked the door. “We need to be quick here.”
“We-e don’t need to do anything.” I scanned the room filled with file cabinets. “You need to stop talking and get moving.”
“That’s my girl,” Kipp said.
My girl? His claim sent trickles of happiness right down to my soul. I tried my best to push the reaction away, but failed miserably.
“Sorry to break it to ya, but it’s we here.” Zach nudged my arm to grab my focus. “You need to help me.”
History had proved I had little chance of saying no to the men around me, so why draw it out? “Okay, let’s just get this over with as soon as possible. What exactly am I looking for?”
“Names,” both men responded.
I snorted. “Yes, s
mart-asses, I know that. What names?”
“Start with Shawn Edward, Todd Evans and Joey Fisher.” Zach moved toward the first row of cabinets on the left. “I’ll start with last names that begin with A to D.”
I approached the third row of cabinets, which had the letter E written on a sign above it. Once I reached the first cabinet, I glanced down the rows until I found the letters “Ed”. I grabbed the handle on the cabinet and pulled. It didn’t open.
“How do I do this?” I asked Kipp, who happened to be standing all too close to me.
“Say something dirty to it, maybe it’ll magically open for you.”
I slid my gaze over to Kipp to find amused eyes. Yes, he meant it as a joke, but nothing about this was funny. My heart raced from his deep, smooth tone and butterflies played havoc with my stomach. My mind said no—my body said hell yes.
My reaction to his presence extinguished all heat from my body because it hadn’t been lust I experienced, not even remotely close. It was far deeper and far more intense.
This couldn’t continue. Time to stop this once and for all. Having my heart broken after he vanished didn’t interest me in the least. “I’d appreciate if you would stop talking to me like that. It makes me uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable is good.” Kipp grinned.
“No.” I put a little oomph into my words. “It’s creepy.”
His heated gaze declared he wasn’t through with me. “The lock is just on the side of the cabinet there. Press it in and open at the same time.”
I followed his instructions and the cabinet opened, but the drawer seemed to go on forever. The files were thin and there were so many of them. “Where do I even start?”
“Right at the top and work your way down…slowly.”
His words were innocent enough, but the purr in his tone wasn’t. I knew enough not to fuel him. Men like Kipp were egged on with a challenge and I wouldn’t give him a reason to come at me harder. Even these simple attempts were a fight against my will. If I ignored him, I hoped he’d ignore me. Yet his grin said he wouldn’t grant my request.
Through all the distraction and ridiculous feelings I suffered, my memory failed me. “What’s the first name again?”
“Shawn Edward.”
I ignored the closeness of Kipp that caused goose bumps to form on the side of my neck, paid no attention to the feel of his gaze as his stare lingered over my body and didn’t focus on the ache forming between my thighs. Yes, all of those things I ignored as I searched the files.
I finally pulled a file from the cabinet. “Ah ha! Got one.” I glanced back at Kipp. “Next name?” Thankfully he was taller than I or we would have been nose to nose, and even worse, lips to lips. I stepped away from him and scowled. “I asked you to stop, it makes me uncomfortable.”
A slow grin rose to his face. “I remember you mentioned something of that nature.”
I huffed, glanced up into his determined eyes and did not hold back my ticked-off tone. “Name now?”
“Todd Evans.”
Within a few minutes, I had retrieved the last file we needed and was about to ask Zach for another name when the door handle jiggled. I jumped, startled. “Oh God, someone is coming in.”
Kipp attempted to grab my arm, but his hand went straight through me. I shivered from the cold embrace and glanced up at him. He had his finger raised to his mouth to indicate I needed to keep quiet.
The door jiggled again.
Zach moved faster, skimming through the cabinet while he had a bundle of files under his arm. “I’ve only got two to go.”
Loud knocks sounded on the door. “Who’s in there?”
I gripped the files in my hands as if they were my lifeline and kept my gaze glued on the banging door in front of me.
The voice came again and the loud thumps echoed through the room. “Open this door, right now!”
Zach suddenly appeared right in front me and handed me the files. “Hide them.”
I snatched up the files and hid them behind my back as Zach ran around the room, attempting to get all the file cabinets shut. I clutched my hands around the files. My heart pounded in my ears.
Kipp stood calmly with his arms folded against his chest. Why would it frighten him? He couldn’t be caught because he was already dead. I still lived and wanted to stay that way.
The doorknob jiggled again and I heard keys rattling. “Oh God, they’re unlocking the door.”
Quite abruptly, someone slammed me up against the wall. I gasped as Zach’s mouth met mine in a passionate kiss, despite the fact his focus had been elsewhere. He smashed against me and I moaned, not in pleasure, but more in pain. His body came so tight against mine, breathing was impossible.
“Oh,” a surprised voice said as the door breezed open. “Shit, man, I’m sorry.”
Zach backed away and I stumbled a moment, able to breathe again. I regained myself and glanced up to find a man who wasn’t hard on the eyes with his ash-brown hair and stunning blue eyes, which were as happy as the smile on his face.
“No, I’m sorry,” Zach answered, sounding breathless. “Were you knocking, Brody?”
He nodded. “Was, but if I’d known what was going on in here, I wouldn’t have.”
“Nah, it’s cool. It’s probably best you interrupted us.”
Brody glanced away from Zach and gave me a once-over, then chuckled. “Yeah right.”
I slid my gaze sideways from Brody to Kipp and was momentarily stunned. Kipp stood, fists clenched, his eyes burning hot with fury. “Are you okay?”
Zach laughed and he grabbed my arm. “I’ll be okay once I get you home.” He pulled me in front of him to keep the files hidden and pushed me out of the room. When the door closed, he released a long, shaky breath. “Damn, that was exhilarating.”
I batted my lashes. “Men who kiss me always say the same thing.”
“That’s not—”
I glared. “You’re not about to insult me, are you?”
Zach shook his head, laughing. “Nope.” He took the files from me, placed them in the bag over his shoulder and headed off. He’d only gotten a foot away before he turned back. “You do know I only kissed you because—”
I raised my hand, not even needing him to go there. “I know.”
Zach grinned. He glanced behind him and spoke to where he apparently thought Kipp lingered. “Gotta admit I acted pretty impressively in there, didn’t I?”
Just to confirm what I had already suspected, I looked behind me and the hallway stood empty. “He’s not—”
“I’m here,” Kipp said.
He melted through the door, stopping in front of me, and his red-hot anger hadn’t dissipated. I never noticed the height of him, but with such intensity oozing from him now, he intimidated me. His muscular body made me feel like a little mouse hunted by a lion. “Um, is everything okay?”
“No.”
Thick silence filled the air until Zach sighed. “Personal shit aside, Kipp. We’ve got a case to solve, including yours.” Then he walked away and left me alone with a pissed-off ghost.
Too bad for Kipp I’d never been one to keep my mouth shut and my curiosity was too high to stay quiet. “What’s wrong with you?”
His jaw clenched. “It’s nothing.”
“Oh really? You just happened to all of a sudden scowl and sound like a rabid dog for no apparent reason whatsoever.”
He frowned. “I’m not scowling and I don’t sound like a dog.”
I would argue that point, he practically wagged his tail. “Oh yeah?” I pointed to his grumpy face. “What’s that?”
He arched his eyebrow, mildly flipping me off. “My face.”
“It didn’t look like that before, so what’s going on?”
His eyes went dark with coldness and shed all emotion. “You said you wanted me to keep my comments to myself, so I am.”
“You’re mad at me? What have I done?” He didn’t seem mad after I made the request, and furthermore, he twis
ted my words. “I never meant it like you’re taking it and you know that.”
He examined me. “Why do you care?”
Because I’m in love with you, you stupid ghost! “I-I don’t care.”
Arrogance stole his normally warm features. “Then why does it matter?”
My cheeks burned as my blood boiled. Why did he put me on the spot? I didn’t deserve his wrath. “Listen here, you.” I wanted nothing more than to poke his chest. “I’m here to help you, remember? But if you think for one second that I’m going to stick around when you’re being a complete ass to me for no reason whatsoever, think again.”
He scowled. “So now you want me to talk to you?”
I stepped in closer, angled my head up and raised up on my tippy-toes to get as close to him as possible. “You’re not going to put this on me. Whatever is wrong with you, deal with it. But don’t even try to suggest the reason you’re acting like a complete ass is because I asked you to stop trying to seduce me.”
He glared down at me and a challenging edge rose to his expression. “Well, if I’m not able to do that, what’s my reason to talk to you?”
I sucked in a deep breath and my vision blurred as my eyes lowered into slits. “So that’s the way it’s going to be?”
“I’m a fucking ghost, remember. Why pretend I’m anything different.” His gaze held steady and strong. “That’s the way it is.”
He strode past me and I tried to make sense out of what just happened. Was he still dealing with accepting he was a ghost and had he lashed out in anger? But how was I at fault, and what had happened to change his demeanor from the despair I’d witnessed earlier to hard-core rage? I’d done nothing but help him, even when I didn’t want to, and he treated me like a piece of crap on the bottom of his shoe.
If he thought for one second I’d put up with his nasty attitude, then he had picked the wrong woman to haunt. No matter that I cared for him, the devil would look kind by the time I got through with him.
Chapter Six
Supernaturally Kissed (Frostbite, Book One) Page 9