Dead and Buried: A Bridget Sway Novel (A Paranormal Ghost Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

by Jordaina Sydney Robinson

  “No, you wanted a name, I got you a name.”

  “Wallace is most likely a fake name, and on its own it gives me nothing. Is it his first name? Last name? Code name? And where did you take him?” I touched the sleeve of Charon’s suit and then rubbed the residue between my fingertips.

  “What was the point in asking for a name if he was going to give you a fake one? And you should’ve been more specific in your requests,” Charon snapped, evidently displeased that I wasn’t impressed by his contribution.

  “Well, I didn’t know you were going to whisk him off to a fire pit and threaten to cook him for supper if he didn’t tell you, or I’d have given you a list of questions before you left.”

  “Fine. What are your questions and I’ll get answers to those as well.” Charon reached out for Jeremy and Jeremy scuttled back and curled up in a ball.

  “Where did you take him?” I asked, watching Jeremy shake like he was sitting on a pneumatic drill.

  “Hell. He took me to Hell,” Jeremy murmured. “Don’t take me back.”

  I turned to Charon. “Did you take him to Hell? Is that even a thing?”

  Charon shrugged. “I took him to the centre of a volcano. I’ve taken dates there before and they’ve never reacted like that.”

  I shook my head. “I have so many things to say to that I don’t really know where to start.”

  “You could start with thank you,” Charon muttered.

  “Thank you for your help,” I said.

  Charon dusted down the front of his suit. “I don’t feel like you really mean that.”

  “Well, you did kind of break him, so I only half mean it. I do fully appreciate your attempt to help, though.”

  Charon made a non-committal noise and disappeared. The Bus of Death roared to life and peeled out of the car park.

  “Bridget?” Sean asked, approaching us slowly.

  “Yes, Sean?”

  “I think we should probably get the newly transitioned inside now.”

  “That’s an excellent idea. Will you help me get him up?” I asked, pointing to Jeremy.

  Sean eyed me but nodded and jogged over to Jeremy. “Okay, friend, let’s get you on your feet.”

  Sean reached out to Jeremy. Jeremy grabbed his arm as if it were a lifeline and climbed up onto Sean’s back. Jeremy wrapped his legs around Sean’s waist and his arms around Sean’s neck.

  “Keep her away from me,” Jeremy shrieked and jabbed a finger at me. “Devil spawn!”

  “Okay, now, let’s not overreact,” I mumbled.

  We walked back across the car park, Sean carrying Jeremy like it wasn’t at all unusual and me stepping carefully to avoid standing on small stones in my bare feet.

  “Where did the busman take him?” Sean whispered.

  “Inside a live volcano,” I said.

  “Oh, that would’ve been so fascinating!” Sean spoke over his shoulder to Jeremy. “You’re so lucky. What a treat. He must really have liked you.” Sean turned back to me. “Maybe next time you could talk to me about it first, though. I don’t think our newbie was fully prepared.”

  “You’re right, Sean, I’m sorry.”

  “No harm, no foul, Bridget,” Sean said with a happy smile. We reached the rest of the group and Sean rounded everyone like a human sheepdog and herded them toward the door. I rushed ahead and opened it, making sure to pick up my shoes as I went. Sean passed through first with Jeremy still on his back. Malice shined in Jeremy’s eyes. He leaned to the side so he could whisper to me as Sean carried him through the door.

  “Wallace will make you pay for this.”

  Chapter Seven

  “What happened?” Sabrina stared at my face when I joined her at lunch. “Did something happen? I can’t tell anymore. You’ll have to stop wearing the eyeliner—it’s throwing me off.”

  “Oz said the same thing to me this morning,” I grumbled and placed my tray on the table before dusting the crumbs off my chair.

  Sabrina frowned. “He said your eyeliner was throwing him off?”

  “Not exactly, but he was worried about the attention this look might garner so he told me to tone it down. Don’t know why he bothered—it’s garnered no attention whatsoever.”

  Sabrina hesitated. “You’re upset because no one has hit on you?”

  “I just want a bit of a pick me up, that’s all. I look so pretty.”

  Sabrina pressed her lips together. I was pretty sure she was trying not to laugh at me. “Maybe that’s the problem. You’re too pretty and guys are intimated.”

  I nodded. “Guys are stupid.”

  “Also, you find dead bodies a lot, so that might be a bit of a turnoff.”

  “Wow. I feel so much better for talking to you,” I said and dipped a sweet potato chip in the mountain of sour cream dip on my plate. “Guess who got off the bus at Afterlife Arrivals this morning?”

  “Elvis?”

  I stared at Sabrina. “No.”

  “Was it Marilyn Monroe? I’ve heard rumours of witchcraft.”

  “You believe in magic?” I asked, chip halfway to my mouth.

  Sabrina gestured around us. “We’re dead and eating lunch in a canteen full of ghosts. My perspective on a lot of things has changed.”

  “But magic, though? That’s just crazy talk.”

  “Was that who got off the bus? Marilyn Monroe?”

  “No.”

  “Rasputin?”

  “I don’t know why I play these games with you,” I said with a shake of my head.

  “So give me a clue,” Sabrina said as she stole one of my chips and dipped it into the sour cream before eating it. She pushed her plate of pasta away and pulled my plate in between us. She cut my gigantic burger in half and spread some dip between the top two burgers on her half. “What?”

  “I’m pretty sure there were burgers when you went to get your lunch,” I said as I watched her mangle my food.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t fancy it until now,” she said and took a bite from her half of my burger.

  In all honesty, I didn’t mind. I realised I might have gotten a bit carried away when the chips were heaped so high I’d had to do an egg-and-spoon race walk to the table.

  “What’s with the mountain of food anyway? And who showed up at Arrivals?” she asked around her mouthful.

  “The person’s name starts with ‘J’ and ends in ‘eremy’.” I bit into a chip with more aggression than necessary as I remembered his sneering threat about Wallace.

  Sabrina lowered the burger from her mouth “Jeremy? Jeremy was at Arrivals today? You questioned him, right? What did he say? Did he tell you who killed him?” Sabrina angled her head and focused on the far wall of the canteen. “Are we even allowed to ask that? Morally speaking. If it makes murdered people crazy to remember their deaths, then should we be pushing them down that road? Although, it would make life much easier if he could tell us. Did you ask?”

  I gestured to myself with a chip. “Are you talking to me now?”

  Sabrina gave me a flat stare. “Yes. Did you ask who killed him?”

  “He seemed to think I killed him. Or at least that I was involved somehow. And then, after Charon took him on a romantic rendezvous to the heart of a volcano, he gave up Wallace as the name of his contact.”

  A clump of dip fell from Sabrina’s burger while she processed that news. Finally, she shook her head. “Nope. I’m going to need that from the beginning.”

  So, I filled her in from the beginning.

  “I’m not touching the whole volcano trip because I don’t really know what to do with it other than say Charon sounds like an intense guy to date.” Sabrina checked over her shoulder as if she expected him to pop up and move her on to the next plane of the afterlife in penance for that comment. “And I really don’t want to agree with Jeremy but it does seem unlikely that his informant would’ve killed him if he’s helping her brother out.”

  “I thought the same thing.” I picked up my half of my burger and took a
bite before Sabrina decided my half looked nicer than hers.

  “That still doesn’t rule her out for sure, though. And who’s Wallace? And why does Jeremy have a contact?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, speaking around my mouthful of burger. “I’m not sure I can get Jeremy to tell me either. Can you maybe fi-oogle him?”

  “Fi-oogle?”

  “You know. Google him in your files. Fi-oogle. Do your magic.”

  “I know you don’t think hunting through a football field of filing cabinets is the equation to googling.”

  “There’s a football field full of filing cabinets?” That seemed like a lot.

  “Yes, and that’s only my floor. I don’t feel like you’re fully appreciating my sneaky investigative skills here,” Sabrina said.

  “Do now. What did you manage to find out this morning?”

  “All I managed to get was a list of the shopping trip attendees. We have newbies at the moment which means there’s training going on so there are a lot more people around than normal. Makes it difficult to fi-oogle.”

  “Well, that’s inconvenient,” I said and then took a bite of my burger.

  “I know, right? Also, I sent Edith a text this morning asking her to meet us later but she said she was otherwise engaged. I didn’t push her because I didn’t want to give our surprise attack away.”

  “Did she say what she was otherwise engaged with?” I asked around my mouthful.

  Sabrina shook her head. “And how are we going to find anything out about this Wallace? There was no Wallace, first or last name, on the list of shoppers. Although, if this Wallace is a contact of some sort, I’m guessing he wouldn’t have registered to attend the shopping trip in the same way as you. If he registered at all.”

  I sighed. I could feel the conspiracy theory vibrating in her brain. “Spit it out.”

  “I think this Wallace might be a GB.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it sounds like a code name.” Sabrina rolled the name around her mouth. “Wallace.”

  I stared at her. “Wow. You’re insane.”

  “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.”

  “Yeah, except they’re not out to get you. They’re out to get me,” I said.

  Sabrina pointed her baby finger out at me as she picked up her burger. “Who’s paranoid now?”

  “Yeah, you’re totally right. It’s paranoia. No one has ever tried to kill me. And, to get back to your point, what would a GB want with a medium as a contact? GBs have access to the afterlife. It’s not like they would need them to summon people.”

  Sabrina shook her head. “Who knows what mediums can do or who they can reach if given the proper direction and instruction.”

  I gave her a sideways glance. “Are we talking about magic again because …”

  Sabrina pursed her lips at me. “Do you know what the GBs do with mediums? No, you don’t. Do you know what they’re capable of on this side of the mortal plane? No, you don’t. So loosen those judgey-pants.”

  “Someone’s a bit sensitive about their paranoia,” I mumbled.

  “And it’s odd that you overheard that conversation in the stairwell. Seems conveniently well timed.”

  “Well, a medium had been murdered the night before when they were both there,” I said.

  “And who’s the person they were talking about saying they needed more mediums? Okay. Here’s the plan of attack. I’ll try and snoop through the files and see who has a brother at university. You throw this Wallace name around a bit and see what happens.”

  “You mean see if anyone tries to kill me?”

  Sabrina coughed. “Paranoid.”

  “Oh, you’re hilarious.” I said, pointing a chip at her. “Oh! And Janice was there as well.”

  Sabrina lifted the last of her burger to her mouth and paused. “Where? At Arrivals?”

  “Uh-huh. And it was weird because I’m pretty sure she was about to make another complaint against me for loitering or something but then she changed her mind when she heard the GBs in the stairwell and scarpered.”

  “Like she didn’t want to be seen there? But you’d seen her. And if she was going to make another complaint about you then she’d have to detail when and where the incident happened. So why scarper?”

  “No idea. I probably misread the situation. Y’know, with my paranoia and all?”

  “Are you sure about getting your housemates involved in this?” Sabrina grinned at me, not touching the paranoia comment.

  “No. I’d rather none of us were involved in this but I can’t talk them out of it. I figure if they’re going to do it anyway it’s better if we have some sort of control over it. Teach them how to do it without drawing heaps of attention to themselves.”

  “Because you’re so good at that,” Sabrina said before popping the last of her burger in her mouth and wiping her hands on a napkin.

  “No. That’s why you’re teaching them. And I need to find a self-defence instructor.”

  Sabrina paused mid-chew. “So, you’re really going all out here?”

  I sighed. “I can’t stop them from getting involved, so let’s make them as safe as possible.”

  “I’m not happy about this.” Sabrina spoke around her mouthful.

  “I thought you wanted them involved last time?”

  “That was before I knew them.”

  “You mean, when they were expendable?”

  “Not expendable exactly,” Sabrina said.

  “Who’s not expendable?” Charlie asked, as he sat down at the table.

  “And why are you sharing food?” Pete asked. “I’m pretty sure there’s enough to go around.”

  “I’m not saying that, Pam. I’m only saying that I think you could branch out from sundresses from time to time,” Lucy said as she sat next to Sabrina.

  “And you must get cold in the winter,” Petal added as she sat down next to me, giving me a smile and a small shoulder nudge.

  “I don’t really feel it,” Pam came from behind us and settled down next to Pete. “Probably because I lived in the north so long I’m weathered now.”

  “What’s going on?” Pete asked, his attention roving around the table. “Who are you people? Why are you sitting at our table?”

  “Wow, Pete, way to be welcoming and inclusive,” Sabrina chided and addressed my housemates. “Ignore him. I’d say he’s grumpy because he’s not eaten yet but he’s always like this.”

  “Hi Pete. I’m Petal.” Petal offered him her hand and her sunny smile with uncharacteristic confidence.

  He looked at me, Sabrina and then back to Petal. It was a moment before Pete recovered, but he wiped his already clean hands on a napkin and shook Petal’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Petal. This is Charlie.” Petal shook their hands and they exchanged nice-to-meet-you platitudes.

  Petal turned to me and grinned. I placed my arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze as Lucy and Pam told her how well she’d done and Sabrina leaned around me to squeeze her hand.

  “We’re working on her confidence,” I explained.

  “Well, you came across self-possessed,” Charlie complimented her.

  “I don’t like this new Bridget,” Pete said, swirling his fork in my direction while eyeing my housemates. “The eyeliner. The being nice to people. The hugging. I don’t understand her.”

  “So what are we doing about the dead guy Bridget found last night?” Lucy asked.

  Pete nodded. “Ohhh. Now I see what’s happened. You’ve spread your crazy around.”

  “Are you always this rude?” Petal asked Pete.

  “I prefer to think of it as being direct,” Pete said, combating Petal’s frown with a smile before stuffing some sort of chicken wrap in his mouth.

  “Charlie? Pete?” A man in a grey jumpsuit of the fully trained facilitators hovered at the head of our table.

  “Hi, Matt, everything alright?” Charlie asked.

  “Maybe. Ma
ybe not. There’s a mandatory meeting for all facilitators starting in a few minutes.” Matt gestured around the hall to the mass migration of grey and mauve jumpsuits.

  “When was this organised?” Pete asked, packing up his tray.

  Matt shrugged. “We only found out about it a few minutes ago. It’s in conference room B. Can you let any other facilitators know on your way?”

  “Sure thing.” Charlie got up and nodded around the table. “Ladies, it was a pleasure.”

  “Do you know what it’s about?” Pete asked Matt as he followed Charlie to his feet.

  “Guess we’ll find out in a few minutes,” Matt said before he walked to the next table of facilitators and repeated the same message.

  Pete pointed his half eaten wrap at me. “This is to do with your dead guy. Do not investigate this. You have no reason. This will end poorly for you.”

  “Right, because normally it ends in sunshine and rainbows,” I retorted.

  “I mean it,” Pete called over his shoulder as he and Charlie headed to dump their trays and leave the canteen.

  “We’re still going to investigate this, right?” Sabrina asked. “That meeting has made it all the more fascinating.”

  “Can we get back to who Wallace might be, why Jeremy would have a contact and what that would mean?” I asked and nodded in answer to Sabrina’s first question.

  “Mediums occasionally have contact with GBs because they can provide valuable information,” Petal explained.

  Sabrina and I stared at Petal while Pam and Lucy continued to eat, unperturbed by this revelation.

  “How do you know this, Petal?” I asked.

  Petal checked over both shoulders to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. “I’m an interdepartmental facilitator.”

  “What does that mean?” I whispered back.

  “It means that anytime anyone needs official contact with someone in another department they have to file a request. Petal’s department sorts those requests. Right?” Sabrina asked and Petal nodded while slurping her juice through a straw. “So, really, since there was no Wallace on the list of people who were at your shopping trip then Petal is perfectly placed to snoop though Jeremy’s file and find out who Wallace is.”

  “I already checked the files this morning on the off chance and Jeremy’s wasn’t there,” Petal said before I could explain how not okay with this I was. Questioning a murderer somehow seemed less dangerous than snooping through some super-secret set of files. Realistically, it was probably the other way around. But since I had no idea how these offices operated, I couldn’t help Petal if she got caught. And Oz would kill me.