“All of the patient files were wiped clean. They had to be restored from the paper files. But even after that, when I tried to access Thomas Faraday’s file again, it was gone, including the backup. Whoever took it also took John’s file. Neither one of them exists now in our database.”
“Oh, crap.” Had the ghost been telling the truth? Was it possible my Faraday was in trouble?
I nodded just as the door behind me burst open, bouncing off the wall. Roni tossed me my keys. “I borrowed your car.”
“Without asking?” I asked.
She jogged up the stairs, stopping at the top, and glanced back down. “And your boyfriend is a stalker.”
Roni blew out of view the same way she’d entered, and I turned to Doc Stone. “Remember those complications? She’s one of them.”
“She seems like a handful,” he said.
“She’s apparently some long lost underage cousin I never knew I had.”
“Ah yes. Your family is good at keeping secrets.”
I should have been offended, but I’d be lying. My family was good at keeping secrets. Insight, the machine that let everyone in the room see the visions in my head when I was trying to solve cold cases, was one of them. Those times were more like a distant memory.
“Thank you for coming, and again, I apologize for not letting you know. I’ll be sure and call Faraday and have him call you.”
“No problem, dear. Just call when you’re ready to get back to work.”
Work. I smiled, even though my stomach turned at the thought. Using Insight and experimenting with recipes hardly made me smile anymore.
I walked Doc Stone to the door and waved him goodbye as he slipped into his car.
West honked as he passed Doc Stone and stopped in the driveway. He and Freddie got out carrying a bag from the hunting supply store in town.
“You get the locks?” I asked as they approached.
“Yeah, but we might need to put them on everything seeing how Veronica stole your car.”
“You just got here. How did you know that?”
They walked up the steps and stopped on the veranda. “We followed her.”
I glanced between them. “And? Was she up to something shady? Maybe some satanic ritual? Or was it more like feeding the unicorns?”
“She went to see a douche bag,” Freddie answered. “He’s lucky he’s still alive.”
Freddie headed into the house, and West pulled me into his arms and held me. His gaze was penetrating as he stared down at me. “She stole your car.”
“She stole my car,” I whispered back.
“She see’s ghosts,” he said as though it was something I didn’t know.
“Yes, she does.”
“I wonder if we can talk the chief into letting us borrow an ankle monitor during her stay.”
“It’s just the beginning.”
“I’m afraid you may be right,” he answered and lowered his lips to mine.
West linked his fingers with mine and led me to the swing, pulling me down to sit on his lap. “If she was ours, she’d be grounded. What do you plan to do?”
“I guess I need to set some ground rules.” I sighed. Veronica was going to be trouble, but I was more worried about what might be coming.
West ran his finger over my creased brow. “What’s troubling you, luv? It won’t be that bad.”
“Doc Stone thinks Thomas Faraday’s death was a homicide.”
West tucked my hair behind my ear. “I’m not surprised. He was a bad guy.”
“One of the ghosts from the police station was Thomas Faraday. He tried to warn me that Faraday was in danger.”
“Did you believe him?”
“Not at the time, but I do now. Both Faradays’ medical files were stolen from the hospital. What if someone took Faraday’s file to get the address?”
The rocking stopped. “Are you saying the killer might be coming here in search of Faraday?”
I shrugged. That was all I could do. Without using Insight to tune in and find out who it was to give the police a lead, we were all somewhat in the dark.
“That’s unacceptable,” West said.
“Better here than the killer finding Faraday in Florida. He’s all alone. At least here, you and Freddie have my back.”
West lowered me to my feet and rose. He slowly gazed around the yard. “That changes things. We need to figure out who killed that SOB before they come here looking for Faraday.”
“Be on the offensive. I like it.”
West cupped my cheeks. “You use Insight and find him, and Freddie and I will handle this. Not you. Not this time.”
“What’s insight?” Veronica asked, leaning against the doorframe. “Is that like a drug?”
Chapter 7
I gestured to a chair and West made himself scarce. I didn’t know as much about Veronica as I needed. I opened my receptors focusing on whether goosebumps appeared on my arms.
“Do you do drugs?”
She gawked but didn’t answer.
“Answer me.”
“No, okay. I don’t do drugs, but I’ve tried them once a few years ago. Are you happy?”
Goosebumps. Truth.
I sighed in relief.
“Do you steal?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “You know, I get what you’re doing. You’re trying to change the subject.”
“Answer the question.”
“I have stolen before but you already know that. The cops told you.”
Goosebumps.
“Do you want to stay here?”
“Until I’m eighteen then I’m leaving and I’ll be out of your hair. Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble the rest of the time I’m here.” She growled.
Goosebumps. “I believe you so I’m going to tell you about Insight.”
I spent the next hour explaining what Insight was to Veronica. I’d expected some type of skepticism, but that wasn’t how she acted. It was more like a kid at Christmas ready to open and play with her favorite gift.
“Can I use it? I mean…not that I want to, but if I can see the dead, could I try?” Veronica asked.
“It’s not a toy. It’s dangerous unless a doctor is monitoring your vitals. It’s how my father died.”
Veronica leaned back in her seat. “But you use it…to help solve crimes?”
“Yeah. I’ve helped solve a few,” I answered.
“You mentioned using it to find a killer. Can I watch to see how it works?”
I sat forward and clasped my hands together. “Faraday is an old family friend that used to live here. He moved when his brother, Thomas died. He was the one haunting the police station that I was trying to get answers from before you saged him out of the building. I need to find Thomas’s killer before Faraday gets in the crosshairs. Today I found out that there was some truth to Thomas’s warning.”
“So call your friend and tell him.” She shrugged.
“It gets worse. The Lady Blue plantation was Faraday’s last recorded address.”
She slowly rose from her chair. “Are you saying I’m in danger?”
“I’m not sure. Would you rather go into foster care?”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I know how to take care of myself.”
“If it’s all the same, until we know who and what we’re dealing with, I’d appreciate it if you don’t go sneaking off anymore.”
“Seriously?”
I rose from my seat. “Seriously,” I said and started to walk out. Pausing at the last minute, I glanced over my shoulder. “You taking my Jeep wasn’t kosher.”
She shrugged. “I needed to see a friend.”
I nodded. “And I need to know I can trust you. Besides I would have let you borrow it if you’d just asked.”
I walked out on her and let my words sink it. Veronica had a lot to take in. I wasn’t claiming to be perfect. God knew when I was her age, I wasn’t even close, but she was a Blue, and because of that, I was willing to
try.
West Archer
Chapter 8
West and Freddie stood quietly outside the kitchen watching Cree.
“She’s trying to figure out a new recipe,” Freddie said. It wasn’t that Cree cooking would normally be something to worry about, but she’d been at it for hours and she’d tossed a mountain of sugar sweets into the trash.
“Looks like it. I tried to talk to her, and she held up a spatula to my face,” West said.
Freddie spared him a worried look and then turned his gaze back into the kitchen. “Something’s wrong with her.”
West nodded. “Seems so.”
“What are you two looking at?” Veronica asked, pushing her way into the doorway just in time to watch Cree violently digging a stuck cake out of the pan. She’d tossed half of it into the garbage when Veronica stopped her, tore off a piece of the cake, and plopped it into her mouth. “Delicious, but you know what would make it better?”
Cree narrowed her eyes, and West held his breath. No one told Cree how to fix her desserts. The teen was touching on sacred territory and didn’t even know it.
“Are you going to stop her?” Freddie asked.
West shook his head.
Cree tossed the Bundt cake pan on the counter. “What? Tell me what you think would make it better.”
She rested her hand on her hip.
“God, don’t get your panties in a twist. My Grams taught me how to bake. It’s good. It’s just missing that extra kick.” Veronica walked to the fridge and pulled out a lemon and tossed it at Cree. “Next time squeeze some of that in your batter.”
“If you can do better, go for it.” Cree tossed the lemon into the sink and headed for the doorway. West and Freddie were quick to move out of the way to let her pass.
Veronica picked at the remaining cake in the pan and met West’s gaze. “Was it something I said?”
“When she’s upset or worried, she bakes. It’s what she does. It’s best just to stay out of her way until she mentally works through whatever her issue is,” West answered.
“What’s to work out? Bad guy is after her friend, and she thinks he’s coming here to look for him. Why doesn’t she just use Insight and take the fight to him? That’s what I would do.”
“She needs something personal of the crime or the victim. Some way to tap into the energy of the crime.”
Freddie glanced at West. “So we find something personal she can use of Thomas Faraday’s and get a read on the killer, and between both of us, we could eliminate the threat.”
“What threat?” Charlotte asked from behind, pushing her way past the guys and into the kitchen.
She gasped as she surveyed the mess that Cree had left.
“This is bad.” She spun around. “She hasn’t cooked like this since…”
“Since when?” Freddie asked, pulling Charlotte into his arms and kissing the top of her head.
“Since the last time she didn’t send one of her anonymous letters in time to save that person’s life. She blamed herself for his death.” She stepped out of Freddie’s embrace. “You guys don’t understand. The last time she was like this, she gave up on cooking for an entire year and started using Insight daily to make up for that person’s death. She’ll get fixated, and we all know how stubborn she can be. I have to talk to her.”
Charlotte jogged out of the kitchen.
“What’s the big deal with Cree using Insight every day?”
“It messes with her body to start with, and it messes with her mind. She becomes so focused she doesn’t care if she gets hurt trying to solve the case,” West answered.
“It throws her Zen out of balance,” Freddie said. “It would be like a bipolar person not taking their meds.”
That was an understatement. This was no longer a threat against Faraday; it was a threat against Cree’s sanity.
“What was the ghost saying when you got rid of him?” West asked, stepping into the kitchen.
“Something about a letter. His brother needed to read it. His life depended on it. That was all he said before I saged him out of the room.”
“We need to read that letter,” Freddie said, echoing West’s thoughts.
“Only one problem with that.” West crossed his arms over his chest. “She put it in the safe.”
“I can help with that,” Veronica announced.
“Great,” Freddie agreed.
“We aren’t breaking into the safe and losing her trust.” West sighed. “We’ll just ask her to see it.”
Veronica shrugged. “Whatever.” She glanced around the kitchen. “I guess if we plan to eat dinner, I’ll be cooking. Unless you think she’s going to stab me with a kitchen knife for using her pots and pans.”
Freddie laughed, but West didn’t. He knew better. When Cree was off her rocker, there was always a chance she’d do something unexpected. “Cook at your own risk.”
West walked out in search of Cree.
Chapter 9
I was in the library when Charlotte walked in. “Hon…what are you doing?”
“I’m looking for answers.” I punched the digits into the safe and placed my thumb onto the reader to verify my fingerprint. The light on the panel turned green, and I yanked it open and took the letter out before shutting it. “Faraday’s brother was insistent that he read this letter. It could contain clues.”
“Is that the letter Moreno delivered at the wake?” she asked, following me to the desk, where I sat down in my dad’s old leather chair.
“Yep. Faraday refused to read it, and I was keeping it for him in case he changed his mind.”
I’d no sooner grabbed the letter opener than Charlotte rested her hand over mine. “If Moreno was involved, you can’t trust whatever it says.”
I glanced up at my best friend, ignoring the tightening knots in my stomach. “I don’t have a choice. Not this time.”
“Cree. You know I love you and that old man, but there’s no turning back when you read it. You’ll never be able to let it go. I know you. So think about it.”
I brushed her hand off mine and slid the letter opener beneath the flap and cut it open. “Someone has to take care of this mess. I tried to call Faraday six times and he hasn’t returned my call.”
“You have more than yourself to worry about now. You are the guardian of a seventeen-year-old that needs you not to get hurt.”
“I’m a temporary guardian but that is exactly why I need to do this.” I rose from my chair, meeting my best friend’s gaze head-on. “What if they come here since it was Faraday’s last address? What if this thug”—my voice rose with each syllable—“comes here, and she gets hurt because of this crap? That’s on me, Charlotte. That’s all on me.”
“You don’t have to do this by yourself, Cree. I know you like to try and solve this stuff by yourself so no one will get hurt, but You.Are.Not.Alone,” Charlotte hugged me tightly.
Immediately, all that pent-up aggravation and stress, which had my shoulders tight and my recipes a disaster, whooshed from my body. I took that minute to embrace her words. She was right. I wasn’t alone, not anymore.
“Thank you,” I whispered as she let me go.
“For what?” she asked.
“For being my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She shrugged. “You’d be running around like some hormonal deranged woman off her meds. Now, how about you let us help you through this? Between me and the guys, we can work this out.”
“You’re right.” I grinned and wrapped my arm around hers, heading out of the office with the letter in hand. “It could always be worse.”
“Amen. You could be pregnant,” Charlotte said with a chuckle.
She didn’t know how true that statement could be. I was five days late, and I was never late.
I shoved the thought aside, attributing my lateness to the stress fest I’d been under. Heck, a funeral and saying goodbye to Faraday was enough to cause me to be late. Top that with a homeless cou
sin that I never knew about, it was no wonder I wasn’t laid up in bed depressed or doing crazy face paintings.
“I need to call Faraday again. I swear to God when all of this is over. I’m putting a GPS locator on that old man.”
Chapter 10
I slipped my phone out of my pocket and stepped out on the porch. I let out a tired sigh while I debated how exactly Faraday was going to take the news.
Finding his brother’s killers was like pouring salt into a still open wound without the benefit of a margarita. If I didn’t tell him, and the killer knew where Faraday’s new digs were in Florida, then he’d be unprepared for that type of threat and the only backup he’d have was sunscreen to squeeze in the killer's eyes. My choices were limited.
I dialed his number.
“Cree, is everything okay?
I hesitated just a second longer than I should have.
“What is it? Just tell me.”
“Your brother—”
“Stop right there,” he said. “I don’t care about my brother.”
I leaned my head back on the swing. “What I say is going to matter to you. You need to hear me out.”
“No. I don’t,” the stubborn ox argued.
“You could be in danger,” I argued back, and the line went eerily silent.
“Listen to me.” He cleared his throat. “I’m a cop. I’ll deal with any thugs that come my way, just like I always have. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine, Cree.”
“This is no joke. You were already attacked once before, and someone blew up your house. I need you to be okay.” I sighed.
There was no arguing with Faraday. It was his stubbornness that had kept him alive for sixty-five years. “Promise me you’ll watch your back.”
“I promise,” he whispered. “If anyone comes sniffing around, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb in this community. I’ll just shoot anyone under the age of sixty. I’ve got to go…I’ll call you later when I have more time to chat.”
“Fine.” I sighed. “You know, maybe I should send Freddie to visit.”
“Not on your life,” he grumbled. “I’m fine, Cree. Now go harass your other live-ins. I’m not your problem anymore.”
Deadly Ties Page 3