Digging For Trouble

by K. J. Emrick

  And yet, Kevin didn’t seem bothered at all. “No. Not for now. Remember what happened with Antonio Ferarro. Once we arrested him for attempted murder, the crime family denied even knowing him. Last I heard, he was having a hard time of it in jail. Same thing’ll happen here with Danetha Alexis, I’m sure. The ‘Ndrangheta aren’t stupid. They won’t try anything else yet.”

  “For now, you mean.”

  “Right.” He tried for a smile, but it wasn’t very reassuring. “I already reached out to the Federal cops. I’ll make sure they keep an ear out. If they hear anything’s up, any danger coming our way, they’ll tell us.”

  I looked down the hall, to where the interview room stood open so that we could hear if the hit woman tried to get out of the cuffs that held her in place at the table. Further back in the building, Myles would still be in his cell, waiting for Bruce Kay to figure out he was only inviting a lawsuit if he wasn’t released soon.

  “This case is getting complicated,” I muttered. “Started out as just a simple assault, remember?”

  “I do.” Kevin took out his notebook from his pocket and turned a few pages. “Less than an assault, really. Just Arthur wandering around like a maniac digging holes.”

  “Any idea what he was looking for yet?”

  “Not yet. Might have an idea where the thingo is, though.” He turned the notebook for me to see. “Got all the coordinates from those jars figured out. Leaves one big blank space in Arthur’s property unaccounted for. I’m guessing that’s where those missing jars woulda come from. Meaning, whatever is so important to Myles and the ‘Ndrangheta and Arthur, it’s right here.”

  He tapped the blank spot in his little hand-drawn map with a finger.

  “How big an area?” I asked.

  “Heh. About an acre, give or take.”

  “Kevin! That’s a big chunk of land.”

  “Nah,” he drawled. “Just take a day or so to go through.”

  I’m not sure I believed him, especially since we still weren’t sure what we were looking for. “But what’s the ‘Ndrangheta’s interest with it? Denice... I mean, Danetha, was definitely in town because of this property. She said I was asking all the wrong questions, and the only thing I’ve been asking around about is this here.”

  “You had me look into Danetha’s real identity,” he reminded me.

  “Yes, but she said it was more than that. She wasn’t happy that we’d found her out, that’s true, but that wasn’t all of it. No, she’s here about this land. We need to get out there and find out what’s going on.”

  He made a face, scratching behind one ear. “I’ll ask the fire department to help out. Those guys love to do stuff like this.”

  The unspoken message there, the thing Kevin wasn’t saying, was that he’d have to ask for help from the fire department because he couldn’t expect help from his fellow officers. Especially not Bruce Kay or Senior Sergeant Cutter.

  With that settled, there was just one more question on my mind. I looked back down the hallway, imagining the dark beauty of Danetha Alexis staring back at me through the intervening walls. “She’s not Arthur’s daughter, is she?”

  “No,” he said right away. “She’s not. I haven’t gotten anywhere with that, but it really doesn’t matter. She tried to kill ya. Fired a gun in a place where people might have gotten hurt. Australia takes a dim view of both of them things. I’m sure she’s the one that attacked Arthur, too. Left her lipstick on the cup. Might never be able to prove it but I don’t really have to. She’ll go away to prison for the rest of her natural life. Arthur’ll get his justice that way.”

  It made sense, when he put it that way, but still... “Why didn’t she kill Arthur? She wasn’t going to kill me when she first got to the Inn, but when she’d made up her mind to do it she didn’t hesitate. Why’d she hit him and let him go wandering off? She has a gun. Why not just shoot him?”

  Kevin shrugged helplessly. “Don’t know. Like I said, might never know all of it.”

  It didn’t make sense. There was something else we were missing. We had almost every piece of the puzzle now, so why couldn’t I see the whole picture?

  “Look, Mom, why don’t ya go back to the Inn and get some sleep? Um. Maybe have James come with you?”

  I couldn’t help the blush that warmed my cheeks. “Well. Maybe I will. Just to keep me safe.”

  Kevin didn’t say anything to that. Yup. He gets his smarts from me.

  “Got something I need ya to do for me,” he added. “We won’t have the warrant for Danetha’s room at your Inn until maybe tomorrow morning. Judge is off watching his grandson’s football game. Doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

  Small town justice, I muttered to myself.

  Putting his notebook away, Kevin walked me to the door. “In the meantime, the owner of the Inn could do a room check to make sure everything was all right. If ya happen to find the missing jars from Arthur’s, well. You’d have to call the police, wouldn’t ya?”

  “Sounds almost legal,” I teased.

  “Hey, I’m a police officer, aren’t I? Have to stay within the law.”

  He finally made me laugh, and I think we both felt better for it. “I’ll do it,” I promised, “if you do something for me, too. I want to give you all the names of my guests. I want you to check each of them, and make sure we don’t have another hired killer hiding in plain sight.”

  Kevin’s eyes got a little wider. He hadn’t thought of that one. “Right. That’s... a good idea. Get those to me as soon as ya get back, okay?”

  “Might take me a bit to get back to the Inn.”

  “No it won’t.”

  He opened the front doors, and there in the parking lot was James Callahan, harassing Bruce Kay with question after question. Bruce saw us coming, and scowled, and stalked off to his car.

  James flashed a winning smile at me.

  “Took the liberty of calling him earlier,” Kevin explained. “Knew you’d agree to have him stay with you for the night. Quicker just to have him here waiting.”

  I really love my son. “This gives James a scoop on this story, doesn’t it?”

  “Heh. He’s already pried all the info outta me that he could. And I was happy to give it. Trust me.”

  That was my James. I might have to kiss him just for scaring off Bruce Kay. I pictured the night ahead, with James asking me question after question and me spending hours telling him the whole story again and again.

  Then, falling asleep in his arms.

  I liked that idea.

  With another quick hug for Kevin, and a motherly warning for him to watch out and stay safe, I got into the car with James and we started back for the Inn.

  Surprisingly, the only thing he asked me was if I was all right. I told him I was, and then I started to go into the story, starting with the call from Kevin about Denice not being Denice.

  His hand came over to rest close to my knee. “Hey,” he said in a gentle tone. “Only if ya want to tell me. I’m not here as a reporter. This is James Callahan, your boyfriend sitting here, okay? Not James Callahan, ace reporter.”

  I didn’t even know the tears were there until they started to fall.

  We had been parked in front of the Inn for a while before the tears stopped and my story was done. I was leaning over into his arms, and everything was just perfect. I'd been shot at, watched a ghostly version of myself get killed, and found out a dead man from the 1800s was floating around my Inn. It had been a slog of a day, and that was the God’s honest truth.

  But here, in this moment, everything was right.

  “I love you,” I murmured, the words bubbling up out of me of their own accord.

  In romance novels, the guy always hesitates before he says the words back to the girl. Like it’s so hard for them to show their feelings, or commit themselves, or whatever. James didn’t have that problem. Must be he didn’t read a lot of Debbie Macomber.

  “I love you, too,” he whispered back.

  Eve
ntually, we went into the Inn. The place was deserted. Nobody in the lobby, nobody in the commons room or the dining area. Suited me just fine. Going in, I paused at the front door to look at the damage Danetha’s bullet had done to the doorframe. James brought out his mobile and took a few pictures of the splintered wood. I figure that would show up in the paper tomorrow, just like... oh, the window in the commons room! That would need to be attended to. Boarded up, at least for now, until we could get a replacement. I sighed, heading over to the registration desk.

  “I’m sorry, James. I just remembered how much work I have to do.”

  “Like the window,” he said, pointing off to the commons room where the wind blew at the curtains, and glass still littered the floor. “Tell ya what. Point me to a broom, and I’ll sweep that up while ya make your calls and whatnot.”

  “Thanks,” I told him with more emotion than that simple phrase could convey. I didn’t have the words to tell him how I really felt. I’d already done that, out there in his car.

  Love. We’d both said it now. No going back. Months of dating, dancing closer and closer to our real feelings for each other, all leading us up to this moment. Now I was all giddy inside with butterflies. We’d said the words.

  So what did they mean for us?

  Guess that was for us to figure out.

  For now I needed to call George in and have him fix up that window. I could hear James in there, snapping pics and sweeping the glass up, the tinkling shards jarring my already strained nerves. I used the phone at the registration desk because I had to write down the names of my guests for Kevin anyway. Figured I might as well write down their addresses and such, too, because if he was going to check each one of them out then he’d need more to go on than “Jillian Levison” or “Gregory McLear.”

  I didn’t know how my guests would feel about having themselves checked over by the police, even if none of them were likely to ever know anything about it, and for a moment I hesitated in making my list, worrying that I was violating their confidence somehow. Then I remembered the sound of the bullet as it struck the door over there right next to my head, and I figured if any of them had an issue with it they could come discuss the matter with me directly. I’d give them an earful about it. If there was another killer in these names somewhere then we needed to know. And if there wasn’t, well, then I could make all the apologies they wanted after the fact.

  Just another part of the service here at the Pine Lake Inn.

  I suppose I could just go up to every one of my guests and ask them if they were a cold blooded killer, but somehow I doubted that would get us the answers we needed.

  George answered his line as I was still writing down names, and I filled him in on what I needed. I had to tell him at least a little of the story, and he very eloquently put his feelings into words that left my ears burning. I didn’t know George had it in him.

  He promised to be right over, and I went back to something on my list.

  This... didn’t make sense.

  If this name went with that address, and that payment information...

  Oh.

  I was still thinking about what I’d just seen, the thing that had been right in front of me the whole time, when the phone rang. I picked it up reflexively.

  You think I’d learn.

  “G’day, Pine Lake Inn.”

  “...upstairs...in your room...”

  Static filled the line after that, and then the call cut out and there was only the dial tone.

  I lifted my eyes up to the ceiling, to the floors above me. My room was up on the third floor.

  And the ghostly voice on the line was calling from up there.

  No sense in questioning myself whether I’d heard the voice or not. I’m past that, now. Don’t fully understand why I’m able to see and hear the spirits of the dead, but I can. It’s just a fact about Dell Powers. Doesn’t make me who I am.

  But I bet it’s really gonna change things up in my life from now on.

  “Uh, James,” I called in to him, “I need to run upstairs. If George comes in, show him the damage, won’t you?”

  “Want me to come up with ya?” he asked, pausing his broom.

  “No, no,” I said, maybe just a little too quickly. “I’m just running up to my room. To change. That’s all. If anyone jumps me I’ve got my cell with me this time.”

  Right I was going to meet with a disembodied ghostly voice. I could just imagine what it would sound like if I had to make a phone call.

  Who you gonna call?

  James looked like he didn’t quite believe me, but he only nodded his head and went back to cleaning up. I darted for the stairs before he could change his mind and insist on being chivalrous. I needed to do this.

  Alone.

  The hallways were empty, just like the lobby and dining room had been. Probably, everyone had gone back to their rooms, safe behind locked doors, to Facebook and text about all the excitement. That was the age we lived in, after all. The Inn would be famous all over again. More power to them, I say. Living this day was enough excitement for me. I don’t need to post about it.

  I had the door to my room locked, like usual. I wondered, as I got out my key, who I’d see inside. Not Jess. The voice on the phone had been a man’s. I could hear that much. Lachlan? Perhaps. Why call me, when he could just pop up wherever he liked? How do ghosts use phones, anyway? Is there an area code for the afterlife? Couldn’t be.

  Could there?

  When I looked up to fit the key to the lock, there he was. Lachlan Halliburton, standing all smug with his shoulder leaning up against the wall and his smile showing ghastly white teeth.

  “You,” I snapped.

  He seemed a little disappointed that I didn’t spook and scream like a frightened little girl over his parlor tricks. Maybe I’d just been through too much today to have something like this bother me.

  Being nearly shot and then garroted to death can do that to a person, I suppose.

  So can hearing your boyfriend say he loves you for the first time.

  I sighed, and put the key away. At this end of the hallway there was just my room, but I still kept my voice down in case anyone was listening through their doors. “Look, Lachlan. I appreciate what you did for me today. Um. Thank you, I guess.”

  His expression fluttered between surprised, then confused, then angry. His eyes flashed and his features twisted and his teeth grew longer, into sharply pointed fangs, and he reached out for me—

  “Now, I’ll have none of that!” I snapped.

  He shrank back down to himself. He wasn’t much taller than I was, I realized, even as a ghost. He blinked at me, and tried to shape his face into that terrible mask again, but it failed almost immediately. I don’t know why, but for some reason he was compelled to do what I told him to. If I told him to behave, he couldn’t go full out creep show no matter how badly he wanted to.

  Interesting.

  “Now, listen to me,” I told him sternly. “I know all about you, Lachlan Halliburton. I know about you being this gentleman thief back in the day, and all about how you were this master at disguises or whatever. Well. This is my Inn. If you’re going to stay here then you’re going to have to make your peace with that. The Pine Lake Inn is mine. No more popping up as other people unless I give you permission. No more knocking on people’s walls and being a bother, got that?”

  He pouted. Actually pouted, like he was a child, and kicked a ghostly foot at the floor.

  Almost felt sorry for him. After all, he did save me today.

  The thing was, I know he didn’t do that just for me. That wasn’t who Lachlan was. He was selfish, and self-centered, and that whole scene down by the lake where he’d done a turn as me was just so he could show off how good he was. How talented.

  Well, he was good. No doubt, but like I told him this was my Inn. He was going to have to live by my rules.

  “Look, Lachlan. You were a gentleman thief. That means you never hurt anyone, right? At le
ast, not on purpose. I’m not going to let you go ‘round scaring the life out of my guests now. Me either. And I know your brother killed you and that’s a tough break and all, but you will not go around bothering my guests. Lay off, or so help me God I’ll make you turn into Scooby Doo and build you a blooming doghouse to sleep in.”

  For just a flicker, his face was a long, goofy dog’s face, all silly smile and drooping ears, and then Lachlan had control of himself again. He stared daggers at me, for a long moment, but then he stood very straight and tugged on the edges of his sleeves and shrugged like it was no matter to him.

  “Good. Now. Why’d you want to see me up here?”

  He stared at me, his head tilting to one side.

  “Don’t be coy. You called me up here.”

  Pursing his lips, he shook his head, tugged at his sleeves again, and then tipped his fingers to his temple in a salute goodbye.

  He took a step to his left and was gone.

  He was going to be trouble, that one. I could see that. Well. I’d make good on my threat to keep him as a pet and feed him Scooby snacks if he didn’t mind himself. I was more concerned about the other thing, though.

  Lachlan wasn’t the one who called me.

  If not him, then who?

  I looked back at my room. In my room, the voice had said. Lachlan had been out here.

  The voice was in my room.

  Taking out my key again I got the door open and went inside, not knowing what I’d find.

  Nothing. That’s what I found. “Hello?” I called out, but there was no one here. Not out here in the bedroom, not in my little closet, not in the bathroom. No one. Just my stuff and my pile of laundry and my empty space. Whoever had been here, they were gone now. My little diversion with Lachlan had kept me from getting here in time.

  Fantastic. Maybe I’d make Mister Gentleman Thief turn into a Care Bear instead.

  Still, in the room here, especially closer to my bed, there was this feeling. A tingle on my skin. This sense of something... safe, I guess. Comforting. Familiar.

  Definitely not Lachlan.