Darker than Dark (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  “Sounds like I missed one hell of a party. You PEEPs held together and did an amazing thing. Has anyone thought to go into the foundations of the barn and see what’s what?” she asked.

  “No, I think we’re scared. Don’t tell the customers.”

  “Secret’s safe with me. I’m really sorry about bailing on you guys yesterday.”

  “We didn’t know what happened. Angelo didn’t call. Burt contacted Father Santos, and it took forever for him to get back to us. What happened, Mia my?”

  “I remember sitting in front of the console daydreaming, and the next I knew I was in an operating theater of some kind. Then here. I must have had something wrong with my brain because when I look at myself I look different.”

  “Oregano in the teeth can do that. Are you sure it wasn’t pot?”

  Mia burst into a bevy of giggles. “I don’t know. I’ve never had any.”

  “Have you called Whit?”

  “Who?”

  “Whitney Martin,” Ted clarified.

  “Why?”

  “He’s your boyfriend.”

  “Is he? Damn, how did I miss that?” Mia said sounding confused.

  “You’ve been dating since the Field Museum investigation.”

  “Ted, I remember the investigation, and I get bits and pieces of things. Gee, I must have blown a chunk of my memories out my nose.”

  “What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning?”

  “I was hungry, and I wanted to talk to you.”

  Ted felt a warm rush.

  “Something about working on forgiving my mother and black wings,” she added.

  “That’s an interesting group of things. Yep, you must have gotten high last night. Or had anesthesia. My mother can’t remember the afternoon after she had a procedure because of the anesthesia,” he explained.

  “It feels like areas of my memory are fading. Things that have emotions attached to them. Like Burt. I can’t remember anything but him being a friend and, well, you know. Whitney, not much there except a crush I had on him when I was a kid. Murphy too, there are things I can remember, but the emotions are muted. It’s kind of scary.”

  “Do you want me to come over?”

  “Could you?”

  Ted was surprised by this. The old Mia would have laughed this off and insisted she could take care of herself. Whatever happened to her yesterday brought out her vulnerability.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ve been up all night and…”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve smelled you before. Just hurry,” she said before hanging up.

  Ted moved as if in a daze. He had to find Burt or Mike or someone. He heard Burt’s voice and followed it to find him and Mike in Martha’s den.

  “Mia just called. She’s confused but alright.”

  He could see relief on both of their faces. “I’m going to head over there and, well, make an ass of myself,” he admitted.

  Mike tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile. “You do that. We have things under control here. Did she say where she was?”

  “She has release paperwork from some kind of hospital that she doesn’t remember being in. Oregano in her teeth. And doesn’t know how she ended up at home,” Ted finished his list.

  “Anesthesia,” Burt and Mike said in chorus.

  “That’s what I thought. Anyway, I’ll take the horse van and get back as soon as I can,” he half promised.

  “Aside from another surprise attack, I think we’ve got it covered here,” Burt said. “Give Mia our,” he hesitated a moment as if changing his mind and finished with, “best wishes.”

  Mike looked at him oddly but patted Ted on the back. “Go get her tiger, before that cop shows up.”

  Ted left the room. Burt and Mike looked at each other and were silent for a moment. Each was lost in their thoughts. They heard the slam of the front door and the sound of a cold engine turning over.

  “The kid’s got it bad,” Mike said.

  “Do you think it’s a crush?” Burt asked. “I mean Mia is, well, Mia.”

  “She flirts with everyone but is loyal to the guy she is with at the time. She never strayed from you, Burt. Seems to me she held off others when the cop swept her off her feet. The Mia I know won’t lead Ted on. I think the kid’s in love. I think Mia is reaching out for her friend,” Mike said thoughtfully.

  “Murphy,” Burt blurted out. “Mia cheated on me with Murphy.”

  “Whoa, big fella, say again?”

  “Mia admitted that Murphy kissed her prior to our breakup.”

  “Is that even possible?” Mike questioned.

  “Something about ley lines, and hell I don’t know. But she felt guilty enough to not fight for our relationship when I called it quits.”

  “She tell you this in confidence?” Mike asked.

  “Probably.” Burt winced. “You won’t…”

  “Nah, I’ll keep it to myself. So that dog Murphy put the moves on Mia. He’s got to be 150 years older than her,” Mike said and realized what he said and chuckled. “He must have cosmic balls.”

  “She apologized to me, and we’re fine. Oh speaking of fine, did you and Beth talk?”

  “Nah, I yelled and she yelled back. She maintains she did nothing wrong. And in the light of another day, maybe she didn’t do anything worse than Ted did. We are human and our emotions get in the way. At least that’s what Ma says. Last night we pulled together, and I saw parts of the old courageous Beth back.”

  “That’s good. Females, huh.”

  “Females,” Mike agreed.

  ~

  Ted left the horse van across the apron of the drive as it was too wide to get beyond the gates. He pocketed the keys and waited for Mia to open the gate. He kept looking over his shoulder as if he expected Whit to drive up at any moment. The gate opened and Ted slipped inside. He walked as quickly as was dignified to Mia’s door. She was waiting for him.

  “You got here fast,” she said opening the door. She closed it, staring up at him.

  His stomach knotted. He managed, “The bat mobile was in the shop so I brought the rental.” He watched as tears brimmed her eyes. “Minnie Mouse, what’s the matter?”

  She reached her arms up to him. “I’m so scared.”

  He picked her up in his arms and walked over to the couch listening.

  “I can’t remember things. My emotions are fucked up.”

  He fought the war of friend versus horny tech and friend won. “Let’s see if we can figure this out, together. He set her on the couch and sat down next to her. “I’ll tell you the little I know, and you’re going to have to ask others to fill in the missing pieces.”

  She crawled into his lap, and he put his arms around her.

  “Or we could just sit like this, but I’ve got to warn you I’m not made of stone.”

  Mia struggled with trying to put into words what she was feeling. “Picture that you just wrote a list down and decided against a few things so you erase them, but you can still see the impression of the letters. Burt, Whit and Murphy are just impressions to me, like someone has tried to erase the memories I have of being with them other than the ghost hunts.”

  “You and Burt kind of fell in together when we first came here. I think you and he had a lot of fun together, but the relationship ran its course and you two eventually called it quits. There was a lot of pissiness on Burt’s part and you had your own bits of anger, but you seemed to resolve it enough to be able to work with each other. Now Whit, you’ve been stuck on him since, I don’t know, grade school? Anyway, after he lost his wife, he kind of turned on you. This opened the door for old Burt, but I digress. He came back into town and decided that he’d like to give you a go. Shit. Sorry, jaded. You too got together in Chicago and broke my heart. There I was being a gentleman and the cop walks in and fucks it and you up. Do I sound negative?”

  Mia looked up at him and nodded. “Go on.”

  “I think you’re dating still. You haven�
�t really broadcasted the particulars, but you wouldn’t as you are sensitive knowing I have a major hard on for you.”

  “K.”

  “Murphy, um. I don’t know anything, but he seems to have a vested interest in keeping you alive which I approve of. I can tell you love him, but whether you are in love with him is another matter. I know that if I am going to stand a chance with you, I have to accept Murphy, and he has to accept me. He’s sort of like your gay friend. You love each other, but as far as I know, aren’t knocking ghostly boots.”

  Mia giggled. “I’m a pretty strange person, but I think I would rather stick to flesh and blood and conversation. The man is very closed mouthed.”

  “So that’s all I know in regards to your sex, er, love life, Tits Magee.”

  Mia gave Ted a pinch for the nickname.

  “Did I help?”

  Mia sighed and nuzzled closer. “I think Angelo had something to do with my emotional memory problems. I think if it wasn’t done deliberately, it was his disapproval of Whitney and dislike of Murphy that may have settled into my psyche. I remember I was standing beside him there at the hollow waiting for us to take on the Hellfire ghosts, trying to figure out why Whit majorly dissed me. Angelo said, ‘He’s not the one.’ My ego chose to believe him. But my emotional self still wanted Whit. So when he comes a courting, I thought, whoa why not? And the rest is fuzz.”

  “Am I the one?” Ted asked barely above a whisper.

  “Bernard thinks so. I’m too screwed up to know, but you gave me twenty years and one day to figure it out. I’m worried that I could mess us up. You, me, PEEPs.”

  “I’d leave PEEPs for you,” Ted offered. “Move here and be your bitch.”

  Mia laughed. “I’ve always wanted a bitch. Don’t leave PEEPs, I think you’re a good fit there. We have some time. I have to do the right thing by Whit first. A wise man said you need to finish a relationship before you can move on to another one.”

  “Sounds like Ralph,” Ted said. “And he’s on team Whitney.”

  Mia looked up puzzled. “You have to explain this team thing…”

  Ted sighed. “You have to watch television, keep in touch with trivial things, Cooper, if you’re going to be able to pass for human.”

  “Teach me to be human, Teddy Bear,” Mia teased.

  Ted’s eyes opened real wide. “Um, first lesson is, if you’re not going to fuck the tech, then don’t sit on his joystick.”

  Mia took a moment, but she did get up off his lap. “For the record, I did want to play with your joystick, techie. But you’re being all responsible killed the mood.”

  Ted hit the cushion of the couch hard.

  “Second lesson is?” Mia asked with her hands on her hips.

  “Learn to use the espresso machine without burning yourself.” He got up and took her hand and guided her into the kitchen. “Let me show you how.”

  Mia walked next to Ted and didn’t release his hand until he asked for it. Ted would later consider that a point for team Ted.

  ~

  Beth tiptoed out of the apartment. She needed to get back and get cleaned up and head over to the farmhouse. She could blame her behavior on the beer she drank, or the fact that the guy was too booze-soaked to be resistant to the idea of sleeping together. But Beth would be lying to herself.

  After she checked on Martha at the motel, she decided to go into Big Bear Lake and get a meal. The lateness of the hour restricted her options. She ended up at the local watering hole that promised sandwiches made fresh until dawn. Beth walked in, sat at the bar and ordered a hamburger fries and a beer. She looked around her and saw the place was doing good business. Singles and couples moved on the small dance floor, while others stared mutely at the giant television replaying a football game.

  “Hey PEEPs person,” a slurred familiar voice addressed her.

  She turned around and watched as Whitney Martin, dressed in civilian clothes, wavered in front of her.

  “Sit down before you fall down,” she ordered, pulling him towards the bar.

  He boosted himself up on the stool and leaned over and said, “Thanks.”

  “You here by yourself?” she asked, hoping that Tom was somewhere about.

  “No, yes, Tom had to leave. We were celebrating, and he had to leave. His mother has tight apron strings,” Whit said conspiratorially. “Have you seen, Mia? I thought she was working with you peepers.”

  “I haven’t seen her since before the hospital,” Beth said truthfully. “When I got back I heard she left with Angelo,” she said. Her conscious cried foul, but her earlier argument with Mike negated her listening to it.

  “Oh, that big Eye-talian dude?”

  “That’s the one.”

  Whit wrinkled his brow and made a disgusted face and said, “I hates foreigners.”

  Beth doubted it. She knew he was just acting out. Beth’s food arrived, and she offered half her burger to Whit. He accepted and downed it in two bites. Beth was enjoying being in his company. He talked about Cid’s rescue and about how Mia was never around for him. She wouldn’t let him move in with her. Said it was too soon. Beth smiled. It was nice to be with someone who didn’t worship at the Mia altar.

  “Dating sucks. All this diner movie crap when you just want to watch TV and fuck,” Whit said and took a long pull of the beer she ordered for him.

  Beth took a chance and put her hand on his thigh.

  “You wanna fuck?” Whit asked crudely.

  “Why not?” Beth said and tossed a wad of cash on the bar and all but dragged Whitney out the door.

  She didn’t exactly have a great time as the man was three sheets to the wind. There was a certain amount of fumbling around, and he finished with a burp. She lay next to him wondering exactly what Mia liked about the man. Sure he was handsome and his body was to die for, but she had better sex in the back of a sedan during halftime at a Chiefs game. Blame the alcohol, blame the fact she fucked her teammate’s drunk boyfriend, hell, blame Mia.

  As she searched for where she parked her car, she walked right by but didn’t notice the open-mouthed deputy who watched her leave Whit’s building. It wasn’t like Tom was hiding. He stood there in shock as he recognized Beth. He thought it must be a misunderstanding. He charged up the stairs and tried Whit’s door and found it open. Tom walked into the small apartment and followed the discarded clothing to his partner. The tiny bedroom smelled like sex. Whit was naked, and there was the imprint of another head on the pillow beside him.

  “What the fuck have you done?” Tom said. “What possessed you?”

  Whit stirred in his sleep. He opened his eyes and squinted. “Tom? What’s going on?”

  “You, that’s what’s going on. What do you remember about last night?”

  Whit tried to sit up, but his head hurt too much. “Not much. Drank too much. You bring me home?”

  “No.”

  Tom watched Whit’s face as he sorted out the night. “I remember, oh shit.”

  “Did you and Mia have a fight?”

  “No, heard she was hanging out with the big foreign bruiser. I may have got a little drunk after that.”

  “I heard from Burt that she was taken to a hospital by Angelo because of a possible aneurism.”

  “Fuck.”

  “I came over to see if you wanted to check in on her. She’s back home.”

  “I’m too hung over, and I’ve got to do some damage control first.”

  “Sorry, but damage control walked out of here moments ago with a big smile on her face.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Mia dressed for cold. She wanted to locate Murphy and get the low down on the Iroquois that were roaming the northern woods, but first she needed to go and claim her truck. Ted went out to warm up the horse van while she finished filling two thermoses with hot strong coffee. She left room in one for Ted to doctor his. She was walking out of the house towards the garage when Whit and Tom pulled up in the Sheriff cruiser. She waved and walked happily
towards the car.

  “Congrats on saving Cid Garrett you two!” Mia said, her face full of happiness.

  Whit struggled with a smile. Tom punched him in the arm. “Mia, I know you’re headed out, but could I have a moment of your time?”

  “Sounds like you’re going to sell me something. How about we get out of the wind and go into the garage,” she suggested. “Give me a moment.”

  She walked over to the horse van that Ted had pulled around. She opened the door and handed him the thermoses. “Whit needs to get something off his chest. Can you hang out for a few?”

  “Take all the time you need. I’ll give headquarters a call and let them know our plans.”

  Mia nodded and walked back into the garage with Whit.

  “What’s up?” Mia said.

  “Can you tell me where you were all day yesterday?” Whit asked.

  “Most of it. I was bilocating looking for Cid. I saw you and Tom by the way. Cool rescue. I came back, and, from what I’m told, I had something pop in my brain. Blood all over and ended up in this weird clinic. I woke up at home this morning with discharge papers and not much memory of the ordeal, except I believe there was tango music,” Mia said shaking her head. “I’m sorry no one called and told you, but the PEEPs had no idea where I was either. I hear I’m going to catch hell for that. Ted’s threating to put a GPS on me,” Mia joked.

  Whit looked bad. He looked hangover bad.

  “What’s wrong, copper?”

  “I got plastered last night. Tom and I were celebrating, and after he went home to mama, I continued to soak up the beer.”

  “Ouch, that can’t be good for your migraines.”

  He looked at her and tried to talk several times but failed.

  “Whit, there seems to be something you want to tell me. We’ve been friends forever and I’m a big girl. Just blurt it out, and we’ll handle it.”

  “I took Beth home and fucked her.”

  Mia’s eyes opened wide. “Beth Bouvier?”

  “If that’s the PEEPs chick’s name. I don’t remember much, but the evidence this morning…” he trailed off.